Charity Accounts Intelreading the accounts so you don’t have to

CANTERBURY DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE

Registered charity 249972 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register

The Board of Finance is the registered company of the Diocese of Canterbury to manage its financial affairs and hold its assets.The Diocese of Canterbury consists of the parishes of East Kent whose object is the promotion of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the doctrines and practices of the Church of England.

Causes: Religious Activities · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£12.5m
Latest spending
£11.9m
Registered
1966
Accounts read
FY2024

Financial health, per its FY2024 accounts

The accounts state that total funds increased to £103.1m, driven by a £2.0m gain on the revaluation of tangible fixed assets and a £1.0m gain on property disposals. Free reserves were £3.4m, which the Trustees consider reasonable given future challenges, while the charity reported a net surplus of £782k for the year.

Automated summary of the FY2024 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Highest-paid employee band: £70,001 - £80,000 — below the median for charities its size (£130k)
“In the band £70,001 - £80,000 2” — page 35
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Reserves policy: between £1.4m and £1.7m (held: £6.2m)
“In 2024 this would require general reserves of between £1.4m and £1.7m.”
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: CDBF makes contributions to the national Archbishops’ Council towards the running costs of the National Church.
“CDBF makes contributions to the national Archbishops’ Council towards the running costs of the National Church. The stipends of all parish priests are paid initially by the Church Commissioners and these are reimbursed by CDBF.” — page 6
“The stipend of the Bishop of Dover together with the stipend of the Chaplain, the salaries of the Bishop’s office staff and the Archdeacon of Maidstone’s stipend are borne by the Church Commissioners.” — page 6
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: CDBF reimburses the Church Commissioners for the stipends of the Bishop of Dover, the Chaplain, the Bishop’s office staff, and the Archdeacon of Maidstone.
“CDBF makes contributions to the national Archbishops’ Council towards the running costs of the National Church. The stipends of all parish priests are paid initially by the Church Commissioners and these are reimbursed by CDBF.” — page 6
“The stipend of the Bishop of Dover together with the stipend of the Chaplain, the salaries of the Bishop’s office staff and the Archdeacon of Maidstone’s stipend are borne by the Church Commissioners.” — page 6
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: CDBF paid £210k to subsidiary Canterbury Diocesan Enterprises Limited (CDEL) for work done.
“CDBF makes contributions to the national Archbishops’ Council towards the running costs of the National Church. The stipends of all parish priests are paid initially by the Church Commissioners and these are reimbursed by CDBF.” — page 6
“The stipend of the Bishop of Dover together with the stipend of the Chaplain, the salaries of the Bishop’s office staff and the Archdeacon of Maidstone’s stipend are borne by the Church Commissioners.” — page 6
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: Trustees who are clergy received stipends and/or housing from the charity for their religious duties.
“CDBF makes contributions to the national Archbishops’ Council towards the running costs of the National Church. The stipends of all parish priests are paid initially by the Church Commissioners and these are reimbursed by CDBF.” — page 6
“The stipend of the Bishop of Dover together with the stipend of the Chaplain, the salaries of the Bishop’s office staff and the Archdeacon of Maidstone’s stipend are borne by the Church Commissioners.” — page 6
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: CDBF received £864k in LInC funding from the Archbishops' Council and allocated it to parishes.
“CDBF makes contributions to the national Archbishops’ Council towards the running costs of the National Church. The stipends of all parish priests are paid initially by the Church Commissioners and these are reimbursed by CDBF.” — page 6
“The stipend of the Bishop of Dover together with the stipend of the Chaplain, the salaries of the Bishop’s office staff and the Archdeacon of Maidstone’s stipend are borne by the Church Commissioners.” — page 6
Per its FY2024 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP. Discloses 5 of 6 completeness components.

Year-over-year changes

Comparing this charity’s FY2023 and FY2024 accounts as analysed by this site.

