When it comes to navigating the intricacies of local council accounting, the maze of rules, regulations and responsibilities can often seem daunting. Regardless of size, every local council is tasked with managing public funds with utmost transparency and diligence, and the task is no less challenging for smaller Parish Councils. That being said, where the gross income or gross expenditure falls under £25,000 for a Parish Council for the financial year, some specialised rules and simplifications apply. These guidelines offer an opportunity for councils to streamline their processes without compromising on accountability or transparency. This presentation will offer an introduction for those managing small Parish Councils, on a Receipts & Payments basis, helping you to understand the unique aspects of financial accounting in this threshold.

1. The
Money
Maze
Navigating Financial Accounting
SUB 25K PARISH COUNCILS

2. Our Talk
Today
The Maze
Forget about it
Getting Started
Rhythm of the Council
Q&A
Topics We'll Cover

4. Local Council Administration
Local Government Act 1972
JPAG
NALC Model Financial Regs
GDPR
Data Protection Act 2018

5. Making Tax Digital
Accrual (Income and Expenditure) accounting
DEBK / Journal entries
Double-entry bookkeeping
Balance sheets
Adjustments (debtors, creditors)
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)
Depreciation and Amortisation
Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable
Deferred Revenue and Prepaid Expenses
Company account statement
Monthly profit and loss
Cashflow statements
What
the h..?

6. Exemptions
for
small
councils EXTERNAL AUDIT
Section Two outlines that councils
under £25,000 can self-certify
themselves as exempt, simplifying the
audit process.
ACCRUAL BASED
ACCOUNTING
Required when income or expenditure
exceeds £200,000 for 3 years
TRANSPARENCY CODE
Section Five outlines provisions for
parish meetings without a website

7. Getting
Started
NEW CLERK ONBOARDING
Handover from previous Clerk/RFO
Review financial regulations
Get Access to the finance system
Get Signatory on bank accounts
Get Access to Online banking
Review the budget
Check transactions are up to date
Check when the last bank reconciliation was done
Check when VAT was last reclaimed
Review your budget codes

8. Cost Centre Cost Codes AGAR lines
Receipts
Precept Line 2 (Precept or Rates and Levies)
Grants/Donations Line 3 (Total other receipts)
Bank Interest Line 3 (Total other receipts)
Vat Refund Line 3 (Total other receipts)
Other Income Line 3 (Total other receipts)
Payments
Staff Costs Line 4 (Staff costs)
Staff Expenses & Training Line 6 (All other payments)
Subscriptions & Memberships Line 6 (All other payments)
Insurance Line 6 (All other payments)
Utilities Line 6 (All other payments)
Communications (Phone, Website,
Broadband)
Line 6 (All other payments)
Admin (Stationery, Printer, Postage
etc.)
Line 6 (All other payments)
Audit & Professional Fees Line 6 (All other payments)
Elections Line 6 (All other payments)
S.137 Line 6 (All other payments)
Loan Repayment Line 5 (Loan interest/capital repayments)
Open Spaces Line 6 (All other payments)
Reserves 1 Line 6 (All other payments)
Reserves 2 Line 6 (All other payments)
Other/Miscelleanous Line 6 (All other payments)
BUILDING
BLOCKS

9. WEEKLY
Keep up to date with your book keeping,
documenting your receipts and
payments ("ins" and "outs")
MONTHLY
Reconcile against bank statements, get
payments approved
QUARTERLY
Report on financial position (budget
versus actual), Reclaim VAT.
RHYTHM
OF THE
COUNCIL

10. Deadlines
ANNUAL PRECEPT SUBMISSION
January - requires a budgeting approval process
ANNUAL ACCOUNT STATEMENT
June 30th - Section 2 AGAR, including variances

11. Weekly
BASIC BOOKKEEPING
Date
Bank account
Description
Budget heading
Supplier
Invoice date
NET and VAT breakdown
Recording receipts and payments transactions:
OTHER
Flag up S.137 payments
Add "Power Used for Spend"
Capture Supplier VAT reg number (for
VAT126 form)

12. Monthly
or
Bi-monthly
BANK RECONCILLIATION
Reconcile your recording
transactions against your bank
transactions
Produce bank reconciliation report
PAYMENTS FOR APROVAL
Add to Agenda
Automatic approvals - existing direct
debits & salaries
New Invoices / BACS payments
Record approvals in Minutes

13. Quarterly
FINANCIAL POSITION
Budget versus actual report, for each
cost centre (recommended)
VAT RECLAIM
Form 126 submission to HRMC
Needs to be whole months of
transactions
If claim less than £100, then do it
annually.
If you have not done this before, you
can claim for past 4 years.

