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THE ASSOCIATION OF

CHARITABLE ORGANISATIONS

REPORT OF TRUSTEES

For the year ended 30[th] September 2020

Charity No: 1118605

Company No: 6113479

CHAIR’S FOREWARD

Whilst we saw the successful transition of the Chief Executive role from our predecessor Dominic Fox to Donal Watkin at the end of 2019, the narrative for 2020 has clearly been dominated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which continues to significantly impact the operation of grantmaking and benevolent charities as they work tirelessly to support individuals and families in financial distress.

In this context, ACO has had to meet the challenge of providing a strong support hub for our charities during this incredibly challenging period. Like so many other organisations, we have had to rapidly adapt and re-shape our processes in order to ensure we continue to deliver a relevant resource to our members.

Ironically, one of these critical changes has been the rapid introduction of digital channels such as Zoom to facilitate continuing interaction with our members and this has enabled us to arguably engage with a wider and more diverse audience through a range of workshops, forums and webinars during the course of the year. This is something which has been vital to ensure that we keep an active dialogue with charities up and down the country.

Crucial to our response to the crisis has been our ability to work in collaboration with other charity infrastructure bodies during the course of the crisis to effectively press the case for charity sector support. Through the #EveryDayCounts and #NeverMoreNeeded campaigns, the sector has been able to speak to government with a strong and unified voice about the need to recognise the role of charities in the recovery effort ahead.

In the meantime, 2020 saw two national campaigns of our own - #One Day Changes Lives (January) and #Here to Help (September) - which both underline ACO’s key role in raising the profile of the grant-making/benevolent charities in this time of greatest need.

In spite of the financial and operational constraints that have impacted ACO – like so many other charities – we remain extremely positive about the continuing impact that our organisation can make in providing a voice for the sector and a vital platform for our members to share knowledge, expertise and resources and develop strong collaborative relationships, which will ultimately only serve to strengthen our support to beneficiaries.

D’Arcy Myers

ACO Chair

Objectives & Activities
Status
Charitable Objects
Achievements & Performance
Structure, Governance & Management - Governance - Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement - Administration
Risk
Membership
Statement of Public Benefit
Financial Review
Reserves Policy
Plans for the Future
In Appreciation
Charity Information
Trustees
Chief Executive
Secretary
Professional Advisers
Annual Accounts 2019-20 - Statement of Financial Activities
Balance Sheet
Notes to the Accounts
Independent Examiner’s report

1. OBJECTIVES and ACTIVITIES

Status

The Association of Charity Officers (ACO) was founded in 1946. In June 2011 members agreed to a change of name from Association of Charity Officers to Association of Charitable Organisations. This represented a shift in emphasis from focusing on members as individuals to organisations.

ACO is a registered charity, number 1118605 and a Company Limited by guarantee, company registration number is 6113479. From October 1st, 2020 the address of ACO’s registered office is: International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN.

Charitable objects

ACO’s objects are “to promote for the public benefit the efficiency and effectiveness of charities, particularly but not exclusively those which relieve individuals in need, by assisting in their better administration and promoting the sharing of information and practices useful to these charities.” ACO achieves its objects by:

Undertaking research into the work and impact of our members;
Encouraging developments and innovations in service delivery for wider benefit;
Enabling collaborative and collective working and responses between members;
Providing members with timely information, training and advice;
Influencing the law and public policy affecting the work of its members;
Providing forums for networking, learning and peer support across the individual grant giving sector.

2. ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

The Trustees are pleased to report the charity’s activities as described below. All its charitable activities focus on ACO member organisations and are undertaken to further charitable purposes for the public benefit.

