All Church of England accounts have the financial year January to December. There are two different bases for the preparation of the annual accounts (financial statements) which depend on the threshold or size of the PCC gross annual income or in some cases may be determined by the requirements of a specific donor or funder:
(i) Receipts and Payments: it is a way of summarising all receipts (the cash coming into the parish, such as Sunday giving, special collections, other gifts of money etc.) and all payments (the cash going out of the parish, such as electricity, parish share, giving to other good causes etc.). To give a full picture, it also needs to list the assets (owned by the PCC) and liabilities (owed by the PCC) at the year end, known as the Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SoAL) and notes to the accounts
See the PPC Accountability Guide, Chapter 4, on the national Church of England website.
See the Parish Resources website for receipts and payments accounts advice
(ii) Accruals: Under the accruals basis, the PCC must prepare a Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA), a balance sheet and notes to the accounts.
See chapter 6 of the PCC Accountability Guide
See the Parish Resources website for more about Accruals
The gross annual income thresholds as determined by Charity Commission are set out in this flowchart (Regime of Public Accountability Thresholds). Note that there may also be occasion when a funder, donor or grant maker, as a condition of funding requires the PCC to prepare accounts on the Accruals basis.
Durham Diocese statutory accounts
Please view Durham Diocese Board of Finance's signed accounts for 2023 here.