Corporate structure

Leadership, per the charity’s website

Listed on the charity’s own website when we last crawled it; roles may have changed. Pay-band disclosures above are anonymous statutory disclosures and are not attributed to any named individual.

Company officers (Companies House)

Current officers of the charity’s own company per the Companies House register, cross-checked against the Charity Commission trustee list by name. A director not on the trustee list is usually a timing or naming difference between the two registers — check both records before drawing conclusions.

Official officers record.

Property (HM Land Registry)

304 registered titles in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (297 freehold); recorded price paid £9.7m. All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Public profiles (found on the charity’s own website): facebook · instagram

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/12/2024)

Total income
£12.5m
Total spending
£11.9m
Cost of raising funds
£143k
Reserves (reported)
£3.4m
Employees
53

Reported reserves equal ~3.4 months of spending — below the median for charities its size (median 4.6 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Donations and legacies (72% of income) — components as reported reconcile to the return’s total income; not from the accounts narrative.

Per its annual return, cost of raising funds: 1.1% of total income — below the median for charities its size (3.8%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

Trustee list from the Charity Commission register (current, not historical).

Operates in: Kent

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/12/2024£12.5m£11.9m
31/12/2023£11.2m£11.8m
31/12/2022£13.2m£11.6m
31/12/2021£11.8m£11.5m
31/12/2020£12.5m£11.3m

Common questions

Is CANTERBURY DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE financially healthy?

Per its FY2024 accounts: The accounts state that total funds increased to £103.1m, driven by a £2.0m gain on the revaluation of tangible fixed assets and a £1.0m gain on property disposals. Free reserves were £3.4m, which the Trustees consider reasonable given future challenges, while the charity reported a net surplus of £782k for the year. Its FY2024 accounts were audited by Buzzacott Audit LLP.

What does the highest-paid employee of CANTERBURY DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE earn?

Per its FY2024 accounts, the highest-paid employee was in the £70,001 - £80,000 band.

Government & lottery funding

Grants to this charity published as open data by government and lottery funders (360Giving).

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Community Fund08/07/2022£10kCommunity support and Sustainability
UK government01/04/2022£611kSchool Condition Allocation - Voluntary Aided Sector Recipients
UK government01/04/2021£17kCanterbury Diocese Church Support Officer
The National Lottery Heritage Fund22/06/2016£149k"St Mary's Church Frittenden - roof and masonry repairs and new work to improve accessibility"
The National Lottery Heritage Fund22/09/2015£236k"St NicholasÂ’ Church, Pluckley: masonry repairs and associated work, including provision of a heritage centre"
The National Lottery Community Fund18/05/2011£3kJazz Community Picnic
The National Lottery Heritage Fund01/05/1996£42k"St John the Baptist, Harrietsham"

Funders of similar charities

Funders whose accounts show grants to charities similar to this one (and no recorded grant to this charity) — a starting list for fundraisers.

FunderSimilar charities fundedAmount to them
THE MARTIN LAING FOUNDATION1£848k
ANNE FRENCH MEMORIAL TRUST1£308k
KESWICK HALL CHARITY1£100k
CHARITY OF SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON1£92k
SIR JOHN PRIESTMAN CHARITY TRUST1£44k
NEWCASTLE DIOCESAN SOCIETY1£33k
THE BEATRICE LAING TRUST1£31k
THE MISSION TO SEAFARERS1£29k

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with THE EXETER DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
CANTERBURY DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE£12.5m£70,001 - £80,000—above—no doubt
THE EXETER DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE FY2024£18.8m——above—no doubt
THE BATH AND WELLS DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE FY2024£17.0m——below—no doubt
THE NEWCASTLE DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE FY2025£8.1m——above—no doubt
THE DURHAM DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE FY2025£12.5m£90,001 - £100,000—within—no doubt
THE NORWICH DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE LIMITED FY2024£13.4m——unclear—no doubt

Each row is that charity’s latest analysed filing; every value is quote-backed on its own page.