Managing unit finances

As we all know it is vitally important that all money that is paid to units, and that everything the unit spends is recorded, accounted for, managed and budgeted.

To make sure that your unit has the required funds to cover all of the costs throughout the year, we would encourage leaders to agree on a budget before the start of the year. This will also help you to know how much to charge parents. We’ve created a handy tool to help with this.

Download the unit budgeting tool

We’ve also created 2 templates to help units manage the income and expenditure throughout the year, which will then feed the information into the final end of year accounts documents.

We have a template for units that use a bank account or bank accounts and run a cashbook (units that take in and payout in cash).

Download the unit accounts template

We have another for cashless units (by cashless we mean everything gets paid into the bank account, and paid out by transfer, debit card or cheque, but you may still take in money in cash).

Download the cashless unit accounts template

Both of these templates comply with OSCR requirements, and can be used by units that are registered charities and those that are not.

At the end of the financial year all units must submit accounts through their area’s local procedure, in line with the Girlguiding finance policy.

All units must submit:

• A statement of receipts and payments with prior year comparatives
• A statement of balances as of the last day of the financial year and opening balances
• Notes to the accounts
• An independent examiner’s report

Units which are registered charities must also produce and submit:

• A trustees’ annual report
• A statement of receipts and payments with prior year comparatives
• A statement of balances as at the last day of the financial year and opening balances
• Notes to the accounts
• An independent examiner’s report

For levels that are registered charities please be aware that from 2026 all accounts submitted to OSCR as part of annual returns, will be available online on the charity’s register entry without redaction. Make sure that you only upload what is absolutely necessary, to ensure that you are not sharing unnecessary personal data.

Girlguiding have produced a checklist for independent examiners to ensure that they are checking all of the elements of the accounts which are required. You can find this here.

Alongside submitting your unit accounts, we would also encourage you to complete and submit a unit financial information checklist which capture’s all of the information about the unit bank accounts, and charity registration.

Download the unit financial information checklist

You can find information to help you choose a bank account here.