Charity Income Tracker
A structured Excel workbook for small UK charities to record income by fund and source as it reaches the bank, month by month. It separates restricted money from unrestricted as you type, keeps a running Gift Aid record, and builds an annual report and live dashboard - aligned to the fund split SORP expects.
Small charities take money in from several places at once, and the running picture of what’s arrived – by fund, by source, restricted or free to spend – usually lives nowhere until the accountant assembles it at the year-end. Restricted gifts get untangled months after they landed, when nobody quite remembers the condition attached. Gift Aid turns into a scramble through old records. And a slow slide into relying on one funder goes unseen until the funder leaves and the gap is suddenly real. This workbook gives you one place to record income as it hits the bank, so the fund split, the year-end totals and the reliance picture are there as you go, not reconstructed under pressure in month twelve.
It’s built to be honest about what it is. Every figure traces to money actually received into the bank, which makes it a management and cash tool that feeds your year-end, not a substitute for your SORP accounts, which recognise income differently. That line is drawn plainly on the workbook itself, so nobody mistakes the two.
What’s included
Workbook (Excel)
- Set-up sheet – name your charity, your income sources and your programmes once; every other sheet takes its labels from here, so you set up in one place and never retype
- Twelve monthly grids – enter the net amount received by fund and by source; the restricted or unrestricted tag fills itself from the way you name each fund
- Annual report – full-year totals by fund and source, assembled from the twelve months automatically, with the cash-basis note stated on the sheet
- Live dashboard – income by source and by fund, the month-by-month trend, recurring giving against one-off, and a concentration check that shows how much you’re leaning on any single source or fund
- Gift Aid log – records the real claims you submit and the payments HMRC actually sends, with no estimated figures anywhere
- Key sheet – a colour guide and short instructions built into the workbook, so trustees and volunteers aren’t dropped straight into the data
Who it’s for
Small and medium UK charities across all legal forms – CIOs, charitable companies, trusts and unincorporated associations – that take income from more than one place and want a running picture rather than a year-end reconstruction. It works the same way whether or not you claim Gift Aid or hold restricted funds; the structure carries both without extra setup.
FAQ
Does this replace our accounts?
No, and it doesn’t try to. It records income on a cash basis – money as it reaches the bank – which makes it a working management tool and a clean feed into your year-end. Your SORP accounts recognise income differently, when the charity becomes entitled to it rather than when it’s paid, so the two won’t always match, and the workbook says so on the Annual sheet. Use it to stay on top of income through the year and to hand your accountant a clear starting point.
Will it fit our charity?
Yes. It’s built for CIOs, charitable companies, trusts and unincorporated associations, and the income sources and fund names are yours to set. Name your programmes, rename the columns to match how you raise money, and the rest follows.
Does it handle restricted and unrestricted funds?
Yes, and it does the classifying for you. Your general donations line is unrestricted; any fund you give a programme name to is treated as restricted. The annual report then shows the split and each fund’s total, which is what your trustees and accountant need at the year-end.
Why doesn’t it record every individual donation?
By design. You enter one net total per source for the month – the figure from your platform payout or bank statement – rather than a line for every gift. That keeps it quick enough to actually maintain, and it matches how the money reaches you: in batches, not one donor at a time. If you need donor-by-donor records, that’s a job for a CRM; this is for the income picture.
Can we edit it?
Yes. It’s a standard Excel workbook. Rename sources and programmes, add your charity’s name and colours, and adjust the sheets as you like.
Do we need any special software?
Microsoft Excel is recommended. The file also opens in Google Sheets, Apple Numbers and LibreOffice, though some formatting may shift slightly.
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