NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND OF THE UK
BRANCH SECRETARIES – BSEC-26-01
From: Douglas Gilroy
To: Branch Secretaries
Date: 6th January 2026
Subject: Guidance Notes on Filling in Summary of Accounts for Branch 2025 End of Year Returns Forms
Attached are two copies of your end of year Accounts Returns to be completed to show all of your Branch transactions for the year from 1 January – 31 December 2025, and to be returned to head office no later than 2 February 2026. Please send your books to the Office at Wakefield.
Your accounts documents should reach the Office no later than 2 February 2026. If you require any help or advice in completing any of these returns or are having problems in meeting this date please get in touch with Louisa in the office immediately.
Remember to include your own name and address in order for your books to be returned directly to you.
Enclosed with these Guidance Notes, you will find the following:
- Summary Section A: Income (two copies);
- Summary Section B: Expenditure (two copies);
- Summary Section C: Payments to General Management Funds (two copies);
- Summary Section D: Payments: Movement of Cash (two copies);
- Summary Section E: Breakdown of Assets – (two copies).
- THE SUMMARY: Income and Expenditure form is divided into sections as follows:
Section A: INCOME
Here you add the amounts received during the year under the categories listed, and put the total value at the bottom after
A: TOTAL OF ALL INCOME
Remember to include all interest on bank & Building Society accounts:
You will need to have your pass book written up early in 2026 so that these figures are known.
Branch fundraising activities should be shown separately.
If there is no actual heading for a particular type of income, include it under “other income” and give each a heading.
Section B – EXPENDITURE EXCLUDING PAYMENTS
TO GENERAL MANAGEMENT FUNDS
Here you list under the appropriate category everything spent for which you have receipts, EXCEPT for payments to General Management Funds. Then put the total alongside B: TOTAL PAID OUT EXCLUDING TO GENERAL MANAGEMENT FUNDS.
Please split your Annual Delegate Conference expenditure as
Indicated on the form.
Section C – PAYMENTS TO GENERAL MANAGEMENT FUNDS
Here you enter the remaining spending under the relevant category, with the total alongside C: TOTAL PAID TO GENERAL MANAGEMENT FUNDS
The “capitation” entries should be the amount you are due to pay over to Head Office for 2025, as should the “examination/accountancy fee”. Again, any items of expenditure not listed should be included under “other expenditure”, and details given.
B+C: TOTAL OF ALL EXPENDITURE = £
Taken from the previous two above totals this is the total spending for the whole year
Section D – SUMMARY: MOVEMENTS OF CASH IN HAND AND AT BANK
The Opening Balance is the closing Balance from 2024.
The Income figure is copied from Total Income “An” above.
The subtotal is the 2 above figures added together.
Expenditure is from the B+C total above.
The closing balance is the above subtotal figure after subtracting the Expenditure B+C figure below it.
Recording the Difference between Opening Figures at 1 January and Closing Figures at 31 December
Here you take the years opening and closing balances and subtract the smaller from the larger. If the closing balance is the larger you put the resultant figure alongside: = Increase £
But if the Opening Balance is the larger figure, then put the resultant figure alongside: decrease (Deficit) £.
Section E – BREAKDOWN OF ASSETS AS AT 31 DECEMBER
Fill in figures in appropriate line, calculate and put total value figure alongside E: TOTAL OF ALL BRANCH ASSETS = £.
GUIDANCE NOTES
The aim of this account is to show your income and expenditure transactions for the whole of the year. Everything that your Branch has received and paid out MUST be reflected in these figures.
If you have prepared separate analysis sheets and/or summaries, please send them with your other documents to assist the accountant during his Examination.
Once you have totalled your Income and Expenditure in Sections A, B & C, the totals then need copying into Section D which will then show if your Branch has made a profit or a loss during the year.
Check every in and out entry on each bank statement, and tick off the relevant entry in either your Paying In Book, or on your electronic record/the matching Check Book stub making sure that every transaction appears in two places. If you have any electronic record/cheque stubs which are not ticked off then these have not yet been presented for payment from your bank account, and your expenditure figure might need to be adjusted for this value.
Please make sure that:
- a) All transactions have been included.
- b) All interest and bank charges are included.
- c) The opening and closing bank and cash balances are
Included.
- d) Figures have been copied correctly.
- e) The year end Bank statement figure agrees with your figures.
- f) No cash or bank account figures have been omitted.
- g) All additions and subtractions are correct.
Book Examination fee:
Finally, for the examination of your branch books, the following should be sent to Head Office:
- a) Cash books, petty cash book, subscription book, etc.
- b) Bank statements, pass books (for all accounts).
- c) Your bank reconciliation statement.
- d) The bank statements should include the last statement
From 2024, to show the opening balance and
Any unpresented cheques, with every statement up to
And including the first week or so of January 2026).
- e) Your bank paying-in books covering the whole of 2025.
- F) Receipt books.
- g) Cheque book stubs and current cheque book. If you
Require this to be returned quickly, please add a note to
Your papers.
- h) Invoices, receipts, etc. in support of your expenditure.
- i) Any schedules, summaries or analyses you have
Prepared whilst building your accounts figures.
- j) Your completed Income and Expenditure accounts,
Summary and Balance, to Accounts.
- k) Any other papers and notes which may help our
Examiner in performing their duties.
- l) The name and address of the person to whom you wish
The books, etc. to be returned.
I would remind you that every Branch, whether or not they have their Branch accounts examined/audited locally, must send ALL THEIR ACCOUNTS to the Office. Your Branch accounts are part of the NFBUK Charity accounts and must therefore be included within the overall Annual Report to the Charity Commission.
I would like to draw your attention to the following matters:
1) Book examination Fee:
The book examination fee is £ £40.
2) Capitation fees:
This is 75% of annual subscriptions e.g. “W” no ordinary @ £12 = £
“X” no associate
@£6 = £
“Y” no affiliate @ £18.75p = £
Total of capitation £
3) Donations:
I wish to appeal to branches to consider making a donation to head office central funds to help deliver our campaigns.
4) For those branches who may find it easier or more convenient to pay by bank transfer: we would like to afford/offer you the opportunity to trial paying by bank transfer instead of sending cheques by post. To do this, on a given date please make a payment to:
Sort code: 40-52-40
Account no: 00016996
This should be a total payment to cover what you are due to pay for capitation, examination of accounts and any donations to central funds. You should reference your payment thus e.g. “London, Leeds annual returns”. On the same day to accompany this payment, you should send an email to head office, stating the date, total amount transferred, along with A breakdown of this total figure e.g. capitation £, examination of accounts £, donation to central funds, = total £. This way, the payment can be crossed checked against your returns for clarification.
However you pay, please remember to return your completed forms by no later than Monday 2 February 2026.