How to run a charity meetingOnce you’ve found a suitable date, time and venue for your meeting, following these guidelines will help you to run it effectively.
Your governing document may tell you whether you should give advance notice of items to be discussed. Generally, if all present agree, they can introduce a new item of business on the day of the meeting.
If a trustee’s decision-making could be influenced by their personal circumstances, or their involvement with another organisation, they are in a conflict of interest.
Legal requirement: you must prevent a conflict of interest from affecting a decision you make.
A quorum is the minimum number that must attend a meeting so that decisions can be made properly. The people may be trustees at a committee meeting, or members at a general meeting. Your governing document should tell you what your quorum is. If it doesn’t, think about amending it.
If you set your quorum too high, any absences may make it difficult to have a valid meeting. If it’s too low, a small minority of people may be able to impose its views unreasonably.
The commission recommends that the quorum for a trustees’ meeting is a minimum of one third of the total number of charity trustees plus one. So a charity with ten trustees will have a quorum of four.
For general meetings, you should give careful thought to the quorum – it needs to be appropriate to the size of your charity and the number and geographical spread of members.
You still need to ensure that you have a quorum throughout the course of a remote or hybrid meeting.
Voting arrangements differ between charities and the type of meeting that you are holding. As a general rule, you should follow the instructions in your charity’s governing document.
At trustee meetings, generally only the trustees vote on decisions. If a vote is evenly split, sometimes the chair has a second, casting vote to decide the matter, but only if the governing document says so. At general meetings, the members vote on decisions.
Usually a show of hands is enough to tell the result of a vote, but a poll can be used if not. You will need to ensure it is clear how those attending a virtual or hybrid meeting can vote.
The commission recommends that you keep accurate minutes of all meetings. They don’t need to be word-for-word, but should give:
The minutes should record exactly what was agreed, particularly for important or controversial decisions. For example:
Ideally, someone who isn’t involved in the meeting should take the minutes. If a trustee is taking the minutes, they should ensure they can also contribute actively to the discussion.
You must make the minutes of trustees’ meetings available to all charity trustees. Professional advisers such as auditors may also ask to see them.
The minutes of a general meeting are usually made available to members (in the case of a charitable company they have to be) but you don’t have to make them available to the public unless the charity’s governing document says so.
People can get very passionate about their charity’s work, and this can lead to debates and disagreement.
You and the other trustees are responsible for managing the charity’s meetings. Set standards of behaviour to make sure everyone present agrees to behave professionally and in the charity’s interest. For example, a code of conduct.
You can’t stop people coming to a meeting if they are entitled to be there. Tell the police if you think that people intend to cause violence at a meeting.
Charities pay VAT on all standard-rated goods and services they buy from VAT-registered businesses. As a charity you do not pay VAT when you buy some goods and services
Your charity pays 5% VAT on fuel and power if they’re for:
If less than 60% of the fuel and power is for something that qualifies, you’ll pay the reduced rate of VAT on the qualifying part and the standard rate (currently 20%) on the rest.
Qualifying fuel and power includes gases, electricity, oils and solid fuels (such as coal). It does not include vehicle fuel.
Find out about the conditions you must meet so that your charity pays no VAT (the zero rate) when you buy:
Charities do not pay VAT on goods imported from outside the UK as long as they’re benefiting people in need by providing:
You can check which goods you can claim VAT relief for as well as how to claim.
For Employees
From 6 July 2022, as an employee you will be able to earn more before you start paying National Insurance. This means you may pay less tax, after accounting for the recent Health and Social Care Levy.
You can use this tool to get an estimate if you’re employed and paid the same amount monthly, by your employer through the PAYE system.
For Employers
The Primary threshold from 6 July 2022 to 5 April 2023 will be £242 per week and £1,048 per month, equivalent to £12,570 per year (increased from £9,880 per year).
You normally operate PAYE as part of your payroll so HMRC can collect Income Tax and National Insurance from your employees.
Your payroll software will work out how much tax and National Insurance to deduct from your employees’ pay.
The amount of Income Tax you deduct from your employees depends on their tax code and how much of their taxable income is above their Personal Allowance.
| PAYE tax rates and thresholds | 2022 to 2023 |
|---|---|
| Employee personal allowance | £242 per week £1,048 per month £12,570 per year |
Gaps in your National Insurance recordYou may get gaps in your record if you do not pay National Insurance or do not get National Insurance credits. This could be because you were:
Gaps can mean you will not have enough years of National Insurance contributions to either:
You may be able to pay voluntary contributions to fill any gaps if you’re eligible. You can check your National Insurance Contributions status here
Voluntary contributions do not always increase your State Pension. Contact the Future Pension Centre to find out if you’ll benefit from voluntary contributions.
You may also want to get financial advice before you decide to make voluntary contributions.
All VAT-registered businesses who have not yet signed up for Making Tax Digital for VAT need to do so.
You must keep digital records from the start of your first Making Tax Digital accounting period.
| Your last VAT accounting period before signing up to Making Tax Digital | Submit your VAT Return between | Do not sign up to Making Tax Digital between | Sign up to Making Tax Digital from | Your first Making Tax Digital accounting period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Jan to 31 Mar 2022 | 1 Apr to 7 May 2022 | 28 Apr to 7 May 2022 | 8 May 2022 | 1 Apr to 30 Jun 2022 |
| 1 Feb to 30 Apr 2022 | 1 May to 7 Jun 2022 | 31 May to 7 Jun 2022 | 8 June 2022 | 1 May to 31 Jul 2022 |
| 1 Mar to 31 May 2022 | 1 Jun to 7 Jul 2022 | 29 Jun to 7 Jul 2022 | 8 Jul 2022 | 1 Jun to 31 Aug 2022 |
| 1 Mar to 31 Mar (monthly submissions) | 1 Apr to 7 May 2022 | 28 Apr to 7 May | 8 May 2022 | 1 Apr to 30 Apr 2022 |
Before you sign up to Making Tax Digital for VAT you’ll need either:
If you use an agent or accountant, talk to them about what software you need.
