CAFOD praised by Charities Commission

CAFOD was the fastest of the top 100 largest charities to file its accounts last year, according to a report from the Charity Commission. Under Charity Law, financial accounts must be filed within ten months of the financial year end but CAFOD sent its audited accounts to the Commission within only three months. Over one in ten of the top 100 charities failed to file accounts within the legal deadline and over half took more than eight months. The average amount f time taken by FTSE 100 companies is five and a half months. Chief Executive of the Charities Commission Andrew Hind said: "We congratulate CAFOD on being the fastest of the 100 largest charities to file accounts last year. This is an excellent example to other leaders in the sector." Mr Hind explained the importance of filing accounts on time: "The timely submission of accounts says a great deal about how your charity is run. Demonstrating your efficiency in this way may help you access funding and will help you avoid criticism from those whose views you care about." CAFOD Director Chris Bain said: "This is a proud achievement for CAFOD's finance department and one which is very important to CAFOD as a whole. To be recognised as the best in the field by the Charities Commission has given a huge boost to our finance staff, always the unsung backroom people but who are critical to the success of an effective and efficient charity. "One of CAFOD's core values is good stewardship of resources and an important part of that is ensuring that our accounting and finance systems are both solid and transparent. The majority of CAFOD's funding comes from individuals, often making personal sacrifices to support our work, so it is our duty to ensure that our supporters have confidence in us to be good stewards of those donations. "So we will not rest on our laurels but will continue to work on improving all our systems and accountability to supporters."