SORP 2026 Trustees’ Annual Report Template (Free)

If you’ve read our SORP 2026 plain-English guide, you’ll know that the new accounting standard applies to accounting periods starting on or after 1 January 2026. The Trustees’ Annual Report (TAR) is the most visible piece of public reporting your charity produces — and SORP 2026 has refreshed what’s expected.

This post gives you a structured TAR template, walks through what to put in each section, and shows a worked example for a fictional Tier 1 charity. Use it as a starting point and adapt to your charity.

How to use this template

You have two options.

Manual approach. Copy the template into a Word document (or Google Docs), fill in each section over a couple of trustee meetings, share with your accountant for the financial review section, and finalise. This is how most small charities prepare their TAR — and it works fine if you start early enough.

AI-assisted approach. Tools like CharityIQ can pre-fill each section from your live charity data — pulling registration details from the Charity Commission, beneficiary numbers from your records, financial figures from your accounts. Trustees review and edit the draft, rather than starting from a blank page. Significantly faster, and the audit trail is built in.

Either way, the structure below applies. The template follows SORP 2026 section order.

The template — section by section

1. Reference and administrative information

This is the dry-but-mandatory section at the front.

What to include:
– Full charity name (as registered with Charity Commission)
– Charity registration number
– If applicable: company number (for charitable companies)
– Registered office address
– Operational address (if different)
– Trustee names and dates of appointment / resignation in the period
– Patron(s) and President(s)
– Bankers
– Accountants / Independent Examiner / Auditor
– Solicitor (if applicable)

Tier guidance: Identical across all three tiers. Get this right once — it changes rarely.

2. Objectives and activities

What your charity exists to do, and what you actually did during the year.

What to include:
– Charitable objects (verbatim from your governing document — Memorandum & Articles for charitable companies, Constitution for CIOs, Trust Deed for trusts)
– Public benefit statement (referencing the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance)
– Programmes, activities, or services delivered during the year
– Beneficiary groups served (specific — not “the community”)
– Any new programmes started or discontinued

Tier guidance: Tier 1 charities can keep this section to 1–2 pages with brief programme descriptions. Tier 2 charities should expand with structured analysis of each programme. Tier 3 charities provide detailed programme-by-programme reporting with theory of change references.

3. Achievements and performance

This is the section most affected by SORP 2026. Impact narrative is now mandatory at all tiers.

What to include:
– For each programme/activity, what changed for beneficiaries (the impact)
– Quantitative outcomes where you can collect them (e.g., “78% of participants reported reduced isolation, up from 41% at baseline”)
– Qualitative impact — beneficiary stories, case studies (with informed consent)
– Comparisons to plans set out in the previous year’s report
– Recognition or awards received
– Volunteer contribution — hours, roles, value contributed (now required)

Tier guidance: Tier 1 charities aim for 2–3 pages. Tier 2 charities, 4–6 pages with more structured outcomes data. Tier 3 charities expand into full impact reporting with ESG narrative.

4. Financial review

The numbers, but with narrative explaining them.

What to include:
– Summary of income and expenditure for the year
– Significant variations from the previous year — explain causes
– Major sources of income (with concentration risk if heavily dependent on one source)
– Reserves position and policy — explicit reconciliation between the policy stated and the actual balance
– Any restricted vs unrestricted distinctions material to understanding the position
– Going concern statement

Tier guidance: Tier 1 charities can present income and expenditure by natural classification (donations, grants, trading income, etc.) — the simplification SORP 2026 explicitly allows. Tier 2 and Tier 3 charities use activity-based analysis with more detail.

5. Plans for the future

Now mandatory at all tiers under SORP 2026. Forward-looking section.

What to include:
– Strategic priorities for the next 12 months (and ideally 3 years)
– Key initiatives or programmes planned
– Resource requirements (financial, staff, volunteer)
– Funding strategy — how plans will be funded
– Material risks to delivery and how the charity will mitigate them

Tier guidance: 1 page is fine for Tier 1. Tier 2 should be 2–3 pages with budget alignment. Tier 3 expands to multi-year strategic narrative.

