REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED
31st December 2023
FOR
THE SOFTWARE CHARITY
Registered charity in England & Wales with registration no: 1199034
THE SOFTWARE CHARITY
CONTENTS OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS for the year ended 31st December 2023
| Report of the Trustees | X |
|---|---|
| Section 1: Structure, Governance & | |
| Management | |
| Section 2: Objectives & Activities | |
| Section 3: Achievements & Performance | |
| Section 4: Financial Review | |
| Section 5: Declaration | |
| Statement of Financial Activities | X |
| Balance Sheet | X |
| Notes to the Financial Statements | X |
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THE SOFTWARE CHARITY REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES for the year ended 31 December 2023
The trustees present their report together with the financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2023 . The trustees have adopted the provisions of 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 UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2015).
ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Registered Charity number 1199034
Registered address:
The Software Charity Bridge House Station Approach Great Missenden HP16 9AZ
Trustees:
Steve Griffiths (Chair) Elizabeth Moseley Charles Vernon
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Section 1: Structure, Governance & Management
Governing document
The Software Charity is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) governed by its Constitution dated 16th May 2022. The members of the CIO are its trustees and membership cannot be transferred to anyone else. Therefore, only the trustees of the CIO are able to vote on any matter relating to the CIO.
Appointment of trustees
As set out in the Constitution, trustees are appointed by a resolution passed at a properly convened meeting of the charity trustees. The chair of trustees is nominated by the trustees of the CIO and may at any point revoke such appointment. When considering the appointment of trustees, the board has regard to the requirement for any specialist skills needed for the effective administration of the CIO.
Trustee induction
Trustees are well aware of our objectives and the work we undertake. As such, the induction of new trustees is minimal. New trustees receive a copy of the current version of the Constitution, a copy of the most recent Trustees’ Annual Report and statement of accounts, and the Charity Commission’s ‘Charity Trustee Welcome Pack’ and ‘The essential trustee: what you need to know, what you need to do (CC3)’ guide.
Organisation
The board of trustees administers the CIO, with responsibilities for different areas. The board appoints a Chairman who directs the operations of the charity.
All trustees, and members of committees, give their time voluntarily and receive no benefits from the charity.
Section 2: Objective & Activities
The Software Charity has been set up to promote the efficiency and effectiveness of charities and the effective use of charitable resources through the development of low cost complete software based solutions for use by charities.
Significant activities
During the previous period we have:
-
Raised £51,000,
-
Developed the majority of the SignMeUp application
Public benefit
In shaping our objectives for the year and planning our activities, the trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, including the guidance ‘Public benefit: running a charity (PB2)’.
The Software Charity operates on a not for profit basis to design and build software specifically to tackle day-to-day challenges encountered by many charities. This is licensed to them, providing them with fit for purpose software without the burden of having to fund and manage complex software projects. This allows them to be more effective in achieving their own charitable objective, focusing more of their own time and money on the things that they primarily exist to do.
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In the medium term, The Software Charity is working to produce a registrations and management software suite, called “SignMeUp”, to be used by children’s holiday clubs and events. There is already high demand for this from the Lighthouse group of charities and events, but the software will be able to support multiple types of children’s events regardless of their background or mission.
Longer term, The Software Charity will identify other opportunities within the charity sector for novel software products where there are no existing cost-effective solutions, with a goal of maintaining a broad suite of software that solves many common problems. The ultimate goal is to reduce costs for these charities, and allow them to spend more of their time and money on their primary charitable goals, rather than administrative costs.
Section 3: Achievements & Performance
Chairman’s Report for 2023
2023 was a busy year for us. In April we hit our initial fundraising goal in order to commence the SignMeUp project, and by May we had a contractor in place and development was underway. Thanks to a credit free accounts payable facility granted to us by a local business, we were able to fully fund and complete primary development by the end of the year. An extensive, volunteer led testing phase was carried out in December, we are grateful to all those volunteers who helped with this extensive piece of work, and to Alex Griffiths for coordinating this. As well as being our secretary, Alex is now also running the SignMeUp support desk in a volunteer capacity, and our continued thanks go to her for this. Around the same time we also undertook extensive security and data protection work to ensure that SignMeUp is secure and as a charity we are compliant with the relevant legislation prior to the launch of SignMeUp.
The following part of my report relates to the period after the 2023 accounting period.
