Don't leave it until the last minute to submit your accounts to OSCR

2nd December 2019

Around 40% of charities have a 31 March financial year end, meaning that the deadline for filing their accounts is 31 December. This means that December is often a very busy time for us responding to queries from charities that need a little assistance and receiving submissions.

We would like to encourage charities that have a deadline of 31 December, or around that date, to make sure that they have their accounts finalised and filed with OSCR along with their annual return well in advance of the deadline. Our office closes between Christmas and New Year meaning that it will be difficult to get last minute help if you have any issues.

We use the information to update each charity's entry on the Scottish Charity Register. A charity's register entry will highlight when they have failed to provide us with the information on time. Anyone, such as funders or members of the public, will be able to see that the annual information has not been submitted.

Remember, we have lots of guidance available to help you:
A Guide to Charity Accounts - this explains all of the requirements if you are not sure about what accounts you need to prepare, or whether you need an independent examination or audit

Receipts and payments workpack - for charities preparing R&P accounts, we have templates available to make it easier for you to get it right first time

Trustees' Annual Report guidance - the story of the charity is so important and a good trustees' annual report can benefit the charity in many ways

Independent examination - guidance for trustees on what independent examination is and when it is needed in addition to guidance for those carrying out independent examination work
Annual return guidance - to help you complete your online annual return, explaining what the questions mean and how to answer them.

If your deadline is between 31 December and 07 January and you are posting paper documentation we need to have the documents with us by 21 December 2019 at the latest - otherwise it will be difficult for us to process them all before New Year. However, if you are completing an annual return in OSCR Online and attaching the required documents at the same time, you have your full 9 months to complete the process.