6. Structure, governance, and management

Who runs the charity and how.

What to include:
– Constitution type (CIO, charitable company, trust, association)
– How trustees are recruited and inducted
– Board structure (committees, sub-groups)
– Key management decisions made during the year
– Senior staff structure
– Risk management approach
– Conflicts of interest policy and any declared conflicts during the year
– Volunteer recruitment and management

Tier guidance: Tier 1 charities, 1–2 pages. Tier 2 add detail on board effectiveness reviews. Tier 3 charities are expected to disclose detailed risk frameworks, performance management, and (for Tier 3) ESG governance.

From CharityIQ

Templates work — but every TAR section needs to be tailored to your charity’s actual activities, finances, and trustees.

CharityIQ pulls your live data into a tier-aware draft TAR, populating each section from your records. Trustees review and approve. See it work.

Worked example — Riverdale Community Trust (£200k income, Tier 1)

Below is a brief illustration of what a Tier 1 TAR looks like in practice. This is fictional but realistic.

1. Reference and administrative information

Charity name: Riverdale Community Trust
Registration number: 1234567 (England and Wales)
Registered office: Riverdale Community Centre, 12 High Street, Sample Town, ST1 2AB
Trustees in period: Sarah Patel (Chair, since 2022), James O’Brien (Treasurer, since 2023), Aisha Khan (Secretary, since 2021), Mark Davies (since 2024), Elena Costa (resigned March 2026)
Independent Examiner: Smith & Co Accountants, Sample Town
Bankers: CAF Bank Ltd

2. Objectives and activities

Riverdale Community Trust’s charitable objects, as set out in our governing document, are:
– to advance education by providing learning opportunities for residents of Sample Town and surrounding areas
– to relieve poverty and disadvantage among children and families in Sample Town
– to promote community cohesion through accessible community space and events

Our public benefit during the year included free after-school clubs serving 84 children, a weekly community lunch attended by 30–45 older residents, and our youth mentoring programme that paired 22 young people with adult mentors.

3. Achievements and performance

Children’s after-school club. 84 children attended at least 5 sessions during the year, with 62 attending regularly (10+ sessions). End-of-year survey showed 89% of regular attendees rated their experience “good” or “very good” (n=58 responses; baseline: not collected previously). Free school meals families made up 71% of regular attendees.

Weekly community lunch. 142 unique attendees across the year, of whom 38 attended weekly or more. Local NHS social prescriber referred 14 individuals with self-reported isolation; 11 of those (79%) reported reduced isolation in 6-month follow-up.

Youth mentoring. 22 young people matched with adult mentors. 18 mentoring relationships continued past month 3. Six young people supported into apprenticeships or further education during the year.

Volunteer contribution. 47 active volunteers contributed an estimated 3,200 hours during the year, equivalent at minimum wage to approximately £36,000 of unpaid contribution. Roles included session leaders, kitchen volunteers, mentors, and trustee oversight.

Recognition. Awarded Community Project of the Year by Sample Town Council, March 2026.

4. Financial review

Total incoming resources for the year were £198,200 (2024-25: £172,400). Income increased on the previous year primarily through a £25,000 grant from Lloyds Bank Foundation Specialist Programme (year 1 of 3). Other principal income sources were a £40,000 community grant from Sample Town Council, individual donations of £18,400, fundraising events of £14,200, and trading income from venue hire of £21,400.

Total resources expended were £193,500 (2024-25: £165,800), giving a surplus for the year of £4,700.

Reserves. The charity’s reserves policy is to hold unrestricted reserves equivalent to three months’ running costs, equating to a target of £43,000 at year end. Actual unrestricted reserves at year end stood at £41,200. The £1,800 shortfall reflects intentional spending on programme expansion in Q4. Trustees are confident the reserves will be back to target within Q1 2027.

Restricted funds at year end totalled £19,500, all received in advance for delivery in 2026-27.

The trustees consider the charity to be a going concern.