Key landmarks for the Charity during 2019-20 included:

ACO successfully transitioned the role of Chief Executive to Donal Watkin, following the retirement of Dominic Fox as of 31 December 2019;
The organisation continued to provide a significant resource for members during the course of the Covid-19 outbreak and maintained financial sustainability;
ACO collaborated with other national charity infrastructure bodies to lobby Government to provide financial support to the sector during the pandemic;
The charity implemented two national campaigns and continued to deliver a diverse event programme during the course of the year that provided significant knowledge sharing, collaboration and best practice opportunities;

Leadership transition

Former Chief Executive Dominic Fox had successfully led the charity through a period of significant change during his nine year tenure, which included significant lobbying and campaigning activity to help ensure the most effective regulatory landscape for benevolent and grant-making charities.

In assuming the Chief Executive role (effective from 1[st] November 2019) Donal Watkin has looked to build on the achievements of his predecessor in order to strengthen ACO’s reputation as the voice of the sector and effectively represent the views of members to Government and key influencers.

- Facing the challenge of the Covid 19 pandemic

The overriding narrative of 2020 became the organisation’s focus on providing a strong resource for its members during the course of the pandemic.

From an operational perspective, in spite of the need for staff to work remotely from March 2020, (and for the role of Administrator to be furloughed from April 2020) ACO continued to effectively function and deliver services to members during the course of the crisis.

Our primary response to the pandemic took two main forms:

1) Acting as a source of support to ACO charities

During the course of the crisis ACO put into place a range of measures to support benevolent and grantmaking charities. These included:

Introducing a central hub on the ACO website to share/signpost key resources and information for charities;
Providing weekly drop-in video calls with our small charities (“Under Fives”) group to provide peerto-peer support and share challenges and learnings;
Sharing member charities’ emergency appeals and campaigns across social media;
Maintaining a wide programme of virtual events to ensure continuing collaboration and engagement between members;
Running a Covid-19 ACO member survey to help enable charities to benchmark activities/support during lockdown.

2) Collaborating with other charity infrastructure bodies to provide a common voice for the sector

From the earliest point of the initial Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, ACO came together with other national charity infrastructure bodies including NCVO, ACEVO, NACVA, Small Charities Coalition and Charity Finance Group, to provide a unified voice during the crisis and to actively press Government for financial support for the charity sector. This concerted lobbying activity – through the campaign “#EveryDayCounts” - impacted on the subsequent sector relief package announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in May 2020.

Latterly, the wider infrastructure group bodies introduced a second campaign in September 2020 - #NeverMoreNeeded” – aimed at ensuring Government recognises the vital contribution that the charity sector will play in the national recovery effort that lies ahead.

Campaigning and Lobbying

ACO launched two national campaigns during the course of 2020:

#OneDayChangesLives – January 2020

January saw ACO run its first national campaign to help build awareness of the role of benevolent/grantmaking charities amongst the general public.

Appointing a PR agency to help secure national coverage for the campaign, ACO worked alongside members to bring benevolent charities together on social media to share stories and celebrate the work of our sector, which generated high levels of engagement both for ACO and our members.

The campaign generated more than 60 pieces of national coverage, including articles in The Guardian, The Times, The Sun, Daily Express and Daily Star.

#HeretoHelpCampign – September 2020

In the context of the increasing economic impact of Covid-19 – we recognised the need to ensure that agencies, organisations and charities that work with individuals in financial need are aware of the support that grant-making charities and benevolent funds can potentially provide at this time of national crisis.

During the course of the campaign ACO is working to actively communicate with identified key referrers (ranging from Citizens Advice and debt agencies to housing associations and trade unions) to ensure that there is a greater understanding of the practical impact our charities can make on the lives of their clients and service users. This practical call to action will include identifying the Turn2Us Grants Search facility as an effective resource to identify the wide range of charitable funds available.

Outreach Activities

In addition to our two national campaigns, ACO also conducted a range of outreach activities - working closely with other charity publications and organisations in order to share the work of ACO, its members and benevolent funds more widely. We have produced a number of articles for external publications so far this year including: CharityComms, ACEVO, Charities Management, Carers UK and Reader's Digest. At the same time, in conjunction with a group of ACO members, we exhibited at the national Citizens Advice conference in Manchester in November 2019.

