Preparing for your year-end: a treasurer's checklist

For many treasurers of faith-based organisations, the financial year-end can feel like a cliff edge — a sudden rush to pull together a whole year's records. It doesn't have to be that way. A little preparation, and a clear checklist, turns year-end from a scramble into a routine. This guide walks through what to do as your year-end approaches, with a checklist you can work straight through.

Start before the year actually ends

The best year-ends are won during the year, not after it. If your bookkeeping is kept up to date and your bank reconciled regularly, year-end becomes a matter of tidying up rather than reconstructing. As the date approaches, let people know — ask for outstanding invoices, expense claims and receipts to come in promptly, so nothing is missing when you close the books.

The year-end checklist

Work through these in roughly this order. Not every item applies to every organisation — take what's relevant to you.

Records and reconciliation

• Bring your bookkeeping up to date — every transaction recorded up to the last day of the year.
• Reconcile every bank and savings account to its statement at the year-end date.
• Reconcile cash — count and record cash in hand, including collections not yet banked.
• Account for money owed to and by you — unpaid invoices, pledges, grants receivable, and bills not yet paid.

Funds

• Check your fund balances — make sure your restricted, unrestricted and designated funds are correctly separated, and that restricted money has been spent only on its purpose.
• Confirm any carried-forward restricted balances are genuinely still committed to that purpose.

Income

• Reconcile your giving records to the bank — regular giving, collections and one-off gifts.
• Finalise Gift Aid — make sure claims are up to date and declarations are in order.
• Check your Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme position, if you use it.
• Record other income — hall lettings, fundraising, investment income and grants.

Expenditure, assets and liabilities

• Make sure all expenses and invoices for the year are recorded — including any paid after year-end that relate to it.
• Note money set aside but not yet spent (accruals) and anything paid in advance (prepayments).
• Update your fixed-asset list — the property, equipment and other significant assets you hold.
• List any loans or other liabilities outstanding at the year-end.

Governance and reporting

• Gather the year's key decisions and activities for the trustees' annual report.
• Confirm trustee and officer details are current.
• Note anything that needs disclosing — including any serious incidents reported during the year.

Handing over a clean set of figures

If an accountant prepares your SORP accounts, or an independent examiner reviews them, the tidier your records, the quicker — and often cheaper — the job. Pull together in one place: your reconciled bookkeeping, bank and cash records, the fund breakdown, Gift Aid records, your asset list, and the information for the trustees' report. Providing these electronically and clearly labelled saves everyone time.

Know your deadline

Your regulator sets a deadline for filing your accounts and annual return. For charities in England and Wales this is currently within 10 months of your year-end; Scotland (OSCR) and Northern Ireland (CCNI) have their own rules. Work back from that date and give yourself — and your examiner or accountant — comfortable time.

You don't have to do it alone

Being treasurer is a generous gift of time, and year-end is its busiest moment. If it feels heavy, that's completely normal — and it's exactly the kind of thing we help with (see also supporting your treasurer). A good routine, a clear checklist and the right support turn year-end from a worry into a well-trodden path.

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This article is general information, not advice. Requirements and deadlines depend on your organisation's size, structure and regulator. Check the current position with your regulator, or get in touch and we'll help.

Sources (June 2026):

• GOV.UK — Charity reporting and accounting: the essentials (filing deadlines and requirements) — https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/charity-reporting-and-accounting-the-essentials