News, views
and product updates
Be informed about statutory changes that may effect your organisation
Find out about new features and how you can benefit from them.
Fund accounting basics
Types of funds and examples of how the best to approach managing them. Fund accounting and reporting is a unique requirement for not-for-profit organisations and is one of the differences between charity and commercial business financial reporting.
Church of England Parochial Fees
As we approach the start of a new financial year for the Anglican Church, your Diocese will be circulating the new table of parochial fees for next year and it is a good time to consider your current operation and whether it can be improved.
Lockdown Bears Fruit
We used the extended period of lockdown as a perfect opportunity to tackle some much needed enhancements to account selection in Liberty Accounts.
COVID-19: free service extended
In March 2020, because of the COVID-19 situation and recognition that charity funding raising will be particularly hit, Liberty Accounts announced the pausing of charges to charity organisations for two months.
COVID-19: charges paused
Liberty Accounts announces pausing of charges for charity organisations. This support is intended to help organisations with fund-raising capacity severely reduced by COVID-19 restrictions.
theFSI exclusive offer to members extended through COVID-19 crisis
Liberty Accounts will extend their offer of 1 year free use of Liberty to support theFSI members who start using Liberty during 2020
The right tool for the job
Charities face the same regulatory pressures as commercial organisations but, in addition, must also deal with complex sector-specific reporting requirements intended to demonstrate good stewardship to supporters and regulators alike.
MTD - What you need to know
We've all heard about it and after some delays Making Tax Digital (MTD) will now come into effect from 1st April 2019 and apply for your first VAT period starting after that date.
Accounting basis selection
Charities with a gross income below £250,000 and who are not registered as a company have the option, as long as their governing document does not require their charity's annual accounts to be prepared as accruals accounts, of preparing receipts and payments accounts.
MTD - Is your business caught?
Making Tax Digital (MTD) for VAT came into effect from 1st April 2019 and required that records be kept in a digital form and VAT Returns filed using MTD compatible software like Liberty Accounts.
Budgeting made easy
If you have any experience of budgeting you will understand why we have developed a tool that makes your budget creation so simple that you will look forward to it.
Easy Gift Aid claims
The Gift Aid scheme is well known in the charity sector and provides a welcome 25% boost to donation income. There is no limit to how often you can file your claim with HMRC so, if you have processes in place to be able to claim regularly.
VAT Refund Scheme
HMRC has updated VAT Notice 1001 on the VAT Refund Scheme for qualifying charities.
Payrolling benefits
Recent years saw the introduction of optional payrolling of benefit and expenses by HMRC which, according the HMRC website, - allows you to payroll tax on benefits and expenses without having to submit a form P11D after the end of the tax year
theFSI exclusive offer to members
Liberty Accounts have been delighted to work with theFSI for a number of years and would like to offer a fantastic saving to their membership.
New Flat Rate VAT rules
From 1st April 2017 new rules regarding Flat Rate VAT will be applied that may affect your business.
Gift aid small donation scheme
The Gift Aid Small Donation Scheme (GASDS), introduced in 2013, is intended for occasions where donors don't have time to stop and the provide details required for a gift aid declaration
Local Charity Day
The government, thanks in no small part to the work of organisations such as Foundation for Social Improvement which provides the voice for smaller charities with policy makers and the public: is keen to encourage more giving to small and local civil society organisations.
Dividend Allowance
From 6th April 2016 the Dividend Tax Credit will be replaced by a new, tax-free, Dividend Allowance. The new Dividend Allowance means that you won't have to pay tax on the first £5,000 of your dividend income.
Where is your data held?
The EU's highest court ruled, on 6th October 2015, that a legal mechanism enabling companies to transfer personal data between the EU and the US is invalid. The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) said the “safe harbour” regime does not provide adequate data protection, as required by EU law when personal data is sent outside of the European Economic Area.