14. Emergency payments
(only requires chairman / clerk approval)

15. SOFTWARE OPTIONS
FOR FINANCIAL
MANAGEMENT
Leveraging
Technology
for
Efficiency
and
Compliance
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16. Tools
INDUSTRY SOFTWARE
Scribe, Rialtas, AdvantEdge etc..
SPREADSHEETS
Create your own bespoke sheets.
COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE
Xero, Quickbooks, Sage etc..
OUTSOURCE
Hire an Accountancy firm.

17. Spreadsheets
How do you ensure error-free calculations, and what
processes detect & correct human errors?
How does manual data entry impact efficiency, and
how do you handle changes in financial regulations
within spreadsheets?
How do council/team members collaborate on
spreadsheets without overwriting changes, and how
do you manage access and permissions?
How do you ensure remote and secure access to
financial data, and what are your contingency plans
if key personnel are unavailable (e.g., sickness,
leave, holiday)?
How are spreadsheets protected against
unauthorized access, corruption, viruses, and what is
your policy for security patches and disaster
recovery?
What measures ensure compliance with privacy laws,
including handling FOI requests and the "Right to Be
Forgotten," and how do you mitigate the risk of
fraud, including monitoring and detecting suspicious
activities?
Accuracy & Efficiency
1.
2.
Collaboration, and Business Continuity:
1.
2.
Compliance, Security, and Data Requests:
1.
2.

20. SCRIBE ACCOUNTS (BASIC PLAN)
DESIGNED FOR SMALL PARISH COUNCILS. SAVE HOURS COMPLETING YOUR AGAR AND KEEP ALL YOUR DATA CENTRALISED AND BACKED UP
£12 /
MONTH
CANCEL
ANYTIME
Easy Transaction Management: up to 100 cashbook lines
Bank Reconciliations: Save time with comprehensive bank reconciliation
Efficient Reserves Management: two reserves (Capital or Earmarked)
Easy Reports: Summary of all cost centres, budget versus actual include
variance
One-click Annual Return/Year-End (AGAR): Simplify year-end reporting.
Centralised Contact & Data Collection Audit Trail: Maintain a consolidated
CRM database of suppliers and customers.
Compliance & Security: S137 reports, VAT 126 claim form for manual
upload to HMRC, Guard sensitive information with GDPR compliance, data
encryption, backups, and two-factor authentication.
2 Users with Role-Based Access Controls: Increase access and
collaboration whilst not compromising data integrity.
Accounting can be complex and error-prone. Scribe Accounts revolutionises
this with streamlined operations and compliance measures, designed to
provide a unified solution for councils.
Cost Centre Cost Codes AGAR lines
Receipts
Precept Line 2 (Precept or Rates and Levies)
Grants/Donations Line 3 (Total other receipts)
Bank Interest Line 3 (Total other receipts)
Vat Refund Line 3 (Total other receipts)
Other Income Line 3 (Total other receipts)
Payments
Staff Costs Line 4 (Staff costs)
Staff Expenses & Training Line 6 (All other payments)
Subscriptions & Memberships Line 6 (All other payments)
Insurance Line 6 (All other payments)
Utilities Line 6 (All other payments)
Communications (Phone, Website, Broadband) Line 6 (All other payments)
Admin (Stationery, Printer, Postage etc.) Line 6 (All other payments)
Audit & Professional Fees Line 6 (All other payments)
Elections Line 6 (All other payments)
S.137 Line 6 (All other payments)
Loan Repayment Line 5 (Loan interest/capital repayments)
Open Spaces Line 6 (All other payments)
Reserves 1 Line 6 (All other payments)
Reserves 2 Line 6 (All other payments)
Other/Miscelleanous Line 6 (All other payments)
Banks Current
Savings
Petty Cash
Other
SWITCH TO SMART ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE. SWITCH TO
SCRIBE ACCOUNTS.
Live Webinars Support Forum Community Support
Knowledgebase
Training Videos
*No Setup is required, we have already setup your account with cost centres, cost codes that follow best practice, so you Just need to start
adding transactions.

21. https://tinyurl.com/ScribeFreeTrial