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ACAT’s Training Newsletter
December 2024
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Hi Guest,
Welcome to our December Training Newsletter!
As we come together in our churches for carols, prepare nativity plays, and enjoy the aroma of Christmas baking or mulled wine, the season reminds us of the joy, generosity, and community present at Jesus’ birth. I hope our festive gingerbread church above captures the warmth and spirit of the season.
Amongst the celebrations, it’s also a time to plan for the year ahead. Whether you’re strengthening your accounts, preparing for new responsibilities, or looking to enhance your church’s financial management, ACAT is here to support you. Our spring term training courses cover vital topics, from accounting methods to trustee responsibilities and Gift Aid management. See our seven recently released courses below. We also plan to run a ‘Being a Treasurer: The Basics’ course in March, so keep an eye on future training newsletters and the website training pages.
As we look forward to the New Year, we hope these opportunities inspire and strengthen you in your calling.
Wishing you a blessed Advent and a joyful Christmas!
God bless,
Cath Fox
Administration Officer (Training)
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How to account for church income and expenditure: Problems and Pitfalls
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Date: Thursday 16 January
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How confident are you that your accounting records are accurate and ready for the Independent Examiner?
Understanding the type of activity that is generating church income and how the church funds are being spent can assist the church trustees to accurately record and report where its funds are coming from and how the church is using those funds to further its charitable purposes, this course will give confidence in this understanding.
Who is it for?
For all those involved in preparing accruals accounts (under Charities SORP (FRS102)) for their church and Independent Examiners reviewing Fully Accrued church accounts.
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How to account for church receipts and payments: Problems and Pitfalls
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Date: Wednesday 22 January
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How confident are you that your accounting records are accurate and ready for the Independent Examiner?
Understanding the type of activity that is generating church receipts and how the church funds are being spent, can assist the church trustees to accurately record and report where its funds are coming from and how the church is using those funds to further its charitable purposes, this course will give confidence in this understanding.
Who is it for?
For all those involved in preparing Receipts and Payments accounts for their churches, and Independent Examiners reviewing church Receipts and Payments accounts.
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Tax issues on trading for churches
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Date: Thursday 23 January
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Is your church aware of the hidden complexities in tax laws that might impact its trading activities?
This course gives insights into the complexities of tax laws affecting church trading activities.
Who is it for?
This course is designed for church treasurers, trustees, finance managers, and anyone involved in managing church finances, especially if your church trades or is thinking of trading.
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Accruals Accounting – Accounts for Larger Churches
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Two session course
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Date: Saturday 1 and 8 February
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Confused or overwhelmed by the complexities of accruals accounting or simply looking for assurance that you are doing things correctly?
Why not join our two-session course on accruals accounting and understand more about the concept of accruals basis accounting?
This is a two-session course, and we highly recommend that you attend both sessions if at all possible.
Who is it for?
This course is designed for church treasurers, trustees, finance managers, and anyone involved in managing church finances, where your church is required, or has chosen, to use accruals accounting.
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Trustee Training for Churches
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Two session course
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Date: Saturday 1 and 8 February
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Trustees are those who care, control and manage your church as a charity – what does that mean?
ACAT’s Trustee Training for Churches course has been designed to equip trustees with the skills they need to meet their legal and moral obligations to manage their churches well.
This is a two-session course, and we highly recommend that you attend both sessions if at all possible.
Who is it for?
This course is designed for all those who are involved in the care, control and management of your church as a charity including PCC members, elders, treasurers etc. Any and all trustees and potential trustees.
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The Church Treasurer: Insights into the role and responsibilities
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So you’ve been asked to be treasurer – where do you go to get a real insight into the role, what are you saying yes to?
Gain essential insights and confidence for your role as a church treasurer with practical tips from experienced trainer Robert Scott-Biggs.
Who is it for?
This course is designed for church treasurers new to the job, trustees looking for a new treasurer and those who have been asked to take on the role of church treasurer.
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Gift Aid: Maximising the benefits and reducing the pitfalls
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Are you adding to your church income by making the most of the tax relief from the donations your church receives?
This course provides a clear understanding of Gift Aid and the small donations scheme (GASDS), covering legal requirements, donor definitions, and essential record-keeping.
Who is it for?
This course is designed for church treasurers, trustees, finance managers, and anyone involved in gift aid management and submissions.
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Charities Engagement Team – Upcoming webinars
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The Charity Commission for England and Wales registers and regulates charities to ensure that the public can support charities with confidence. Through regular events, the Charities Engagement Team supports trustees and charity leaders to manage their charities effectively.
Currently, all courses for January and February are fully booked. You can check on the Charities Engagement Teams website for the new year schedule.
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To ensure our courses start promptly, bookings close 24 hours before online sessions begin. To help with this please do get your bookings in in good time.
If you have any trouble booking please do get in touch with Cath on training@acat.uk.com.
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If you have previously taken one of our courses, and you have a spare 5 minutes, we would greatly appreciate you leaving us your feedback; any feedback helps us to continue to develop and enhance the training we currently offer as well as new courses in the future.
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Thank you for your support.
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That’s it for our training newsletter for December. As a brief reminder, the bookings for our online courses generally close 24 hours prior to their start date, and several days before our in-person events. Don’t forget to visit our website and follow us on social media to keep up to date with ACAT’s latest news, events and courses.
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Charity no. 1072733 Registered address: Association of Church Accountants and Treasurers, C/O KM Accountants, 1st Floor, Block C, The Wharf, Manchester Road, Burnley, BB11 1JG.
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