Church Urban Fund
Watch the video to hear Finance Manager Paul Marten explain how Aqilla supports the accounting and finance management of the Church Urban Fund.
The Church Urban Fund was established by the Church of England in the 1980s following the Faith in the City report. The charity exists to tackle poverty across England by resourcing local churches and community organisations to support people most affected by hardship. As one of many UK charities and nonprofits working to support communities across the country, the organisation plays an important role in addressing social challenges.
To deliver this mission, the Church Urban Fund manages multiple funding streams, including restricted funds and grants from a wide range of trust funders. This requires an accounting system that is flexible, transparent, and able to support clear reporting to funders and trustees alike, particularly when managing donations, grants and wider financial activities.
For the past nine years, the Church Urban Fund has relied on Aqilla cloud accounting software as the foundation of its finance operations.
The platform provides robust accounting software capabilities that help finance teams manage funding streams, maintain financial visibility, and support the reporting needs of modern charities and nonprofits, while also serving a broad range of organisations beyond the sector—from SMEs to mid-market and large enterprises.
Managing restricted funds and grant reporting
As a grant-funded charity, Church Urban Fund must clearly demonstrate how funds are received, allocated, and spent, often against specific restrictions and reporting requirements set by funders.
Effective fund accounting is essential for UK charities, ensuring organisations can track how grants, donations, and other funding streams support their financial activities while maintaining transparency.
Aqilla provides the flexibility needed to manage this complexity while keeping reporting clear and concise.
The platform supports structured charity accounting processes, helping organisations manage restricted funding, monitor donations, and maintain accurate records for reporting and governance.
It’s allowed us to be really flexible in our reporting and in dealing with restricted funds and grants we receive from different trust funders, and to be able to report easily and concisely to our funders about how we’ve spent their money.
This flexibility enables the finance team to respond efficiently to funder queries and reporting deadlines, without relying on manual workarounds or disconnected spreadsheets.
Clear reporting for trustees and leadership
Beyond funder reporting, Church Urban Fund’s finance team must provide trustees with timely, accurate insight into financial performance.
Clear access to reliable financial data is essential for effective oversight, helping trustees and wider stakeholders understand how resources are being managed and how the organisation is performing.
Aqilla supports the production of trustee-ready reports, allowing leadership to quickly understand performance against budgets and forecasts.
Aqilla helps us produce our reports for our trustees so we can quickly get their numbers and see how we’re doing against our budgets and forecasts.
This clarity supports better governance, more informed decision-making, and greater confidence across the organisation.
Real-time financial insight for charity business reporting
Church Urban Fund uses Excel add-in, integrated within Aqilla, to support live reporting and analysis. By connecting spreadsheets directly to the accounting platform, the finance team can access accurate financial data while maintaining efficient bookkeeping processes that support day-to-day financial activities.
By drawing data directly from Aqilla into spreadsheets and refreshing it almost instantly, the finance team can work efficiently while maintaining confidence in the underlying data.
This approach combines the flexibility of spreadsheets with the control and integrity of a central accounting system.
Confidence in financial reporting and compliance
After nine years of use, Aqilla remains central to Church Urban Fund’s finance function – supporting compliance, transparency, and confidence.
For many UK charities, maintaining trust with regulators, funders and stakeholders requires clear oversight of financial reporting and alignment with the charity commission.
Using Aqilla gives me confidence in our financial reporting.
Looking for cloud accounting software for churches, charities and not-for-profit organisations?
If your organisation manages restricted funds, donations, and trustee reporting, choosing the right cloud accounting software for charities can make financial management significantly easier.
Aqilla provides flexible charity accounting software designed to support charities and nonprofits, helping organisations manage financial activities, maintain accurate bookkeeping, and track expenses with effective expense tracking.
Whether supporting large organisations or small charities, Aqilla helps finance teams maintain clear financial data, meet regulatory expectations from the charity commission, and provide transparency for trustees and stakeholders.