SignMeUp went live in February 2024. We have retained maintenance services from our original developer, which has been immensely helpful in tackling the teething issues that the system has as it has got up and running. For any project of this size, dealing with such items is to be expected, especially during the earlier stages of use. All 15 of the charities in the Lighthouse group are now live and taking registrations through the SignMeUp platform for their 2024 events. The platform has received 700+ individual registrations at the point that I am writing this report in April 2024, and is on track to have received 5000+ by the end of the year based on our user organisations projections.
Whilst we still have some way to go to get to a mature platform, the fact that we have delivered SignMeUp on budget and on time is immensely gratifying, and I am grateful to all those who have been involved with the charity up to this point, including our other trustees, our treasurer and also those from our user charities who have sat alongside our management board helping to communicate the needs of charities who will now use the SignMeUp platform. We have demonstrated that we are a strong team capable of delivering complex software projects that ultimately help other charities achieve their own aims.
Financially, SignMeUp (and the charity as a whole) is now sustainable given the current level of usage, and assuming no drop in that usage. I would now foresee a settling in period as we continue to grow the user base for the SignMeUp, before we begin gearing up for another project.
Section 4: Financial Review
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Financial position
For the financial year to 31 December 2023 the charity had an income of £51,356.32 and an expenditure of £36,655.07. The full accounts are provided separately.
Principal funding sources
The principal funding source for the CIO are donations individuals and trusts.
Reserves policy
None of the reserves are restricted as to their use. The trustees regularly review the reserves of the charity. The trustees consider that reserves should cover 12 months running and development costs in normal circumstances.
Going concern
The trustees have a reasonable expectation that fundraising efforts together with the current reserves will enable The Software Charity to continue in operational existence for at least one year from the date of approval of the accounts.
Funds in deficit
There are currently no funds in deficit.
Principal risks and uncertainties
We still need to raise additional funds in order to bring the SignMeUp application to completion, but as these are fixed rather than ongoing costs, we currently have only very minimal ongoing exposure.
Section 5: Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved this trustees’ report.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees:
Full name: Mr Steve Griffiths Position: Chair of Trustees Date: 2nd September 2024
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THE SOFTWARE CHARITY
FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31 December 2023
INCOME
| INCOME | |
|---|---|
| Donations | £50,450.00 |
| Subscriptions | £875.00 |
| Interest | £31.32 |
| Total | £51,356.32 |
EXPENDITURE
| EXPENDITURE | |
|---|---|
| Banking | £60.00 |
| IT costs | £395.07 |
| Subcontractor labour | £35,900.00 |
| DBS Provider | £300.00 |
| Total | £36,655.07 |
| Income – expenditure | £14,701.25 |
| Balance brought forward from previous year | £2,495.27 |
| Balance carried forward | £17,196.52 |
Notes
Peters Research Ltd has provided a line of credit to cover development costs. On 31st December 2023 Peters Research Ltd Invoices 8997 (£5600) and 8998 (£7700) were outstanding. A further £13,300 was due to be invoiced by Peters Research to The Software Charity, but was not invoiced until 2024.
Signed on behalf of The Software Charity
Dr Richard Peters Treasurer
I have reviewed and can confirm these accounts
Ian Branch, FCMA, CGMA, FIoD
THE SOFTWARE CHARITY
FINANCIAL YEAR ENDED 31 December 2023
INCOME
| INCOME | |
|---|---|
| Donations | £50,450.00 |
| Subscriptions | £875.00 |
| Interest | £31.32 |
| Total | £51,356.32 |
EXPENDITURE
| EXPENDITURE | |
|---|---|
| Banking | £60.00 |
| IT costs | £395.07 |
| Subcontractor labour | £35,900.00 |
| DBS Provider | £300.00 |
| Total | £36,655.07 |
| Income – expenditure | £14,701.25 |
| Balance brought forward from previous year | £2,495.27 |
| Balance carried forward | £17,196.52 |
Notes
Peters Research Ltd has provided a line of credit to cover development costs. On 31st December 2023 Peters Research Ltd Invoices 8997 (£5600) and 8998 (£7700) were outstanding. A further £13,300 was due to be invoiced by Peters Research to The Software Charity, but was not invoiced until 2024.
Signed on behalf of The Software Charity
Dr Richard Peters Treasurer
I have reviewed and can confirm these accounts
Ian Branch, FCMA, CGMA, FIoD