Independent Examiner
As a parish you will need to have your accounts checked by someone competent outside the PCC to ensure that you have complied with the Charities Act. Furthermore, the Church Representation Rules (II 9.3a) require all PCCs or Joint Councils (JCs) to have their annual accounts audited or independently examined so that the Charity Commission’s £25,000 per year threshold does not apply.
Unless your turnover is over £1 million, you are likely to do this by Independent Examination rather than by an audit. The person who checks your accounts in this way is the Independent Examiner and is appointed by the Annual Parochial Church meeting (APCM). However the appointment is usually made on the advice of the PCC.
To give good advice the PCC needs to understand what the Independent Examiner is expected to do, what information they need to do it, and what they will report on. They will need to ensure they are independent from the PCC and are appropriately skilled to carry out the role. We have put together an Independent Examiner’s pack to help:
- Current Independent Examiners can check they are carrying out the role in accordance with Charity Commission expectations, and have the templates they need
- Prospective Independent Examiners decide whether to take on the role and see the support that they are given
- Treasurers, PCCs and Joint Councils to understand who they can appoint as an Independent Examiner and what the process entails
Independent Examiner Pack
IE1 Independent Examination – Guidance for PCCs
IE2 Guidance for Independent Examiners
IE3 Independent Examiners Checklist
IE4 independent examination of charity accounts
IE5 Template letter Terms of Engagement for Independent Examiner
IE6 Independent examiners report template for Receipts & Payments Accounts
IE7 Independent Examiners report template for Accruals basis
More information can be found on the Charity Commission and on the Parish Resources websites, the links are below:
