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  • Conflict of Interest

    ABOUT CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

    You have a legal duty to act in your charity’s best interests when making decisions as  a trustee.  If there’s a decision to be made where a trustee has a personal or other interest, this is a conflict of interest and you won’t be able to comply with your duty unless you follow certain steps.

    For example, if you’re a trustee, you would have a conflict of interest if the charity is thinking of making a decision that would mean:

    • you could benefit financially or otherwise from your charity, either directly or indirectly through someone you’re connected to
    • your duty to your charity competes with a duty or loyalty you have to another organisation or person

    Conflicts of interest are common in charities – having a conflict of interest doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong. But you need to act to prevent them from interfering with your ability to make a decision only in the best interests of the charity.

    Follow a 3 step approach (identify, prevent, record) so that you are able to comply with your duty and avoid:

    • making decisions that could be overturned
    • risking your charity’s reputation
    • having to repay your charity if you make unauthorised payments to trustees

    Legal requirement: you MUST declare a conflict of interest immediately you are aware of any possibility that your personal or wider interests could influence your decision-making.

    More details can be found here

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  • Holiday Entitlement and Holiday Pay

    Almost all workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday per year (known as statutory leave entitlement or annual leave).  An employer can include bank holidays as part of statutory annual leave. More details can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights

    Workers are entitled to a week’s pay for each week of leave they take.

    A week’s pay is worked out according to the kind of hours someone works and how they’re paid for the hours.  This includes full-time, part-time and casual workers. Help can be found here:

    https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights/holiday-pay-the-basics

    Holiday pay should be paid for the time when annual leave is taken.  An employer cannot include an amount for holiday pay in the hourly rate (known as ‘rolled-up holiday pay’).  If a current contract still includes rolled-up pay, it needs to be re-negotiated.

  • Autumn Training Courses

    shutterstock_182625155Well, the summer holiday season is upon us, so what better time to plan for your training needs in the Autumn?

    We are again running a range of short training courses and talks, designed specifically for those people involved in running the finances of a group as treasurer, bookkeeper or management committee member, or those individuals interested in developing their accounting skills.

    16th September: Pensions Auto-Enrolment

    7th October: Financial Management for Voluntary Groups

    14th October: Employment Law

    21st October: Excel Spreadsheets for Beginners

    4th November: Budgeting and Cashflow Forecasting

    8th November: Management Reporting

    27th November: Marketing and Strategies for Charities

    Interested?  Contact us here

  • Pensions Auto Enrolment

    Our advertised information morning on

    Wednesday 16th September 2015

    is already attracting interest.

    Guest speaker Darren Wheatcroft, a local Independent Financial Advisor, will guide us through legislation which will have a major impact on all employers whether we like it or not!

    Darren will also explain the pension freedoms brought about by the new legislation

    To book a place, please contact us here

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  • Summer Newsletter

    Our Summer Newsletter should be on its way to you very soon, but if you would like to read it online, you can do so here  Summer Newsletter 2015

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  • Sad News

    liliesIt is with deep regret that we have to inform you of the death of our friend and colleague Andrew Buxton.

    Andrew served as chair of our board of trustees for 10 years, giving freely of his expertise to not only our organisation but to other groups in the area who were in need of his help and advice on financial matters.

    He will be sadly missed by all of us at DCAS, and we send condolences to his wife, family and friends.

  • Mr Claw – The Book

    Have you recruited new trustees recently?

    Our training manual

    ‘The Adventures of Mr Claw in the World of Charity Accounting’

    has proved to be a valuable source of information for those new to the business of understanding charity accounts, and all the rules and regulations that go with it!

    We do have a few copies available for purchase, and if you would like a copy sending out to you for the bargain price of £2.50, plus postage, then contact us here

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  • How to Recruit Trustees

    We are often asked the question ‘How do we find trustees?’

    Well, there is no need to struggle – just go to this website and you could have all your questions answered.

    http://www.reachskills.org.uk/trusteeworks

    TrusteeWorks introduces voluntary organisations to talented trustees with the right blend of skills and experience for free. 

    The matching service is now absolutely free to organisations under £1M turnover

    The website also gives you valuable guidance on preparing and information pack for prospective new trustees.

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  • Employers fined for failing to comply with pensions duties

    The total number of employers fined for failing to comply with their workplace pensions duties reached 169 by the end of 2014, according to figures released by The Pensions Regulator

    The total represents a small number compared to the tens of thousands of businesses which have now complied with their automatic enrolment duties.

    A significant number of the notices issued in this period were to employers who had missed their deadline to submit their declaration.

    The Pensions Regulator’s Director of automatic enrolment, Charles Counsell, said,

    “My message to all employers is that failing to declare within five months of your staging date means you risk being fined, which is why we recommend you start your automatic enrolment planning and preparation 12 months before staging.”

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  • End of Year Accounts

    For those of you whose accounting period ended on 31st March 2015, may we gently remind you that accounts will need to be submitted to our office for examination as early as possible before your AGM date.

    These accounts will also need to be filed with the Charity Commission by 31st January 2016, which might sound a long way away at the moment, but the date can creep up on you very quickly, so be ready!!!

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