ACAT is delighted to announce that places can now be booked on our first ever online training sessions.
Our popular Being a Treasurer: The Basics will become the first course to be available via webinar from September 12.
Limited places are now available and treasurers are asked to book times and dates convenient for them at the earliest opportunity.
ACAT has split the course – which is equally relevant to new and experienced treasurers – into three two hour-long sessions.
We’re advising treasurers to book all three sessions to ensure that they’re appraised of the entire course.
Each session – costing just £10 – will be led by ACAT’s highly experienced trainer, Manny Kemp.
The first Being a Treasurer: The Basics session will cover charity law and the role of trustees and the bookkeeping and finance processes in a church.
This first session be available on:
Saturday, September 12 – between 10am and 12noon
Saturday, September 12 – between 2pm and 4pm
Tuesday, September 15 – between 6pm and 8pm
The second Being a Treasurer: The Basics session will cover the topics of budgeting, risk and Gift Aid.
Delegates will learn about the planning activities of budgeting and risk management, and Gift Aid and other tax subjects
The second session will be available on:
Saturday, September 19 – between 10am and 12noon
Saturday, September 19 – between 2pm and 4pm
Tuesday, September 22 – between 6pm and 8pm
The third Being a Treasurer: The Basics session will delve into the topic of year-end reporting.
It will cover the year-end reporting and independent examination routines required by law.
This third session will take place on:
Saturday, September 26 – between 10am and 12noon
Saturday, September 26 – between 2pm and 4pm
Tuesday, September 29 – between 6pm and 8pm
ACAT Executive Officer Ashley Ellis said: “We’ve listened to feedback from ACAT members and are now launching our Basics course online for the first time.
“It will enable church treasurers to train in the comfort of their own home or office regardless of where they live in the country.
“Once a booking has been made, a member of ACAT’s team will be in touch with details of how to log-in.”
The training will be provided by Zoom.
If delegates don’t have an existing Zoom account, you will be prompted to download the free software once you’ve clicked on the link that we’ll provide you with.
Ashley adds: “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Manny Kemp for his outstanding work developing these sessions in conjunction with ACAT’s team.
“We hope to launch even more online courses in the near future.”
To book a session either click on the dates above or go to ACAT’s training page here.
What are the key drivers when choosing your church’s accounting software?
Looking for Church Accountants and Treasurers to participate this summer!
Tracee McAtear is conducting this exciting research project for the MSc in Charity Accounting and Financial Management at City, University of London. There is a wide range of charity accounting software currently available, and she is interested to find out from you as the finance officer, the process of identifying the software your church currently uses, and how it is currently used in your context. If you participate, your church could be one of six churches taking part in this multiple case study.
At a mutually convenient time, Tracee, will visit each church location to observe the charity accounting software in use, and then interview the participants regarding how the software was chosen and then integrated into the finance routines. It would be preferable for the observation and interview to take place on the same day and with the subject’s consent, for an audio recording to be made of the interview if onsite. Alternatively, the interview can take place over a video call (eg. Zoom) which will be recorded.
The benefit to participants and their churches is that Tracee can also provide you with feedback to you about other systems and give you a free and unbiased view of your current system and its integration into the finance function. All observations and interviews will be in strict confidence.
The observations and interviews of the six churches will take place June – July 2022. The resulting data will be analysed and compared, and the findings presented in the dissertation that will be submitted to Bayes Business School in September 2022. To learn more about the project please click the link to register your interest and to receive the detailed Participant Information sheet and the Informed Consent Form.
ACAT is urging church treasurers to book places for our 2020 Virtual Conference “at the earliest opportunity” to avoid disappointment following the great success of our first online courses.
These online courses are now practically fully booked – a little over a fortnight after they were launched.
ACAT’s Executive Officer Ashley Ellis is calling on members to book places on those webinars that form part of this year’s conference, entitled: “The Challenge of Change – Securing Your Church’s Financial Future” as early as possible due to limited spaces being available.
The event will take place entirely online between Monday, October 5, and Thursday, October 15.
Ashley explained: “The entire ACAT team has been absolutely delighted that so many of you have booked a place on our first ever online training courses.
“We’re now asking you to book your places at this year’s virtual conference at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment, as we’re only able to make limited places available.
“We’ve arranged for a host of truly outstanding speakers from the worlds of faith, finance, law and digital to lend church treasurers their expertise – and we don’t want you to miss out.”
