Audit support
Grant compliance support
Grant compliance support from Finbryn tracks restricted grant and donation income separately from other funds, codes spending against the approved budget line by line, and prepares the reports a funder or the Charity Commission expects. Our accounting team organises the paper trail a reviewer or independent examiner needs, ready before it is requested.
Auditor request list
Illustrative client · August 2026
GBP
- Trial balance and general ledger exportDone
- Bank confirmations and statementsDone
- Receivables and payables listingsDone
- Fixed asset register with additionsIn progress
- Accruals and prepayments supportNext
Illustrative. An example of the document, not a client's figures.
Tracking money that comes with conditions attached
Grant income is not like other revenue. It has to be spent against specific lines, reported on the schedule the funder sets, and documented well enough that a reviewer can trace every pound back to the award letter. Mixing it into general income makes that tracing exercise painful later.
We set up a fund structure that isolates each grant or restricted donation, then code expenses against the approved budget as they happen rather than reconstructed at year end. When actual spending drifts from budget, that shows in the monthly view instead of the annual report.
Charity Commission and independent examination
UK charities above the statutory audit threshold need a full audit; smaller charities usually need an independent examination instead. Either way, the underlying records have to show restricted and unrestricted funds kept apart and reported under the Charities SORP. We prepare the fund accounting and supporting schedules that examination relies on, working alongside the registered auditor or independent examiner you appoint.
Funder reporting
Drawdown requests, reimbursement claims and periodic funder reports are prepared on the schedule the award requires, with supporting detail attached rather than a summary figure with nothing behind it. Where a funder such as a grant making trust, a local authority or a research council sets its own reporting template, we work inside that template rather than asking them to adapt to ours.
Working with programme staff
We code costs against the approved budget and flag anything that looks outside the award's terms. Whether a specific cost is allowable under the grant's conditions is a decision for your programme staff and the funder, not something we decide alone. That coordination keeps the accounting side accurate without stepping into programme decisions.
Grant funded organisations preparing for an audit or independent examination often need PBC list management and audit-ready books alongside this work, since the same reconciled records feed both.
Questions
Frequently asked questions: Grant compliance support
Do you handle multiple grants with different funders and reporting periods at once?
Yes. Each grant or restricted fund is tracked as its own segment with its own reporting calendar, so a quarterly funder report and an annual trustees' report do not get confused with each other.
Can you prepare the fund accounting behind a Charity Commission independent examination?
Yes. We prepare the fund accounting from your tracked grant and donation activity and organise the supporting documentation the examiner will request.
What if we are not sure whether a cost is allowable under the grant?
We flag it against the award's stated terms rather than guessing. The final allowability decision sits with your programme staff and, where needed, the funder.
What happens if a grant reporting deadline is missed?
We flag an approaching deadline well ahead of the date so this should not happen, but if a funder's deadline is at risk we tell you immediately rather than quietly, since most funders would rather hear early about a delay than receive a late or rushed report.
Can you produce the financial section of a grant report for a non-specialist trustee to review?
Yes, we write the financial section in plain terms with the fund accounting behind it available if a trustee or funder wants to drill into a figure, rather than handing over a spreadsheet with no narrative explaining what the numbers mean for the grant period.
Can you track multiple grants with different reporting periods?
Yes. Each grant is set up as its own tracked segment, with reporting deadlines managed separately from your regular monthly close.
Do you decide which costs are allowable under the grant?
We code costs against the approved budget and flag anything that looks outside its terms; the funder's guidelines and your program staff make the final allowability call.
What if our records for grant compliance support are not up to date?
If your records are behind, we scope a catch-up first so grant compliance support starts from a clean, reconciled base. That catch-up is priced and timed separately from the ongoing engagement, so you always know what each part costs.
Who reviews the work before it reaches us?
Every deliverable under grant compliance support is reviewed by a senior reviewer before it reaches you. You keep access to the underlying file at every stage, so nothing about the work happens somewhere you cannot see it.
Related services
- Audit supportPBC list managementThe auditor's provided-by-client request list tracked item by item, with documents gathered, organized and delivered on schedule instead of chased down in the final week.
- Audit supportAudit-ready booksMonthly and year-end books maintained with the support and schedules an external auditor expects to see on day one, so fieldwork starts without a scramble to reconstruct records.
Industries
Next step
Talk to the team that would run your books
A short call covers your setup, your software and what a first month would look like. You get a written scope and price after it.