Knowledge Sharing, Collaboration and Best Practice

In spite of the practical challenges posed by the Covid-19 crisis, during the course of the year we have been able to put in place a diverse programme of virtual events that provided relevant touch-points for colleagues throughout our member charities, including:

Quarterly grant-making forum – including themes ranging from data protection, anti-fraud and rebranding to human trafficking and online mental health apps;
CEO Forum;
Working with International Beneficiaries forum;
Connecting with Potential Beneficiaries webinar;
Small charities (Under Fives) weekly drop-in calls and quarterly meetings;
Corporate partner webinars;

Given the limitations on holding physical events during the course of the year, we reluctantly re-scheduled our May ACO Annual Conference. In its place, we committed to our first ACO virtual conference in October 2020, which we believe will prove an appropriate replacement and potentially enable us to engage with a wider and more diverse audience than has been traditionally possible with fixed venues.

Publication: Coronavirus - Delivering Financial Support

In response to requests from both member charities and external organisations around guidance for bodies looking to consider/establish a grant-making resource during the current pandemic, ACO published “Coronavirus- Delivering Financial Support”. This provided a concise guide not only for organisations looking to set up a grant fund for the first time, but also as a useful resource for ACO members to benchmark their existing processes against.

Member Feedback

Over the course of the year, feedback from members has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly in relation to the support and resources delivered by ACO during the pandemic period from March 2020.

One member summarised the continuing (positive) impact that the network makes within the charity sector: "Membership of ACO is invaluable for my organisation and the benevolent sector. It is an

excellent source of information, news and one-to-one support."

3. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Governance

Two Trustees retired from the ACO Board during 2019-20:

Clementine Cowl - as of the 2020 AGM, 18 June;
Thomas Bull – Treasurer – as of 31 August 2020;

A strong and effective board is synonymous with a strong and effective organisation. ACO will continue to attract and recruit high calibre sector individuals to contribute as Trustees. The Board has agreed to recruit new members in 2020-21 to fill gaps in the present array of skills and to maintain a diverse range of organisations represented.

The directors of the Charity, as defined in the Companies Act 2006, are also Charity Trustees for the purposes of charity law. Eligibility for election to the board of trustees is for up to fifteen trustees, 80% of whom must be a nominated representative of a charity member organisation at the time of appointment. Elections are governed by the Articles, (a copy of which may be obtained from the secretary or on the website).

Trustees are elected at the AGM for a term of office of three years. A retiring trustee may stand for reelection but may not be re-elected after serving for six years until three years from the date of his/her second retirement.

New trustees have an initial induction meeting with the Chair and the Chief Executive and are given a pack of relevant documents, which includes the Charity Commission’s publication on the responsibilities of charity trustees.

The Trustees met regularly during the financial year, to undertake their governance role in reviewing and directing the performance of ACO, and in addition, a strategic away day was held in January 2020 to consider the future development and requirements of the organisation.

Trustees’ Responsibilities Statement

The Trustees (who are also directors of the Association of Charitable Organisations for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations. Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the Trustees have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law) including FRS102 the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in UK and Republic of Ireland. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they’re satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the group and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it’s inappropriate to presume that the charitable group will continue in business.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They’re also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees confirm that:

so far as each Trustee is aware, there is no relevant information of which the charitable company’s independent examiner is unaware; and the Trustees have taken all the steps that they ought to have taken as Trustees in order to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that the charitable company’s independent examiner is aware of that information. The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. The Trustees have taken the exemption available to small companies and haven’t prepared a strategic report.

Administration

The day to day management of the Charity has been delegated to the Chief Executive, supported by a small staff team. The Chief Executive is responsible for the day to day running of the organisation. We have recruited a finance consultant to assist the Administrator with managing the finances of the organisation and producing quarterly management accounts and the annual Report of Trustees.