The events which form part of this year’s conference are:
Monday, October 5, 2020 at 7.30pm – The Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility (ECCR): “Money Makes Change – How do we connect our faith and finances to create a fairer, more sustainable world?“ Tuesday, October 6, 2020 at 7.30pm – Diocese of York Generous Giving Team: “Communication – Top Tips for Encouraging Generosity.” Wednesday, October 7, 2020 at 7.30pm – The Association of Charity Independent Examiners (ACIE): “Independent Examination – The Independent Examiner Calls” Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 4pm – easyfundraising: “A guide to generating free income online using easyfundraising” Thursday, October 8, 2020 at 7.30pm – Giving in Grace: “The Heart and the How of a Stewardship Programme” Monday, October 12, 2020 at 7.30pm – CCLA: “Investing, before during and after a pandemic – CCLA’s Response to Covid-19” Tuesday, October 13, 2020 at 7.30pm – The Charity Commission: “Treasurers – Making a Difference“ Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 7.30pm – Data Developments: “Re-defining accounts and giving in a digital world” Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 4pm – Creative Stream: “WWW: Which Websites Work – A snapshot of what works for Churches today“ Thursday, October 15, 2020 at 7.30pm – Anthony Collins: “Employment Law, the Treasurer and the post-pandemic environment“ To discover more – or to book places – please click on the above links. Alternatively, if you wish to book all 10 webinars at the reduced price of £75 please click here.ACAT is truly delighted that CCLA has returned as our headline sponsor for this year’s conference. CCLA is the UK’s leading fund manager for Christian churches and charities with 60 years’ experience providing competitive and attractive investment management services.”
ACAT is delighted to be welcoming Andrew Robinson MBE, CCLA’s Executive Director of Market Development, as one of the keynote speakers at our 2021 virtual conference. Andrew’s webinar entitled What is good investment? will take place at 7pm on Thursday, October 14. Here, Andrew explains how church treasurers will specifically benefit from the webinar…
‘REALITY IS ONE, THOUGH WISE PEOPLE SPEAK OF IT VARIOUSLY’
This is the conclusion of an ancient story that describes a group of blind men encountering an elephant for the first time. Each gets a chance to touch one part of it and then tries to describe their experience to the others. One touches the trunk and concludes it’s like a thick snake. Another touches the ear and claims it’s a fan. A third feels the leg and maintains it’s a tree. A fourth feels the side of the elephant and believes it’s like a wall. Another grabs the tail and says it’s a rope. While the man who touches the tusk describes it as a polished spear. A huge argument ensues as they attempt to come to a consensus.
The elephant now standing in the midst of investment management industry, and very much of the moment, is ESG — those non-financial factors relating to environmental, social and governance considerations increasingly taken account of when constructing portfolios. While ESG investing is still a relatively new phenomenon, in actual fact the Christian church for decades has been at the forefront of what was once a movement and is now becoming mainstream. Though some might call it ‘mission-driven’ investment and CCLA has laid a claim to ‘good investment’, the reality is ESG investing has achieved an unstoppable momentum. Its popularity will continue to grow post pandemic. The stark challenges for people and planet presented by climate change, combined with a marked shift in society’s attitudes regarding the consequences of the economic choices we make today on the social and environmental conditions of tomorrow, will make sure of it … but only in part: the real driver is that the investment industry itself can already smell the money, however ESG is only spoken of variously.
CCLA is the largest manager of charity funds in the UK (Charity Finance, July 2021), managing money for more Christian churches and faith-based organisations across all denominations than any of our competitors. We define our purpose as helping our clients maximise their impact on society by harnessing the power of investment markets. This emphasis is important for a number of reasons, which I very much hope will become clear to those attending my session at the ACAT conference.
I’m not sure church accountants and treasurers are as aware of their power to do good in terms of mission as they might be — with their substance, not just the surpluses generated. Insofar as conferences tend to focus more on the ‘ways and means’ rather than the end objective, I am hoping that by giving attendees the opportunity to define for themselves what good investment might look like, it will help in defining the sort of action plan that might follow to effect lasting real world impact, which must require going beyond the technical aspects of portfolio construction. For the Christian investor, maybe even re-imagining what shareholder value really means.
To book your place on Andrew’s webinar entitled ‘What is good investment?” on Thursday, October 14, at 7pm, please click HERE.
CCLA Investment Management Ltd and CCLA Fund Managers Ltd are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Data Developments has launched a new Independent Examination service.
The company, which specialises in administrative software for churches and charities, has made this service available to its Finance Co-ordinator and MyFundAccounting users only.
The firm’s new service includes:
• Independent examination of your year-end accounts
• Writing a report to be included in your annual accounts
• Sharing feedback, if necessary, that could help simplify the work of the treasurer or improve the reporting for trustees
Stephen Hendy, Data Developments’ Managing Director, told ACAT: “If you decide to use our Independent Examination service, we will send you a letter of engagement and then a list of the information we need together with a backup of Finance Co-ordinator or details of your MyFundAccounting account.
“In these current times these documents can be scanned and emailed to us and any meetings, if required, can be done online via Microsoft Teams.
