THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAUX

Registered charity 279057 · accounts filings on the Charity Commission register · also known as CITIZENS ADVICE, CITIZENS ADVICE CYMRU, CITIZENS ADVICE CYNGOR AR BOPETH, NACAB

Citizens Advice provides free, independent, confidential and impartial advice to everyone on their rights and responsibilities. We value diversity, promote equality and challenge discrimination.

Causes: General Charitable Purposes · Education/training · The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives · The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty · Grant history (this charity is a funder) · website · Get email alerts

Latest income
£167.8m
Latest spending
£166.5m
Registered
1980
Accounts read
FY2025

Financial health, per its FY2025 accounts

The accounts state that total income remained flat at £167.8 million, while total expenditure before pension movements increased slightly to £168.1 million. The charity reports free reserves of £20.6 million, which the trustees consider appropriate against a policy target of three to six months' core operating costs. The going concern assessment confirms adequate resources and cash flow to continue operations for at least 12 months.

Automated summary of the FY2025 accounts; the evidenced findings below carry the verbatim passages.

What the accounts disclose

Reserves policy: three to six months’ core operating costs (held: £20.6m)
“The policy as it stands is to hold free reserves equivalent to three to six months’ core operating costs.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Related-party transaction: The document explicitly states that trustee roles at local Citizens Advice do not create disclosable related party transactions.
“We have assessed that these do not create disclosable related party transactions, as in their Citizens Advice trustee role they are one of many trustees, and do not individually have sufficient influence over the direction of Citizens Advice.”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.
Trading subsidiary: Citizens Advice Limited
“The charity has an active trading subsidiary, Citizens Advice Limited (formerly Advice Services Information Limited).”
Per its FY2025 accounts as filed with the Charity Commission.

Accounts audited by BDO LLP. Discloses 4 of 6 completeness components.

Corporate structure

CITIZENS ADVICE LIMITED — per its own Companies House accounts
  • Turnover: £41k
  • Profit before tax: £14k
  • Donated/gift-aided to the charity: £14k
  • Creditors include £62,167 owed to group undertakings (Note 7).
“All taxable profits generated during the year are to be gift-aided to.the parent charity within nine months of the end of the accounting period and hence no taxation ‘charge will typically arise.”

Public fundraising profile: JustGiving — Citizens Advice (matched by registered charity number).

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.

Public-sector contracts awarded

From the official Contracts Finder and Find a Tender notices (supplier matched by exact registered name). Contract income is distinct from grants.

BuyerContractAwardedValue
MONEY AND PENSIONS SERVICECommissioning Debt Advice in England——

Property (HM Land Registry)

1 registered title in England and Wales held by the charity’s company or corporate body (0 freehold). All charity-held property. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright, OGL v3.0.

Trustpilot: Citizensadvice scores 1.7/5 from 666 reviews (source) — reviews usually concern the charity’s shops or services, not its charitable performance.

Structured financials (annual return, FY ending 31/03/2025)

Total income
£167.8m
Total spending
£166.5m
Cost of raising funds
£3.4m
Reserves (reported)
£440k
Employees
1,055

Reported reserves equal ~0.0 months of spending — in the bottom quarter for charities its size (median 2.7 months; benchmarks).

Per its annual return, largest income source: Charitable activities (97% 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: 2.0% of total income — below the median for charities its size (2.9%) (benchmarks).

Register events

Trustees · trustee networks

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

Operates in: Scotland · Throughout England And Wales

Income and spending

Financial year endIncomeSpending
31/03/2025£167.8m£166.5m
31/03/2024£167.7m£168.7m
31/03/2023£166.3m£153.4m
31/03/2022£153.6m£151.1m
31/03/2021£162.6m£168.8m

Common questions

Is THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAUX financially healthy?

Per its FY2025 accounts: The accounts state that total income remained flat at £167.8 million, while total expenditure before pension movements increased slightly to £168.1 million. The charity reports free reserves of £20.6 million, which the trustees consider appropriate against a policy target of three to six months' core operating costs. The going concern assessment confirms adequate resources and cash flow to continue operations for at least 12 months. Its FY2025 accounts were audited by BDO LLP.

Who funds THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAUX?

Funders whose own accounts filings name THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAUX as a grant recipient include THE TRUSSELL TRUST, THE MASTER CHARITABLE TRUST, THE JULIA RAUSING TRUST, WORCESTER MUNICIPAL CHARITIES (CIO), GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATION.

Known funders

Grants to this charity found in funders’ own accounts filings.

