Charity accounts open to public view
Over £10bn of charitable income is now open to public scrutiny following the launch of a new online database today by the Charity Commission.
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The Charity Commission’s new database of charity accounts and governing documents is part of its ongoing initiative to promote greater transparency and accountability in the sector.
The first documents to go online are those of 300 leading charities in England and Wales.
Charities will also be able to file their annual returns online and new organisations will be able to register as charities over the internet.
‘This is one way to provide better information to our customers and the wider public about how their donations and funding are spent,’ said chief charity commissioner John Stoker.
‘Our new online system relies on charities sending these documents to us on time and we are already starting to see an improvement in the number of charities making the 10 month deadline.’
The commission recently expressed fears that the Big Four are shying away from working on charity audits.