Risk

ACO has a risk register that is reviewed regularly by trustees. At the same time, given the specific impact of the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020 on the charity (from a financial, operational and human resource perspective), the Board instigated a series of additional Trustee (virtual) meetings to identify significant issues as they arose and agree actions with the Chief Executive to mitigate their impact.

Membership

Charity membership of the Association was 115 at 30th September 2020. ACO had 28 Corporate Partners and 1 Charity Partner.

Statement of Public Benefit

Trustees have regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit and consider that ACO’s activities have provided public benefit, through helping benevolence charities optimise their own public benefit through a range of approaches, which include best practice initiatives, networking opportunities, and influencing policy where this is likely to impact on member charities and those they serve.

4. FINANCIAL REVIEW

Financial Sustainability

In the context of the Covid-19 crisis, and its anticipated impact on the financial income streams during the course of the year (event income – notably ACO Annual Conference, charity membership fees and corporate partner fees) the ACO Board implemented regular monthly Trustee meetings during the period May – August 2020 (in addition to scheduled quarterly meetings) to closely monitor ACO’s financial activity.

In conjunction with the Chief Executive, the Board agreed that it would be prudent to implement a series of cost-reduction measures in order to maintain a sustainable financial platform for the Charity in the next financial year.

The role of Administrator was furloughed from 21 April through to the end of the financial year (30 September). Additional – longer term - measures included the continuance of the remote working environment for ACO – with the termination of the desk license at the former 28 Commercial Street office base (from 1 October 2020) and a rationalisation of the staff structure (again to be implemented in October 2020).

On the basis of these measures, the Board agreed a 2020-21 operating budget that provided a viable financial basis on which the organisation could continue to effectively maintain its support to the grantmaking and benevolent fund segment of the charity sector.

Reserves Policy

Any organisation requires reserves to safeguard itself against major fluctuations in income or delays in income being received and or unexpected items of expenditure. It is our objective to build and maintain our free reserves at a level of six months’ expenditure to give the Board the security of being able to plan for the long term as well as continue to be able to pay necessary expenses such as salaries. Reserves as at 30th September 2020 were standing at £29,504 (2018-19 £88,494); broadly 2.5 months (2018-19 5 months) of our budgeted expenditure for 2020-21. The financial position is closely monitored by the Board on a regular basis and reserves are considered by the Board as part of this monitoring exercise.

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

The ACO board decides remuneration for staff on an annual basis. The aim is to offer a fair salary to attract and retain staff to lead and support the delivery of the Charity’s aims and objectives. Given the need to maintain strict expenditure controls during the course of the crisis, salary increases were not awarded to staff during the course of the 2019-20 financial year.

Copies of the full accounts are on pages 11 to 17 of this report.

5. PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

Given the current economic uncertainty and rapidly evolving landscape, our strategic horizon will now be understandably short - rather than medium/long - term and will focus on maintaining our current activity levels/service delivery within prudent financial boundaries.

In spite of these constraints, we believe we will have significant opportunities over the coming year – particularly through the use of digital channels – to increase ACO’s footprint both through membership expansion through systematic recruitment campaigns and through outreach activities that communicate the case for establishing benevolent funds/charities to a wide audience of professional bodies and organisations looking to identify means to support their members/stakeholders through an economic downturn.

6. IN APPRECIATION

At the heart of ACO is a collaborative ethos – ‘we are better together’. The trustees would accordingly like to give sincere thanks and express their appreciation to:

Former Chief Executive Dominic Fox for his successful tenure leading ACO from 2013 up until December 2019 and for helping ensure a smooth and effective transition to the current Chief Executive Donal Watkin;

ACO staff for their assistance to Trustees and members during the year;
Neil Finlayson of Moore Kingston Smith LLP, Independent Examiner, for his support, generosity and advice;
Member organisations that have generously provided meeting venues and hospitality prior to the Covid-19 crisis;
All commercial organisations/corporate affiliates and supporters that made donations, supported meetings or provided venues during the year;
The Association of Charitable Foundations for providing office accommodation and much valued collaborative support;
All members for their continued support, engaged participation in our events and for their vibrant contribution which enables our network to thrive.

