Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, under HMRC Regulations employers must register with a Payroll Giving Agency (PGA) before making pre-tax deductions from employees who have elected to join the scheme.

Please complete and return the Payroll Giving Form contained within the Payroll Giving Pack which is available in Downloads.

No, there is no charge to set up a scheme with us.

Minimal monthly processing administration charges apply to donations, these may either be removed from the donation(s) or paid by the employer.

Please see our 'Charges Sheet' within the Payroll Giving Pack (available in Downloads) for more details.

Pre-tax deductions should be made each payroll run for participating employees. These funds (plus charges if appropriate) must be sent to us monthly as a single BACS transfer referenced with your unique 4-digit client reference number. At the same time, create and send a reconciled donor schedule.

Payroll Giving funds should be transferred to arrive with Charitable Giving for processing no later than the 19th day of the month following the month in which the deductions were made. For example, deductions from January salaries should arrive no later than the 19th of February.

You may choose to engage the services of a Professional Fundraising Organisation (PFO). PFO's are experienced promotional organisations who will help you encourage your employees to give to charity via your Payroll Giving scheme. They can provide bespoke online sign up facilities and/or face-to-face promotional visits. They are funded by the charities they represent and supply their services free of charge to employers.

Here is a list of APGO member PFOs you could use:

• Hands on Payroll Giving

• Payroll Giving in Action

• StC Payroll Giving

If you would like to promote your scheme independently, our Donation Choice Form and small brochure are available in Downloads.

To encourage and reward participation, many employers choose to offer a matching incentive to enhance employee donations.

To illustrate, you may wish to match 100% of donations capped at £10 per employee. For example, donation of £50 will be enhanced by £10, and the nominated charity receives £60.

Once your Payroll Giving contract is set up, online sign up facilities will be made available via our website here.

Alternatively, a PDF version of our Donation Choice Form is available in Downloads.

If you have decided to work with a PFO then they will provide you/your employees with sign up facilities.

Changes to donation amounts or charity choices may be submitted at any time using either our online Donation Choice Form, or the Donation Choice Form from our Downloads page. If you are working with a PFO, they will provide their own donation choice facility. 

If you are using our sign up facilities, not those of a PFO, and we have received an amendment request from one of your employees, then you will receive an amendment schedule on the first working day of the following month.

For example, all start/amend/stop instructions received during January will be collated and advised to your approved contact(s) by email on the first working day of February.

We have extensive experience managing scheme transfers and offer a free of charge/no obligation consultancy service.

Please contact us to discuss with one of our team.

Our clients use their Corporate Options Account for a variety of purposes, for example:

• Hold funds for Corporate donations to charity

• Depositing funds to cover the administration fees for Payroll Giving

• Depositing 'Every Penny Helps' funds

• Depositing funds to cover matching of employee donations

• Collecting funds raised out of post-tax income which may qualify for Gift Aid enhancement

As we are a charity, corporate funds transferred into a COA may be noted as ‘allowable expenses’ in your company accounts.

There are no set up costs, and online account management is free of charge.

Charges are usually applied when making a deposit into the account. Our standard charge on deposits is 1%, capped at £1500.

Due to the flexible nature of our Corporate Account service, we highly recommend speaking with us first.
This will give us a chance to make sure this service is suitable for your wants and needs before progressing further, and ensure we understand the intended purpose of your account.

Please reach out to us by phone, email or using the webform on our contact page.

No more than 10 working days from receipt of your completed application form. We will contact you once your account has been set up.

Deposits into a Corporate Options Account may be subject to an administration charge.
Our standard charge is 1%, capped at £1,500.

Additional charges may be applied depending on the volume of account transactions.

There is no annual management fee or minimum charge.

Once your account is set up, you will be advised of your unique client reference number, which should be referenced on any payments you send to us in relation to your account. You will also be provided with our bank details to enable you to make deposits.

• Deposits can be made by BACS or bank transfer to your account.
• We will provide our bank details when we send confirmation that your account has been opened.
• Funds are required to be accompanied by a remittance advice/email confirmation.
• Monies stored in a Corporate Options Account do not accrue interest.

• Separate online management is available for each named account; allowing you to see your account balance and transactions.
• Instructions to make disbursements to charity can be made by providing an Excel, or similar, schedule of donations.
• Other disbursements may be initiated by Charitable Giving depending on the purpose of the account, e.g. for paying administration charges or to cover employee matching

‘Every Penny Helps’ allows employees to donate the pennies on their payslip to charity. In other words, to round down their net salaries to the nearest whole pound. It will never cost more than 99 pence per month to participate.

Deducted funds and Gift Aid enhancements are deposited in a Charitable Giving Corporate Options Account.

To join, employees complete an 'Every Penny Helps' Employee Signup Form and if appropriate the Gift Aid declaration contained within the form.

Charitable Giving will make the Gift Aid claim on your behalf and funds are credited to your account as and when received from HMRC.

Disbursements may be made by you, the employer, to your nominated charity(ies) as and when you wish but no less frequently than annually. In the absence of any instructions, the funds will be sent to the default charity detailed on your Every Penny Helps Form.

For full details please see our 'Every Penny Helps' Pack available in Downloads.

• Deductions may be enhanced by Gift Aid
• Deductions may be matched by the employer
• Affordable and appeals to a wide cross section of staff
• High levels of participation can be achieved
• Freedom to nominate any UK registered charity for donations
• Distribute donations whenever desired (no less than annually)
• Register online to check your account balance, view previous transactions and submit disbursement instructions

• There is no set up charge to put the scheme in place
• An administration charge of 4% of the total amount donated by participating employees applies
• The administration charges may be paid by the employer or they will deducted by Charitable Giving from employees total donations

To sign up, employees will need to complete an 'Every Penny Helps' Employee Sign-up Form, available in Downloads.

All Sign-up Forms should be sent to payroll for the deductions to begin and then sent to Charitable Giving to enable the Gift Aid to be claimed on eligible donations.