FunderYearAmountPurpose (as stated by the funder)
THE TRUSSELL TRUSTFY2023£18.1mHelp through Hardship helpline
THE TRUSSELL TRUSTFY2023£7.3mHelp through Hardship helpline
THE TRUSSELL TRUSTFY2024£6.1mHelp through Hardship helpline
THE MASTER CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£1.2m
THE JULIA RAUSING TRUSTFY2025£1.0mHelp through Hardship
WORCESTER MUNICIPAL CHARITIES (CIO)FY2024£206kRunning Costs, advice, support, legal aid
GARFIELD WESTON FOUNDATIONFY2024£200kWelfare
WORCESTER MUNICIPAL CHARITIES (CIO)FY2025£195kRunning Costs, advice, support, legal aid etc.
WORCESTER MUNICIPAL CHARITIES (CIO)FY2023£193kRunning Costs, advice, support, legal aid
WORCESTER MUNICIPAL CHARITIES (CIO)FY2022£180kRunning Costs, advice, support, legal aid
THE HEALTH FOUNDATIONFY2024£164kImproving people’s health and reducing inequalities
THE NATIONWIDE FOUNDATIONFY2023£124kDecent Affordable Homes funding strategy
Helping HertsFY2022£118kGrant to Citizens Advice
MOONDANCE FOUNDATIONFY2023£63k
THE NATIONWIDE FOUNDATIONFY2025£59kTenants' voice projects
ST. JOHN'S FOUNDATION EST. 1174FY2025£50kDebt Caseworkers 2023-2026
BENEFACT TRUST LIMITEDFY2024£50kCrisis Response: UK emergency support helpline
ST. JOHN'S FOUNDATION EST. 1174FY2024£49kDebt Caseworkers funding
THE NATIONWIDE FOUNDATIONFY2022£46kDecent Affordable Homes funding strategy
MOONDANCE FOUNDATIONFY2022£30kCauses in Wales
THE NATIONWIDE FOUNDATIONFY2024£19kNot specified in grant list
BOURNE UNITED CHARITIESFY2025£15k
COMMUNITY ACTION ISLE OF WIGHTFY2024£14kAdvice and support services
Community Foundation for Staffordshire and ShropshireFY2025£14kMaterial Grant Payments
BOURNE UNITED CHARITIESFY2024£13k
THOMAS HICKMAN'S CHARITYFY2025£13k
THE STANTON BALLARD CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2025£10kCharitable purposes in and around the City of Oxford
Helping HertsFY2023£9kGrants to Citizens Advice
BOURNE UNITED CHARITIESFY2023£8k
COMMUNITY ACTION ISLE OF WIGHTFY2023£8kAdvice and support services
THE HARLOW HEALTH CENTRES TRUST LIMITEDFY2024£6kOther health promotion activity
THE HARLOW HEALTH CENTRES TRUST LIMITEDFY2022£5k
THE WIGHT AID FOUNDATIONFY2021£4k
ROSCA TRUSTFY2025£4k
ANSON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£3kCharitable Donation
ANSON CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£3kCharitable Donation
THE STANTON BALLARD CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2022£1k
SPORT, AMENITIES, RECREATION IN KESGRAVEFY2025£1kOutreach Kesgrave
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF FINCHLEYFY2022£1kMission Allocation
THE STANTON BALLARD CHARITABLE TRUSTFY2023£925Trusts and Advice Centres
COMMUNITY COUNCIL OF DEVONFY2025£700VCSE Assembly
LIONS CLUB OF FLEET (CIO)FY2022£300Grants
The Parochial Church Council of Godalming MinsterFY2023£200
LIONS CLUB OF FLEET (CIO)FY2025£150
THE PAROCHIAL CHURCH COUNCIL OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL PARISH OF ST BARNABAS, SWANMOREFY2024£116By donations from Barnaby's
THE WIGHT AID FOUNDATIONFY2022£100
COMMUNITY ACTION ISLE OF WIGHTFY2025£0Advice and support services

Government & lottery funding

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

FunderDateAmountPurpose
The National Lottery Community Fund22/04/2024£270kVolunteer Transformation Programme
UK government01/04/2024£41.8mCitizens Advice Core Grant
UK government01/11/2023£236kDebt Advice Modernisation - Citizens Advice Lot C
UK government09/06/2023£50kConsumer Product Safety
UK government01/02/2023£20.3mGrant for the provision of Debt Advice in England through Citizens Advice
A B Charitable Trust21/04/2022£30kA grant to National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (Citizens Advice)
UK government01/04/2022£10.4mGrant for the provision of Pension Wise Services (England, Wales, NI)
UK government01/04/2022£20.2mUNIVERSAL CREDIT: HELP TO CLAIM (CITIZENS ADVICE)
UK government11/01/2022£11.8mCourt Based Witness Service Grant
UK government01/04/2021£91kDomestic Abuse Service pilot
UK government14/07/2020£11.1mWitness Support Services
UK government01/04/2019£34.7mSupport for Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB)
UK government01/04/2019£20.0mALB - MaPS - Grant for Debt Advice
UK government01/04/2019£11.5mALB - MaPS - Grant for Pension Appointments
UK government01/04/2019£11.2mCourt Based Witness Service
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, UK Branch31/05/2016£17kThe National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux
The National Lottery Community Fund23/09/2014£298kBarrier-Busting with BSL

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.

Charities like this

Semantically similar by activities and financial character, from our analysed corpus. Compare with CITIZENS ADVICE 1066.

Side by side with its peers

CharityIncomeTop pay bandStaff >£60kReserves vs policyFundraising costGoing concern
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAUX£167.8m——unclear—no doubt
CITIZENS ADVICE 1066 FY2025£1.4m—0above—no doubt
CANOLFAN CYNGHORI YNYS MON CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU FY2025£1.4m—0unclear—no doubt
NORTHUMBRIAN CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU FY2025£5.0m—0below—no doubt
CITIZENS ADVICE GATESHEAD FY2025£7.2m——below—no doubt
Citizens Advice Braintree & South Essex Limited FY2025£1.5m—0unclear—no doubt

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