Signed: Date: 7 December 2020

D’Arcy Myers, Chair, on behalf of the Trustees of the Association of Charitable Organisations

7. CHARITY INFORMATION

Trustees - The trustees who held office during the financial year were as follows:

D’Arcy Myers (Chair) Smallwood Trust Thomas Bull (Treasurer) The Hospital Saturday Fund (resigned 31 August 2020) Caroline Aldred CIMA Benevolent Fund Kris Barnett ICE Benevolent Fund John Brown Former Trustee of Iprovision Clementine Cowl Dance Professionals Fund (resigned 18 June 2020) Julie Green R. L. Glasspool Charity Trust Jodie Gill CABA Chief Executive Dominic Fox to 31/10/19 Donal Watkin from 1/11/19 Company Secretary Dominic Fox to 31/10/19 Donal Watkin from 8/6/20

Professional advisers

Bankers:

Unity Trust Bank Plc, Nine Brindley Place, Birmingham B1 2HB

CCLA Investment Management Limited, 80 Cheapside, London EC2V 6DZ

Independent Examiner:

Mr Neil Finlayson, Moore Kingston Smith LLP, Devonshire House, 60 Goswell Road, London EC1M 7AD

Solicitors:

Russell-Cooke, 2 Putney Hill, London SW15 6AB

Insurers:

PIB Group, Rossington’s Business Park, West Carr Road, Nottinghamshire, DN22 7SW

ANNUAL ACCOUNTS 2019 - 2020

ASSOCIATION OF CHARITABLE ORGANISATIONS

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES (INCLUDING INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30[TH] SEPTEMBER 2020

Notes INCOME Members Subscriptions 2 Other income 3 Interest (Gross) Total Income EXPENDITURE Direct Charitable Expenditure 4 Governance Costs 4 Total Expenditure 4 NET INCOME FOR YEAR Balance Brought Forward 1/10/2019 Balance Carried Forward 30/9/2020 10		2019-20 £ 115,111 29,003 833 144,947 201,068 2,869 203,937 (58,990) 88,494 29,504		2018-19 £ 115,899 24,039 168
				140,106
				162,410 922
				163,332
				(23,226) 111,720
				88,494

All funds are unrestricted

BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30TH SEPTEMBER 2020

----- Start of picture text -----
2019-20 2018-19
Notes £ £
Current Assets
Unity Trust Bank plc (Custom Current 60,572 65,741
Account)
CCLA COIF – Deposit Account 10,504 89,671
Sundry Debtors and Prepayments 3,589 20,181
------------------ -----------------
-
Total Current Assets 74,665 175,593
Less Creditors falling due 9
Within one year (45,161) (81,764)
------------------ -----------------
Net Current Assets 29,504 93,829
------------------ -----------------
Total assets less current liabilities
Creditors falling due after more 9
than one year (5,335)
------------------ -----------------
-
NET ASSETS 10 29,504 88,494
FUNDS
Unrestricted funds 29,504 88,494
------------------ -----------------
-
29,504 88,494
----- End of picture text -----

For the financial year ended 30[th] September 2020 the company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 Companies Act 2006. No member of the company has deposited a notice, pursuant to section 476, requiring an audit of these financial statements under the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with section 386 of the Act and for preparing financial statements which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year and of its surplus or deficit for the financial year in accordance with

BALANCE SHEET (CONTINUED)

the requirements of section 394 and 395 and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to accounts, so far as applicable to the company.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies’ regime within Part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 and with Financial Reporting Standard 102.

The notes on pages 15 to 19 form a part of these financial statements.

Approved by the Board for issue on 7[th] September 2021 and signed on their behalf by:

D’Arcy Myers, Chair:

John Brown, Honorary Treasurer:

Company Registration No: 6113479

ASSOCIATION OF CHARITABLE ORGANISATIONS

These Notes are an Integral Part of the Accounts For the Year Ended 30[th] September 2020

1. Accounting Policies

(a) Basis of preparation

The financial statements of the charity, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared under the historical cost convention in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and the Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) Charities SORP (FRS 102) and the Charities Act 2011/Companies Act 2006.

