What information do I need before I start the annual return?

England and Wales: This page sets out the position in full. Scotland: not applicable to this step — OSCR’s own annual return has a different question set; see Step 8, Complete the OSCR annual return. Northern Ireland: not applicable to this step — CCNI’s own monitoring return has a different question set; see Step 9, Complete the CCNI annual monitoring return.

Where is the annual return question list published?

The Charity Commission publishes the questions the annual return asks in a separate question guide, apart from the online form. Because of this, many charities start the return and get three sections in. Then they find they are missing something that will take a week to rebuild.

The treasurer of a charity in England and Wales should gather the annual return information against the guide first. Only then should they log in, once. This page assumes you know which filings apply; see confirm which filings actually apply to you. It also assumes you have kept your register entry current.

Which questions need data most charities do not keep?

Several parts of the return ask for data that most charities’ accounts do not hold.

Overseas income and spending. Questions 3.1 and 3.3 want money in and out of the UK broken down by country, by source type and by transfer method. That includes how much moved outside the regulated banking system. Almost no charity’s accounts hold data in that shape. If you have any overseas activity at all, start with this section.

Highest single donations. Question 1.4 asks for the single largest donation from a corporate donor, from an individual, and from a related party, separately. So someone has to sort the donation ledger three ways. The related party register kept for the accounts tells you whose gifts go in the third column.

Headcount and payroll. Section 6 wants headcount by type of employment and how many staff work outside the UK. It also wants total payroll spend, and employees in benefit bands. The bands do not match anything your accounts already produce.

Which policies were in place at the period end. Not now — at the period end. If you adopted a policy in March for a year ending in December, the answer is no. For the conflicts of interest policy, for example, the adoption date in the minutes is the evidence.

How is gross income calculated for the annual return?

The return’s gross income figure strips out endowment received. It adds back endowment converted into income funds. Revaluation gains are left out. The figure looks like the total on the face of your statement of financial activities. It is not the same number.

Work it out with care, from the books you set up when you opened your books and chose your accounting basis. Write down how you got there, and use the same figure everywhere. The figure drives the income gates in the next section. Get it wrong and you are asked the wrong questions.

Which income gates switch questions on or off?

Some questions switch off as income grows. Others switch on. Question 1.3, the income breakdown, applies where gross income is at or below £500,000 and grants and contracts are under 70% of income. Both limbs have to hold.

So growing past that ceiling removes a question rather than adding one. A charity that crosses it and still prepares the breakdown has done work nobody asked for.

Question 1.4 works the ordinary way round: it applies where gross income is over £100,000.

Section 5, on property held by holding or custodian trustees, applies only to unincorporated charities.

The annual return data pack

Use one document, with one row per question. Give the answer and where it came from. Gaps stay visible as gaps until someone fills them. With the pack complete, the return itself takes an afternoon, not a fortnight.

Keep the pack afterwards. Next year it becomes the template. The year after, it shows how a figure was reached if anyone asks.

With the pack complete, the next step is to complete the annual return. A Scottish or Northern Irish charity completes the OSCR annual return or the CCNI annual monitoring return.

Common mistake: starting the return online and discovering mid-way that data is missing

The question list is published separately from the form. Questions 3.1 and 3.3 want overseas income and spending broken down by country, by source type and by transfer method. Most charities’ accounts do not hold that.

Common mistake: using the accounts’ income figure without the return’s own adjustments

It looks like the same number. The return’s gross income strips out endowment received. It adds endowment converted into income funds, and it excludes revaluation gains. It is a defined computation, not the SoFA total.

Worked example

Saltmarsh Trust has no grants. Its income sits at or below the ceiling in £500,000, with grants and contracts under 70% of income. So the income breakdown applies, and it must answer question 1.3. A charity above that ceiling would not have to. The gate runs backwards from what most people expect.