Methodology
How we compute a flag.
Charity Receipts looks at a charity’s filed accounts and surfaces patterns worth asking about. Every flag below is a rule you can read. Nothing is proprietary. We’d rather be argued with than trusted blindly.
Data source: the Charity Commission register, via findthatcharity.uk. Refreshed daily.
Active rules
What we flag today
Fires when the latest filed year-end is more than 18 months ago.
The Charity Commission requires annual accounts within 10 months of year-end. 18 months of silence suggests either a serious operational problem or a charity winding down without announcing it.
Caveat: A handful of very small charities self-report late but run fine. The flag tells you to check, not to walk away.
Fires when annual income is under £5,000.
Below £5k most charities are effectively paper entities. Your money may sit in a bank account with no operational capacity to spend it.
Caveat: Some brand-new or deliberately tiny charities are real. Check whether activity matches income.
Fires when spending exceeds income by more than 10% in the latest year.
Running a deficit once is normal. Repeatedly is a runway problem. This flag notes the deficit; our multi-year rules tell you whether it's a pattern.
Caveat: Grant-funded charities often deliver programmes on last year's income. A one-off deficit from a big project is healthy.
Fires when governance spend is more than 8% of total spending.
Sector norm is under 5%. Above 8% suggests top-heavy structure, legal fees, or boardroom bloat that isn't funding the mission.
Caveat: A year of major restructure can spike governance costs. Check the accounts narrative. Runs only where we hold line-level spending data.
Fires when the cost of raising funds is more than 35% of donated and traded income combined.
Over a third of each solicited pound going to the ask is a bad deal for donors who assume their money goes to the cause.
Caveat: Retail-heavy charities load shop running costs into this line, so the flag softens to amber where trading income is a large share. Early-stage charities also spend more on acquisition. Runs only where we hold line-level spending data.
Fires when income is more than 20% lower than two years ago.
Sustained declines usually mean trouble raising funds. Trouble raising funds usually precedes trouble delivering.
Caveat: Planned wind-downs look identical. Check the trustees' report for context. Needs at least three filed years, so it runs only on charities with full financial history.
Pending rules
What unlocks with the next data layer
The reserves rules need balance sheet figures, which our current data feed does not carry for any charity. They go live the moment we plumb reserves data into the tool. The rules, thresholds and reasoning are fixed; only the data is missing.
Fires when unrestricted reserves would cover more than 3 years of spending.
Reserves are prudent. Large reserves mean donated money sits on the balance sheet rather than funding the mission. Donors deserve to know.
Caveat: Some causes (pensions, disaster relief) correctly hold multi-year reserves. Check the reserves policy.
Fires when unrestricted reserves cover less than 3 months of spending.
A charity this close to the line is one bad month away from closing. Vulnerable to any income shock.
Caveat: Grant-dependent charities with confirmed multi-year grants can run lean safely.
What this isn’t
Receipts aren’t outcomes
Charity Receipts is a financial hygiene check. It tells you whether the accounts add up, whether filings are on time, and whether the spend pattern matches the story.
It does not tell you whether a charity is effective. Effectiveness requires a counterfactual: what would have happened without this charity? For that, look at meta-evaluators like GiveWell for global health or Founders Pledge for climate.