New charity thresholds from 30 September 2026

For financial years ending on or after 30 September 2026, several of the income and asset thresholds that decide how a charity in England and Wales must have its accounts scrutinised are higher. For many charities that means moving from a full audit to an independent examination, or from needing a qualified examiner to being able to use one who is not, or, for charities that are not companies, from accruals accounts to simpler receipts-and-payments accounts. It is the first big revision of these figures in more than a decade.

The old and new figures

England and Wales; applies to financial years ending on or after 30 September 2026. Check the exact application to your own year with your examiner. Charitable companies cannot use receipts-and-payments accounts and must prepare accruals accounts whatever their income.

And what stays the same

• Registration: still required once income exceeds £5,000 (CIOs at any size).
• Annual return: still required for charities with income over £10,000.
• Filing accounts and the fuller annual return: still from £25,000 income.

What the terms mean

Audit vs independent examination. An audit is the fuller, more expensive check carried out by a registered auditor. An independent examination is a lighter review. Raising the audit threshold to £1.5m means charities with income between £1m and £1.5m (and within the asset limit) can generally switch to an independent examination, often a real saving.

Qualified examiner. Above the qualified-examiner threshold, your independent examiner must be a member of a listed professional body. Raising it to £500k means more mid-sized charities can use a suitably experienced but non-qualified examiner.

Receipts-and-payments accounts. The simpler, cash-based way of preparing accounts, as opposed to accruals accounts. Raising the ceiling to £500k lets more charities that are not companies use the simpler basis, which also keeps them outside most of the new SORP 2026 requirements.

What to do

• See where you sit against the new figures for the financial year you are in now. They apply to any year ending on or after 30 September 2026.
• Ask your examiner or accountant whether you can move to a lighter level of scrutiny, and from when.
• Check your governing document for any audit requirement that overrides the statutory position.

Sources: the Charities Acts 1992 and 2011 (Substitution of Sums) Order 2026 (SI 2026/427); ICAEW, new financial thresholds effective 30 September 2026.

This guide is general information for trustees and committee members, not legal or accounting advice, and every charity is different. The new thresholds are in force, but how they apply to a particular year can turn on the detail, so always confirm the current position with the relevant regulator or a suitably qualified adviser before acting. Last reviewed October 2026.