Charitable Organizations

Charities consist of a wide variety of organizations, including those in the areas of health, social housing, recreation, education, and religious activity. Although their operations vary, they all need to comply with Canada Revenue Agency requirements. In addition they should operate in a way that shows they are accountable to their donors and members, and transparent in the eyes of the wider public.

RLB LLP has a large number of charitable clients within a wide range of charitable activities, and so is able to offer expert advice and support to a variety of different organizations. The requirements of a charity can be quite complex and areas requiring this advice and support will include the following:

Governance – we have considerable experience of working with boards of directors and employees of many charities, and can provide advice on areas such as the dangers of micro-managing, the need to establish clearly defined financial and other policies, and board recruitment.

Financial management and controls – many charities are fairly small and do not have the resources to initiate a complex system of controls. Nevertheless, we are able to offer advice on such issues as budgeting, internal checks and balances, and necessary approvals, that are appropriate to the size of the organization

Taxation – the Canada Revenue Agency has tightened up its regulation of charities in recent years, so that late filing of returns has resulted in charities being fined and even threatened with the revocation of the organization’s charitable status. We have considerable experience in the preparation of the annual Charity Information return, and the HST rebate forms, to ensure that these are completed accurately, and on time. An area where charities sometimes fall short is in that of tax receipting: we can offer advice on such matters as split-receipting, and receipting for donations in kind, as well as in other areas of a charity’s operations.

Financial statements – charities, like other Not-For-Profit organizations, have specific accounting requirements which have to be followed in preparing the annual financial statements, and we have considerable experience with these accounting standards

Audits – most charities are required by their by-laws to have an annual audit carried out, and we have the expertise to carry out the audits of charities of different sizes

Other support – we are eager to offer our support to client charities, such as being involved in builds for Habitat for Humanity or hosting Coffee Breaks for the Alzheimer Society. Also, we are often asked to present the financial statements at an organization’s Annual Meeting, and enjoy meeting with front-line staff at these events.

RLB LLP is committed to the charitable sector, recognizing the valuable role played by both dedicated professionals and volunteers in serving the community.

Click here to see a listing of services we can provide.