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If you would like to volunteer for a charity or not-for-profit organisation, there are a number of areas which you will need to be aware of and consider regarding ICAEW membership. The key areas are discussed below.
If you are volunteering, as an ICAEW member, you need to follow ICAEW’s Code of Ethics. As a reminder, the Code sets out five fundamental principles, which guide members’ behaviour:
Members are responsible for assessing threats to complying with those principles and for implementing safeguards where those threats are significant. The Code includes a number of Sections covering situations that members might be likely to encounter and suggests, or in some cases, requires, specific courses of action.
If you volunteer and use your professional and business skills in that role, you will have to complete a declaration of CPD annually as part of the membership renewal process. By doing so you will be confirming that you have kept your learning and development needs under review based on your roles and responsibilities and, where you spotted gaps, you took appropriate action. Appropriate action does not necessarily involve attending courses and conferences – you are free to choose whatever training and development activities work best for you. Your approach to CPD should be one of ‘reflect, act, and impact’ and should, as its name suggests, be on an ongoing basis.
From November 2023, ICAEW will be introducing a new policy that will give members greater clarity when it comes to Continuing Professional Development.
If you volunteer, consult the ICAEW statement on engaging in public practice to check if the voluntary activity requires you to have a practising certificate.
Generally, you will not need a practising certificate if:
a) You act as a director, trustee, treasurer or other officer of an entity (unless the entity is a public practitioner) even if in that role the member provides accountancy service to the entity. Whether or not the office is remunerated is not a consideration.
b) gratuitously or for a financial or equivalent value reward of less than £100 per assignment.
For the purposes of a practicing certificate, accountancy services are defined in Annex 1 of the ICAEW statement on engaging in public practice.
Listed below are some of the ways ICAEW can support you if you decide to volunteer.
ICAEW Trustee Training Modules – our online course is free to access, allowing you to reinforce and enhance your knowledge of the legal and financial responsibilities of charity trustees. The modules will give you with a deeper understanding of the trustees’ role in setting the charity’s strategy, risk management and impact measurement, and will prompt you to reflect on your charity’s board dynamics and key relationships.
The course consists of six interactive modules which you can fit in around your other commitments. You also have the option to complete a multiple-choice assessment at the end to receive a certificate.
Charity Community – a community focused on supporting finance professionals in their paid and voluntary roles in or with the charity and voluntary sector. Membership is free and open to everyone, including non-ICAEW members. It provides regular e-newsletters, discounts on ICAEW charity events and a free webinar series to keep you up-to-date with the latest technical and sector developments. The Charity Community is free and open to everyone, including non-ICAEW members.
ICAEW Volunteers – a site enabling you to search and apply for volunteering roles in the not-for-profit sector All charities and not-for-profit organisations can advertise voluntary roles for free on ICAEW Volunteers.
Advisory helplines and services – ICAEW has the following helplines to support you with your issues/queries:
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, incorporated by Royal Charter RC000246 with registered office at Chartered Accountants’ Hall, Moorgate Place, London EC2R 6EA
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