The finance function for growing UK charities
Get the financial control, insight and leadership you need to grow your impact, without building an expensive in-house finance team.
CAP combines day-to-day finance operations with strategic financial leadership for UK charities with £500k–£2m income.
Charity specialists · ICAEW Chartered · KPMG-trained leadership
ICAEW Chartered Accountants
Professional accountancy expertise and standards.
KPMG-trained leadership
Big-firm financial discipline adapted for growing charities.
100% charity focused
Specialist understanding of restricted funds, SORP, trustees, grants and charity governance.
Built for £500k–£2m charities
Designed specifically for charities reaching the stage where basic bookkeeping is no longer enough.
Trusted by growing charities
Has your charity outgrown its finance function?
Growth creates financial complexity. What worked at £300k income often stops working at £750k, £1m or £2m.
You're still too involved in finance
Too many approvals, questions and financial decisions still land with the CEO.
You can see what happened, but not what's coming
Management accounts report the past, but forecasting and scenario planning are limited.
The board wants better visibility
Trustees increasingly want clearer reporting on cash, reserves, risks and future sustainability.
Funding is becoming more complicated
More grants, restricted funds and reporting requirements are increasing the administrative burden.
Too much depends on one person
Key financial knowledge, processes or controls sit with one member of the team.
Growth is exposing weaknesses
Systems and processes that once worked are becoming slow, manual or unreliable.
If several of these feel familiar, you probably don't need another bookkeeper. You need a stronger finance function.
A complete finance function, without building one in-house
From bookkeeping and management accounts to forecasting, board reporting and strategic financial advice, CAP gives growing charities the finance capability they need in one joined-up team.
Finance operations
- Bookkeeping
- Accounts payable
- Payroll support
- Restricted fund accounting
- Management accounts
- Grant reporting
- Audit preparation
- Financial controls
Strategic finance
- Cashflow forecasting
- Budgeting and scenario planning
- Reserves strategy
- Board and trustee reporting
- Financial performance analysis
- Finance systems improvement
- CEO decision support
- Strategic financial planning
One team. One finance function. From transactions to strategy.
Book a Financial Strategy SessionWhat changes when your finance function works properly
More control
Know where cash, funding and reserves are heading, not just where they have been.
More time
Move financial administration and recurring finance questions away from the CEO and leadership team.
Better decisions
Use reliable forecasts, scenarios and management information to make decisions with confidence.
More capacity for impact
Build the financial resilience and organisational capacity to invest confidently in your mission.
Finance should give your charity options, not create another constraint.
Real charities, real financial impact
What financial transformation actually delivers
We track the implementation of every recommendation, so improvements land in the organisation rather than sitting in a report.
From late filing to multi-year funding
Before: Accounts filed late, trustees uneasy, funders asking questions.
After: Clean, on-time reporting and a credible financial story that helped the charity win multi-year grants worth up to £1m.
Cross-border efficiency
Before: Overseas programmes, multiple currencies and duplicated finance effort in every country.
After: One joined-up reporting model across borders, removing duplication and giving trustees a single, trusted picture of the whole organisation.
Commercial contract reviews
Before: Legacy supplier contracts rolling over unchallenged year after year.
After: Hundreds of thousands of pounds saved through contract review and renegotiation, always in the charity's best interests, and redirected into mission.
Watch How We Transform Charity Finance
Discover how CAP helps charities build stronger financial foundations and make better decisions that drive impact.
Video coming soon
Why leadership teams trust us
Trusted advisors, not just accountants
Charity Accounting Partners brings growing UK charities the senior finance leadership normally reserved for the corporate world. This is the calibre of advisor your board gains when they appoint us.
ICAEW Chartered Accountants
Fully regulated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The gold standard in UK accounting.
Big Four (KPMG) trained
Our founder and senior team bring Big Four rigour and quality standards into every charity boardroom.
Commercial finance experience
Real-world experience managing multi-million pound budgets in multinational businesses, not just charity theory.
Strategic finance expertise
Shaping strategy, prioritising investment and steering the charity through change with the conviction leaders need.
