Thresholds – what you need to do as your PCC grows

What the Charity Commission and Charity Law requires of you as a PCC depends on your “gross income”.

Gross annual income under £100,000

If the gross annual income of your PCC is less than £100,000 you:

• can choose to prepare your accounts on the ‘receipts and payments’ basis; or ‘ accruals’ accounts (mandatory for incomes greater than £250,000— see below). Smaller parishes may opt the Accruals accounting option, where the treasurer has a broader knowledge of accounting practice.
• must have your accounts independently examined
• do not need to register with the Charity Commission

Gross annual income over £100,000 but less than £250,000

If the gross annual income of your PCC is more than £100,000, but less than £250,000 you:

• can choose to prepare your accounts on the ‘receipts and payments’ basis; or ‘ Accruals’ accounts (mandatory for incomes greater than £250,000— see below). Smaller parishes may opt the Accruals accounting option, where the treasurer has a broader knowledge of accounting practice.
• must have your accounts independently examined
• must apply to be registered with the Charity Commission

Gross annual income over £250,000

If the gross annual income of your PCC is more than £250,000 you:

• must prepare your accounts on the accruals basis
• must have registered with the Charity Commission
• can have your accounts independently examined by a qualified person, unless either your income exceeds £1 million or your assets exceed £3.26 million, when in either case you will need to have a full audit of your accounts.

Gross annual income definition:

For accounts prepared on the receipts and payments basis, gross annual income is the total receipts shown in the statement from all sources excluding the receipt of any endowment for the financial year (January – December for the church).

For accounts prepared on an accruals basis, gross annual income is the total incoming resources shown on the Statement of Financial Activities, including any amount transferred to income funds from endowment funds in order to be available for spending, but excluding the receipt of any endowment.

Useful links

Charity Commission’s “5 minute guides” for charity trustees: Managing charity finances

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