5. Plans for the future

The trustees’ priorities for 2026-27 are:
– Expand the youth mentoring programme to 35 active mentor pairs (from 22)
– Begin a new mental health drop-in for young people, in partnership with Sample Town NHS Trust, contingent on securing £18,000 in pilot funding
– Recruit a part-time programme coordinator (currently all coordination is volunteer)
– Maintain reserves at target through balanced income growth

Key risks to delivery include funding uncertainty for the new mental health drop-in (mitigated by maintaining a fundraising pipeline), and capacity constraints on the existing volunteer team (mitigated by the planned coordinator hire).

6. Structure, governance, and management

Riverdale Community Trust is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered in England and Wales. The Board consists of five trustees, who meet quarterly. There are two sub-committees: Finance (chaired by the Treasurer) and Programmes (chaired by the Chair).

New trustees are recruited via open advertisement and approached through community networks. Each new trustee receives an induction pack and shadows existing trustees for one quarter before taking full responsibility. The Charity Commission’s Essential Trustee guidance is provided as part of induction.

No conflicts of interest were declared during the year.

The trustees consider the system of internal control to be appropriate to the size and complexity of the charity.

Five mistakes the Commission flags most often

Drawing on Charity Commission casework patterns, these are the recurring weaknesses in Trustees’ Annual Reports.

1. Public benefit not articulated
Vague statements like “the charity benefits the community” don’t satisfy the Commission. Be specific: who benefits, how, and how the charity decides who to serve.

2. Reserves policy not justified
Stating a reserves target of three months’ running costs without explaining why three months is a common gap. Trustees should be able to articulate what risks the reserves policy is designed to cover.

3. Future plans missing or vague
“The charity will continue to deliver its programmes” is not a plan. Plans need to be specific, time-bound, and resource-aware.

4. Trustees not properly named or declared
Names spelled differently from Charity Commission records. Resignation dates missing. Conflicts of interest disclosure absent.

5. Governance arrangements skimmed
Skipping detail on how the board operates, how decisions are made, or how trustees are recruited weakens the public assurance the report is meant to provide.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Does SORP 2026 apply to my charity?
A: For accounting periods starting on or after 1 January 2026. If your year-end is 31 March 2026, SORP 2019 still applies for that year — SORP 2026 first applies to your year ending 31 March 2027.

Q: How long should the Trustees’ Annual Report be?
A: For Tier 1 charities (under £500k income), 6–12 pages is typical. Tier 2 charities (£500k–£15m), 15–25 pages. Tier 3 charities (over £15m), 50+ pages. Length isn’t formally set — clarity matters more than word count.

Q: Do I need an accountant to write my TAR?
A: For the financial review section, yes — your accountant or independent examiner should verify the figures and reserves reconciliation. The narrative sections (objectives, activities, achievements, plans, governance) are the trustees’ responsibility, not the accountant’s.

Q: What changes from SORP 2019 to SORP 2026?
A: Three biggest changes for Tier 1 charities: (1) impact narrative is now mandatory in the achievements section, (2) volunteer contribution must be disclosed, (3) future plans is mandatory rather than optional. Reserves narrative must reconcile to the accounts. New five-step income recognition model applies primarily to exchange transactions (contracts, fees) — most small charities are minimally affected.

Q: Where does the impact narrative go?
A: In the Achievements and Performance section (3 in our template). For each programme or activity, describe what changed for beneficiaries — quantitatively where you can, qualitatively otherwise. Outcomes data, beneficiary feedback, and case studies (with consent) are all valid evidence.

Download the template

Coming soon — Word and Google Docs versions of this template, with the worked example pre-filled, ready to adapt for your charity.

In the meantime, if you’d rather have CharityIQ pre-fill the template from your live charity data — pulling registration, beneficiaries, financials, and structuring everything to SORP 2026 sections automatically — that’s exactly what we built the platform to do.

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Written by Ivan Siyanko, founder of CharityIQ. Ivan runs a UK registered charity and built CharityIQ because the existing tools weren’t built for what trustees actually need.