Students' Unions

The vast majority of students' unions are exempt charities which, up until now, have not been required to register with the Charity Commission and, in some cases, have been able to avoid compliance with the charity SORP (Statement of Recommended Practice "accounting and reporting" by charities).

The Charities Act 2006 will change this for the vast majority of students' unions as it introduces a requirement for exempt charities which have income of more than £100,000 per year to register with the Commission. Registration will mean that student unions and other formerly exempt charities are required to comply with Charity Commission guidance and accounting rules. The Charity Commission recognises that there is a substantial amount of work involved in identifying and assessing the registration status of exempt charities. It currently estimates that the registration requirement will be implemented at some point during 2009.

Haines Watts have advised student unions for many years, and in addition to audit and accounting issues we have provided specific advice on the following areas:

• Governance structure - particularly the introduction of long term non-sabbatical trustees.
• Limited company status - with the aim of improving contractual capacity and limiting liability.
• Taxation of non-charitable trading - in particular the establishment of wholly owned subsidiary trading companies.
• Advice on the VAT status of student union activities and the operation of partial exemption.
• Provision of training on trustees' responsibilities.

The next few years will see a period of considerable change for exempt charities such as students' unions and our specialist not-for-profit teams at Haines Watts are exceptionally well placed to assist in minimising the disruption and maximising the benefit to students' unions that will arise from the change process.

If you would like to dicuss how we can help or for more information please contact your local office.