ACAT officially opens bookings for our first online training sessions

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ACAT officially opens bookings for our first online training sessions

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.

Book early for ACAT’s first-ever ‘Virtual’ Conference – to avoid disappointment

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.”

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Liberty Accounts launches ‘Prepayments Scheduler’ tool to help treasurers

Liberty Accounts has launched a new tool called ‘Prepayments Scheduler’ which is intended to make the lives of church treasurers even more straightforward.

The company – which is one of ACAT’s Partners in Ministry – provides cloud accounting and payroll software and specialises in supporting the not-for-profit sector.

Its software has been designed to address the specific recording and reporting requirements of charities and faith-based organisations.

Neil Chadwick, director of Liberty Accounts, said: “We are continually looking to help improve user productivity and to simplify tasks that, for some, can seem daunting.
“Consequently, we’ve just released our ‘Prepayments Scheduler’.
“Using the feature, users can schedule their income/expenditure transactions – like local council bills – over a number of months and the system will then do the hard work of analysing the prepayment/accrual for you and apply the income/expenditure to the accounts based on the scheduling.”

Liberty Accounts’ software simplifies the accounting process by providing tools to automate processes and make the user more productive.

A small sample of the tools it makes available are:
– Integrated payroll – automate the submission of payroll RTI to HMRC; emailing of payslips to employees, updating of the accounts;
– Fixed asset ledger – automated depreciation calculation monthly or annually on assets held;
– Bank import – quickly and easily process transactions and set rules for recurring ones.

Liberty Accounts is offering ACAT’s members a FREE TRIAL by clicking HERE. Alternatively, email Liberty Accounts on sales@libertyaccounts.com for a no obligation demonstration.

On GASDS, why is the maximum top-up payment £2,000? If the basic rate of income tax is 20%, surely the maximum top-up payment should be £1,600, i.e. 20% of £8,000.

Our church financial year is January to December. When I make GASDS [Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme] claims, do they have to correspond with the HMRC tax year? For example for 2025, would it have to be 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 or should I claim for calendar year 2025 in line with our financial accounting year.

Our church financial year is January to December. When I make gift aid claims, do they have to correspond with the HMRC tax year? For example for 2025, would it have to be 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026 or should I claim for calendar year 2025 in line with our financial accounting year?

Can we claim GASDS on gifts made via contactless (or chip-and-pin) payments using Apple Pay or Android Pay apps?

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Our verger wishes to donate his expenses of office to the church. If we were to make an internal transfer in our accounts from expenses paid to donations received would we be able to claim Gift Aid on the value of the donations?

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Can we claim Gift Aid if someone chooses not to claim their expenses?

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