“We would examine the information and compare it to the software and if needed ask for further information and if you had any queries you could speak directly to the person at Data Developments carrying out the examination.
“Once completed we would need your Trustees Annual Report to ensure the figures match the accounts and also so that we could add our section to it and sign them off.
“Afterwards we could give feedback on matters that weren’t relevant to be included in the examination report but may be useful going forward.”
The costs are 0.5% of your annual income or £250 plus vat whichever is the greater.
For further information click HERE.
THE data protection chapter of ACAT’s handbook has been revised – and is now available for members to read on our website.
Chapter 21 now examines both the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) as well as the Data Protection Act 2018.
It has subsections that discuss: “The lawful basis for processing data”; “The registration process”; & “The Effects of Brexit”.
The chapter has been prepared for ACAT by highly experienced data protection specialist Kate Grimley Evans, who was formerly the Head of Information Law at Stone King LLP.
Kate qualified as a solicitor in 2004, having trained with Eversheds and subsequently worked at Mills & Reeve before joining Stone King in January 2011.
Kate qualified as an EU GDPR Data Protection Practitioner in 2017 before leaving Stone King in August 2019 to launch her own company to concentrate on first rate data protection training and compliance auditing.
Chapter 21 of ACAT’s handbook entitled Data Protection is available here.
SEVERAL chapters of ACAT’s handbook have been updated to ensure that church treasurers of all denominations remain fully briefed.
The handbook is written to provide guidance for treasurers and others concerned with the financial and legislative affairs of their church, on a wide range of financial matters.
The updating has been overseen by ACAT’s Treasurer Greyham Dawes.
The new chapters include:
– Chapter Six: Basic Accruals Accounts
– Chapter Nine: Reserves
– Chapter Ten: Annual Report
– Chapter Eleven: Independent Examination
– Chapter Twenty Five: Charities in Scotland
ACAT Executive Officer Ashley Ellis said: “We recognise that our Handbook is a truly essential resource for members and we’re constantly checking to ensure that it is as up to date as possible.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Greyham for his outstanding work on this project.
“Earlier this year, we also worked with data protection specialist Kate Grimley Evans to update Chapter 21 on Data Protection.
“We will always let you know when these updates occur.”
The Handbook section on ACAT’s website – which is only accessible to members – can be accessed by clicking HERE.
For churches preparing accruals accounts (under Charites SORP (FRS102)) and Independent Examiners reviewing Fully Accrued church accounts.
For Receipts and Payments, please see our other training HERE.
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.
The seminar will cover aspects such as:
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.
For churches preparing accruals accounts (under Charities SORP (FRS102)) and Independent Examiners reviewing Fully Accrued church accounts.
For Receipts and Payments, please see our other training HERE.
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.
What will be achieved: By the end of this course you will have delved into accounting for different types of church income from offerings and donations to legacies and grants. Exploration of church expenditure related to the types of income and accounting for different fund types will also be covered.
All of which will give clear direction on recording and understanding the income different activities in church generate, giving confidence in your reporting.
Other information: The course comprises practical and theoretical information, delivered by a knowledgeable and experienced trainer, who has firsthand experience as a church treasurer and independent examiner. The trainer will be happy to answer your questions and concerns, enabling you to record and report your church finances with greater confidence.
The course is typically delivered through a live Zoom webinar. You’ll have the opportunity to interact with the speakers and get answers to your specific questions. Each delegate will be sent pre-course materials in advance of the sessions.
It may be helpful to have some knowledge of the financial recording and reporting in your own context, but it is not essential to have any specific knowledge to take the course.
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.
This course is for churches preparing accruals accounts (under Charities SORP (FRS102)) and Independent Examiners reviewing Fully Accrued church accounts.
For Receipts and Payments, please see our other training.
For all those involved in preparing accruals accounts (under Charities SORP (FRS102)) for their church and Independent Examiners reviewing Fully Accrued church accounts.
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.
By the end of this course you will have delved into accounting for different types of church income from offerings and donations to legacies and grants. Exploration of church expenditure related to the types of income and accounting for different fund types will also be covered.
All of which will give clear direction on recording and understanding the income different activities in church generate, giving confidence in your reporting.
Other information: The course comprises practical and theoretical information, delivered by a knowledgeable and experienced trainer, who has firsthand experience as a church treasurer and independent examiner. The trainer will be happy to answer your questions and concerns, enabling you to record and report your church finances with greater confidence.
The course is typically delivered through a live Zoom webinar or meeting depending on numbers. You’ll have the opportunity to interact with the speakers and get answers to your specific questions. Course slides are sent after the session.
It may be helpful to have some knowledge of the financial recording and reporting in your own context, but it is not essential to have any specific knowledge to take the course.
