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ACAT’s Training Newsletter
March 2026
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Hi Guest,
Over the last few weeks, many of you will have seen the first sunshine of the year. If you are a gardener, you may have been outside preparing the ground and planting your seeds. It’s the time of year when we start to think about the outdoors, when will the first BBQ be, when do I have to cut the grass? Do I need some outdoor furniture for entertaining, or maybe it’s time to start some of that DIY or maintenance around the church?
The first sunshine brings with it great joy and happiness for me. With the rainy start to the year, the sunshine really reminded me of Easter coming and Jesus rising from the grave. But before I get ahead of myself, we have the preparation, the sweeping, cutting the grass, planting the seeds, getting ready to entertain and watch the flowers bloom. How about you? What does the first sunshine of the year mean for you?
Over the rest of this spring term, we have a few courses you may be interested in, including Keeping Simple Church Accounts and Accruals Accounting, as well as Gift Aid and a course about banking as a faith group.
Lastly, following the selling out of our course on the new Charities SORP, we are running it again in June if you wish to sign up early, in case we sell out again.
I pray the sunshine brings you great joy and that your preparations for what is to come go well.
God Bless,
Cath Fox
Administration Officer (Training)
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Spring Training Programme
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Keeping Simple Church Accounts
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Looking for a straightforward introduction to keeping simple church accounts?
Learn the essentials of Receipts and Payments accounting, legal requirements, and internal reporting to grow your confidence in managing church finances.
Who is it for?
This course is designed for church/charity treasurers operating simple Receipts and Payments accounting as well as anyone involved in bookkeeping these accounts. Interested trustees and finance managers are also welcome.
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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 is a guide for churches on how to correctly reclaim as much Gift Aid as possible, including what donations can (and cannot) be Gift Aided, and the records that need to be kept.
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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Accruals Accounting – Accounts for Larger Churches
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Two-session course
Date and time: 14 March 2 PM – 4 PM, 21 March 10 AM – 12 Noon
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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Banking for Faith Groups – Key considerations
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Everything you need to know about banking and building strong communications.
Learn what key documents you will need to have to open an account for any bank to begin the account opening process; internal risk management and controls, how to select the right banking products; communicating with your bank; fully understand the importance of keeping your bank mandates updated. Consideration for cash flow and liquidity requirements.
Who is it for?
Treasurers, finance teams or anyone involved in day-to-day banking and the operation of bank accounts.
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Generating Income and Grant Applications
This course is delivered in person at Eden Baptist Church – Cambridge
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Thinking of embarking on a project and wondering where the resources will come from? This may help.
ACAT’s Generating Income & Grant Applications course is for those who are looking to source funding for their church or for a church project.
It has been designed to provide delegates with the skills and confidence required to identify potential sources of funding before successfully applying for it.
Who is it for?
This course is designed for anyone who is involved in raising funds for church-based projects whether that be building or outreach projects. Treasurers, trustees, volunteers etc.
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Charities SORP 2026: an introduction
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Are you grappling with the new changes presented by the introduction of the new SORP?
With the new SORP being released last year, many churches are scratching their heads, wondering just what it all means in the real world, and how it’s going to affect the way they have to do their financial reporting. We’ve put together this introductory course to give you a clear idea of what the new SORP means for you and your church. The course explains the key changes in a clear, practical way, helping you approach them with confidence and peace of mind. As our course leads put it, “It’s not as complicated as it appears.”
Who is it for?
For all those involved in preparing their church’s accounts on an accruals basis and those wishing to understand the changes the new SORP brings.
Please note that this is a repeat of the course held in February 2026, but will incorporate any updates available.
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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.
Courses for March and April are open for bookings.
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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 March. 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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