Support with finances and charity management

Registering as a charity

If you want to register your unit as a charity please use these guidelines to help you complete the OSCR online application form.

Registering for Gift Aid

Once you have received your Scottish Charity number (SCxxxxxx) from OSCR you can then register with HMRC for Gift Aid.

To do this, apply to Girlguiding for the application form by completing the Scottish Gift Aid Certificate.

Learn more about what Gift Aid could do for you and your girls here.

Girlguiding units that are already claiming Gift Aid can use the Small Donations scheme. Within certain parameters 25% tax can be reclaimed on small donations under £20 where there is no signed declaration, such as bag packing. Find out more here.

Units which are registered on the Scottish Charity Register, kept by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR), must comply with Scottish charity law and regulations.

Where annual income is under £250,000 the following is required:

• A trustee report
• A statement of receipts & 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 report

You can download the Scottish unit accounts pack template here. If you have any questions, please get in touch with the governance team on governance@girlguiding-scot.org.uk.

If you need help with budgeting check out our unit budget template, designed to help you decide how much to ask for subscriptions.

Units which are not registered charities can either use the Scottish pack or the Girlguiding unit account pack and instructions to manage unit finances.