West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service

Voluntary Sector Accounting Information

Annual Reports

What have you been doing over the last year?

Many of us are at a bit of a loss when it comes to writing the annual report, the document that is attached to the annual accounts. Here are a few tips.

What is the Annual report for?

It is an opportunity for the management committee to explain:-
  • What the organisation aims to do and how it works.
  • What has been achieved.
  • Who is involved in the work and how they have contributed.
  • What the "joys and sorrows" have been.
When you think that almost all potential future funders request a set of annual accounts when you make a bid it is an enormous opportunity to really influence future (and past) funders for the good.
The best reports are those produced by the management committee as a whole, NOT the accountant or the treasurer alone. It reviews all the organisation's activities and how these have been managed using words, pictures and numbers. The report should also explain the accounts to which they are attached.
Bad reports on the other hand are too brief, too long, say little about the work undertaken, do not state the objects of the organisation or do not give any results/comparisons. They may also use a lot of jargon or acronyms, be very highbrow, just state policies or are written by accountants! (rather than by the committee).
The worst Annual Reports are intentionally misleading and omit or gloss over key issues because they are embarrassing.

Reporting on Performance

Increasingly funders are looking for performance measures, i.e. they want information about the number of users, and the impact on them, not just financial information.
The annual report is a golden opportunity to provide this information and to show what a fantastic impact you are making. Many of you will already be familiar with input/output language and it can be a useful way of demonstrating your organisation's achievements, see below:
Inputs Resources used by the organisation eg money, staff, resources
Activities What the organisation does with the inputs
Outputs Direct products of the organisation's activities eg number of participants/ number of training hours
Outcomes The results of the organisation's outputs eg increased skills
So why not have a brainstorm about what to say and how to present your annual report this year. Its an opportunity waiting to be grasped!