DCAS has always been proud of its record in providing volunteering opportunities and this has in many occasions helped further the careers of our volunteers.
This has never been more true than the case of Baker Salah, who after helping write our accounting manual ‘The Adventures of Mr Claw in the World of Charity Accounting’ has gone on to become a University Lecturer and will soon be awarded his Doctorate in Accounting and Finance. Well done Baker!!!Charity trustees direct how a charity is run and help make sure it does what it was set up to do. This includes making sure the charity:
Charity trustees are also known as:
Find out more here
Checking how your workplace deals with absenceApart from annual holiday entitlement, an employee might need time off work for reasons including:
Each workplace might have different rules on what they see as acceptable reasons for absence and what they will pay. For this reason, every workplace should have its own absence policy, so it’s important to check this.
ACAS has some very helpful guidelines on putting together an Absence Policy
An absence policy should make clear exactly what’s expected from both the employer and employee if the employee needs to take time off work.
An absence policy should include:
If your workplace does not have an absence policy, the employee can ask their employer or HR manager what to do if they need time off work. The employer should follow best practice as outlined in this guide.
There are some areas that are covered by law, for example:
For more support creating or reviewing an absence policy, ACAS provides:
Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption, Shared Parental and Parental Bereavement PayUse the maternity, adoption and paternity calculator for employers to work out your employee’s:
These rates apply from 3 April 2022.
| Type of payment or recovery | 2022 to 2023 rate |
|---|---|
| Statutory Maternity Pay — weekly rate for first 6 weeks | 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings |
| Statutory Maternity Pay — weekly rate for remaining weeks | £156.66 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
| Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) — weekly rate | £156.66 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
| Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) — weekly rate for first 6 weeks | 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings |
| Statutory Adoption Pay — weekly rate for remaining weeks | £156.66 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
| Statutory Shared Parental Pay (ShPP) —weekly rate | £156.66 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
| Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay (SPBP) — weekly rate | £156.66 or 90% of the employee’s average weekly earnings, whichever is lower |
| SMP, SPP, ShPP, SAP or SPBP — proportion of your payments you can recover from HMRC | 92% if your total Class 1 National Insurance (both employee and employer contributions) is above £45,000 for the previous tax year103% if your total Class 1 National Insurance for the previous tax year is £45,000 or lower |
The same weekly Statutory Sick Pay rate applies to all employees. However, the amount you must actually pay an employee for each day they’re off work due to illness (the daily rate) depends on the number of ‘qualifying days’ they work each week.
Use the Statutory Sick Pay calculator to work out your employee’s sick pay, or use these rates.
| Unrounded daily rates | Number of qualifying days in week | 1 day to pay | 2 days to pay | 3 days to pay | 4 days to pay | 5 days to pay | 6 days to pay | 7 days to pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £14.1929 | 7 | £14.20 | £28.39 | £42.58 | £56.78 | £70.97 | £85.16 | £99.35 |
| £16.5583 | 6 | £16.56 | £33.12 | £49.68 | £66.24 | £82.80 | £99.35 | — |
| £19.87 | 5 | £19.87 | £39.74 | £59.61 | £79.48 | £99.35 | — | — |
| £24.8375 | 4 | £24.84 | £49.68 | £74.52 | £99.35 | — | — | — |
| £33.1167 | 3 | £33.12 | £66.24 | £99.35 | — | — | — | — |
| £49.675 | 2 | £49.68 | £99.35 | — | — | — | — | — |
| £99.35 | 1 | £99.35 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
If your employees’ earnings are above the earnings threshold, record their student loan and postgraduate loan deductions in your payroll software. It will automatically calculate and deduct repayments from their pay.
| Rate or threshold | 2022 to 2023 rate |
|---|---|
| Employee earnings threshold for student loan plan 1 | £20,195 per year £1,682.91 per month £388.36 per week |
| Employee earnings threshold for student loan plan 2 | £27,295 per year £2,274.58 per month £524.90 per week |
| Employee earnings threshold for student loan plan 4 | £25,375 per year £2,114.58 per month £487.98 per week |
| Student loan deductions | 9% |
| Employee earnings threshold for postgraduate loan | £21,000 per year £1,750.00 per month £403.84 per week |
| Postgraduate loan deductions | 6% |
These rates are for the National Living Wage (for those aged 23 and over) and the National Minimum Wage (for those of at least school leaving age). The rates change on 1 April every year.
Current rates from April 1st 2022
| 23 and over | 21 to 22 | 18 to 20 | Under 18 | Apprentice | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2022 | £9.50 | £9.18 | £6.83 | £4.81 | £4.81 |
The hourly rate for the minimum wage depends on your age and whether you’re an apprentice. You must be at least:
Apprentices are entitled to the apprentice rate if they’re either:
Read the information on who is entitled to the minimum wage.
You can use the minimum wage calculator to check whether the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage is being paid.
Contact Acas if you’re not getting the National Minimum Wage and think you should be.