Updates for Trustee Boards

Trustee Appointments 

Trustees (including ex-officio Trustees, this could be a Lead Volunteer or Youth Lead role) must have a full appointment as a Trustee before they can vote at, or influence discussion at, a Trustee Board meeting. They can be invited to attend Trustee Board meetings while they have a provisional appointment but may not influence decision making or take part in any voting. 

Accounting for Receipts and Payments 

From financial years starting in 2026, charities (including Groups, Districts, Counties / Regions / Areas) need to show their income and expenses (receipts and payments) in full — not just the difference between them.  It’s part of following charity guidance and the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP).  Some charities may already be doing this. 

The only time you don’t need to do this, and can net them off, is if you are acting as an agent. 

Acting as an Agent and Membership Subscriptions:

You act as an agent when you’re simply passing money on collected on behalf for someone else and aren’t responsible for it yourself. 

When it comes to membership subscriptions, Groups, District, Counties / Regions / Areas are not acting as agents as they receive and send invoices in their own rights, and have responsibilities for making payment even if they have not collected anything themselves.   

This means that membership subscriptions paid on must not be netted off against membership subscriptions received and both shown separately.  So that for example:

• Groups show the membership subscriptions they receive in income, and membership subscriptions paid on to the District in expenses,
• Districts show membership subscriptions received from Groups and Units in income, and membership subscriptions paid on to the County in expenses,
• Counties show membership subscriptions received from Districts, and income and those pay on to TSA Headquarters in expenses. 

(For Regions, Areas, and those Counties with no Districts etc the same applies).  

However, an example of acting as an agent is a District Camp where a Group simply passes on any fees it collects straight to the District but has no responsibility for non payment. 

Read POR rule 5e.2 for further information. 

When this starts:

This way of showing income and expenses applies to financial years starting in 2026, so affects the accounts prepared for the financial year 2026/27 onwards. If you don’t already and you’d like to, you can start earlier.

Updated template accounts are available on the Accounting and reporting webpage if you want to adopt early, and for use for the financial year 2026/27 onwards.    

Charity Registration:

Charities must consider if the grossing up of income requires them to be registered with their charity regulator. 

In England and Wales, many are currently “excepted charities” and don’t need to be registered and must register if any of these conditions are true: 

1. Their annual income exceeds £100,000. 
2. They own land or buildings and have an annual income of £5,000 or more. 
3. They have a permanent endowment (an interest in land or assets that cannot be spent as income) and an annual income of £5,000 or more.  

In countries outside England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all Groups and Districts should follow their regulator’s requirements regarding registration thresholds. 

You'll find more information on Registering as a charity and in POR Rule 5a.1.

Accrual Accounts:

If your charity has gross income over £250,000, you must prepare Accruals Accounts (again, following SORP). So grossing up could mean you need to move to this type of accounts.

Please note this limit will increase to £500,000 for the financial year 2026/27.