(b) Going concern

The trustees have assessed whether the use of the going concern basis is appropriate and have considered possible events or conditions that might cast significant doubt on the ability of the charitable company to continue as a going concern. The trustees have made this assessment for a period of at least one year from the date of approval of the financial statements. In particular the trustees have considered the charitable company’s forecasts and projections and have taken account of pressures on income and implications of COVID-19. After making enquiries the trustees have concluded that there is a reasonable expectation that the charitable company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. The charitable company therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its financial statements.

Equipment, Fixtures, Fittings and Furniture are depreciated at 25% per annum on a straight line basis.

(d) Subscriptions are accounted for in the year to which they relate.
(e) Financial Instruments

Basic financial instruments are measured at amortised cost other than investments which are measured at fair value.

(f) Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

(g) Critical accounting estimates and areas of judgement

In preparing financial statements it is necessary to make certain judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts recognised in the financial statements. In the view of the trustees in applying the accounting policies

adopted, no judgements were required that have a significant effect on the amounts recognised in the financial statements, nor do any estimates.

2. 3. 4.	Members’ Subscriptions Charity members Corporate members Other Income Advertising Conferences and events Projects Grants Total Expenditure		2019-20 £ 90,611 24,500 115,111 2019-20 £ 1,550 18,400 9,053 29,003	2018-19 £ 92,899 23,000 115,899 2018-19 £ 1,600 22,439 24,039

5.	Notes Governance 7 Office Overheads 8 Service Delivery Staff Costs 5 Sundry Expenses Employee Costs and numbers Gross Salaries Employer National Insurance Employer Pension Contributions Recruitment Costs Other Staff Costs

5.	Employee Costs and numbers(Continued) Staff Numbers Full Time Part Time	2019-20 3 1	2018-19
			3 1

No employees earned £60,000 or more

6. Pension Costs

The pension staging date for auto-enrolment was in January 2017 and ACO has set up an appropriate scheme for employees. The 3 full time members of staff have enrolled into the NEST Scheme. The part time member of staff does not meet the qualifying requirements.

7. Trustees’ Remuneration and Expenses

No remuneration was paid to any Trustee but reimbursement has been made of necessary travel expenses of £122(18/19 £677) and Awayday costs of £ 2,747 (18/19 £nil) for Trustees included under Governance costs. No trustee or other person related to the charity had any personal interest in any contract or transaction entered into by the charity during the year.

8. Lease

There are no lease commitments on office accommodation. The property that was occupied was governed under a memorandum of agreement in which there are no liabilities. This agreement has now been cancelled and staff are working from home.

9. Creditors

9	Creditors falling due within one year HMRC Sundry Creditors Subscriptions paid in advance Creditors continued Creditors falling due after more than one year		2019-20 £ - 3,301 41,860 45,161 2019-20	2018-19 £ 3,335 18,259 60,170 81,764
				2018-19

10.	Subscriptions paid in advance Analysis of Net Assets Current Assets Current Liabilities Long term liabilities

Independent examiner’s report to the Trustees of The Association of Charitable Organisations

I report to the charity Trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Company for the year ended 30[th] September 2020.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity’s Trustees of the Company (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (‘the 2006 Act’).

Having satisfied myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of your charity’s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’). In carrying out my independent examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner's statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe:

accounting records were not kept in respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the accounts do not accord with those records; or
the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the accounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for Accounting and Reporting by Charities.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Date: 31 August 2021

Neil Finlayson, FCA, DChA

Independent Examiner

For and on behalf of Moore Kingston Smith LLP

Chartered Accountants Devonshire House 60 Goswell Road London EC1M 7AD

http://www.mooreks.co.uk