International charity operations
Deep experience advising UK charities operating across Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and beyond.
Finance transformation expertise
We modernise finance functions to accelerate growth rather than slow it down. Systems, people and process, done properly.
Board reporting done right
Trustees leave board meetings clearer, calmer and more confident in the numbers, and in the decisions in front of them.
Forecasting and scenario planning
Cashflow, reserves and scenario modelling that gives CEOs and Finance Directors sight of risk before it becomes a problem.
Charity governance specialists
Trustee duties, SORP, restricted funds and Charity Commission expectations, all handled with care and precision.
Meet your dedicated finance team
We're not a faceless outsourcing firm. We're real charity finance specialists who genuinely care about your mission.
Why I built Charity Accounting Partners
I trained at KPMG auditing national charities, then spent years inside multinational commercial finance teams running budgets in the billions and advising boards on how to make sharper decisions with better numbers.
Growing UK charities deserve that same standard of finance leadership, translated for the realities of restricted funds, trustee governance and international programmes. That is the standard we hold ourselves to on every engagement.
Carl Wakeford, ACA - Founder & CEO
Strategic advisors, not traditional accountants
The difference growing charities notice within the first month is not the bookkeeping. It is the seniority, the governance discipline and the forward view.
Senior advisors from day one
Every engagement is led by an ICAEW-chartered advisor with commercial finance and charity governance experience. No juniors learning on your accounts.
Board reporting your trustees will actually read
Fifteen-minute board packs, plain-English commentary, restricted vs unrestricted position, cashflow, reserves and KPIs. Delivered every month without a scramble.
Forecasting that guides real decisions
Rolling cashflow, reserves modelling and worst/likely/best scenario planning. Hiring, grant acceptance and programme launches all supported by numbers that hold up under trustee scrutiny.
Built for international operations
Multi-currency accounting, overseas partner oversight, consolidated group reporting and funder compliance are part of the everyday work, not a bolt-on.
No disruption to day-to-day operations
Structured onboarding, a named senior lead and clear handover mean the finance function strengthens without your team feeling the transition.
Proud partner of the Charity Excellence Framework
We're committed to strengthening financial governance across the UK charity sector. Our partnership with the Charity Excellence Framework reflects a shared belief that every charity deserves access to high-quality financial support, and that stronger finances lead to greater impact.
Built for growing UK charities between £500K and £2M
Growing UK charities where financial complexity is rising, from international programmes to research, healthcare and education, choose us as their long-term strategic finance partner.
Growing Charities
£500K–£2M income
Our core client. Sharper visibility, stronger board conversations and a senior strategic sounding board as your charity scales in size, complexity and ambition.
Learn moreInternational Charities
Overseas programmes & partners
Multi-currency accounts, consolidated reporting, donor reporting and remote finance teams for UK charities working across Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.
Learn moreMedical & Healthcare
Research, patient services, hospices
Restricted fund accounting, research grant reporting and clinical service costing for medical and healthcare charities.
Learn moreInternational Development
Institutional funders & partners
Institutional donor reporting, partner sub-award oversight and country-level finance for UK development charities.
Learn moreEducation & Research
Grants, endowments, programmes
Long-term grant, endowment and programme accounting for growing UK education and research charities.
Learn moreThe Ultimate Charity Finance Guide
What every growing charity CEO should know about building a stronger finance function
A practical guide to the financial systems, reporting, controls and strategic thinking growing charities need as they become more complex.
- Understand what a strong charity finance function should actually look like
- Identify the financial systems and processes your charity may have outgrown
- Improve reporting, forecasting, controls and financial visibility
- Build a finance function that supports growth rather than holding it back
Built specifically for UK charity leaders.
Get clarity on what's holding your finance function back
Book a 30-minute Financial Strategy Session with an ICAEW Chartered Accountant. We'll discuss where your finance function is today, where the biggest constraints are, and the changes that could make the biggest difference.
Not ready to talk yet? Get the Ultimate Charity Finance Guide and see what a strong charity finance function should look like.
For CEOs and senior leaders of UK charities with approximately £500k–£2m annual income.