Preparing an annual report for a nonprofit supporting one person starts with checking the records, not exporting a PDF. In TidyOne, open Association → Reports, select Annual nonprofit report, choose the year, and leave All projects and All funds selected for an organization-wide view. Review income, expenses, documents and missing links before preparing material for your accountant or supporters. This is an operational reporting workflow; it does not replace statutory accounts or the reporting obligations that apply in your country.
Why an annual report is more than twelve monthly totals
Over one year, a nonprofit might raise money for surgery, pay therapy invoices, receive corporate sponsorships, purchase equipment and arrange transport. Its supporting records may be scattered across banking apps, PDF invoices, photographs, email threads and folders. Adding up twelve summary figures will not reveal whether an expense has a supporting document or whether a donation was assigned to the correct project.
An annual review should answer: What did we record during this period, where was the money intended to go, what was spent, which records support the figures and what still needs attention? The TidyOne report helps you assemble those answers from one operational dataset.
What you will have at the end
Before you begin: prepare the year you want to report
Choose the exact period, not just the year label
Decide whether you need a completed calendar year, a year-to-date update or a custom interval required by a funder. Previous year selects the preceding calendar year; Custom lets you set an explicit From and To. The Current year preset fills in 1 January to 31 December of this year. If the year is still ongoing, treat the results as a provisional report based on records entered so far, not a finalized year-end statement.
Keep the organization-wide filters broad
In Single-beneficiary nonprofit mode, TidyOne already uses the organization's primary beneficiary as its default context. The extra Beneficiary and Case selectors are hidden in Reports. For the organization's complete annual picture, leave Project → All projects and Fund → All funds. Choosing one project creates a filtered annual view, not an organization-wide annual report.
Check financial entries separately from the source documents
In Finance, review the date, amount, currency, income/expense type, category and project or fund when the purpose is clear. Check that AI confirmation of an invoice did not create an expense that was already entered manually. An invoice received and a payment made are not the same event. TidyOne reflects the financial records you enter or confirm; it does not automatically verify that a payment cleared your bank account.
How to prepare the annual report in TidyOne
Step 1 — Check the active organization
Sign in, switch to Association and confirm that you are viewing the correct nonprofit. Reports read the active organization's entries. Spending in your Personal workspace does not automatically count as a nonprofit expense.
Step 2 — Select the annual report type
Open Reports from the navigation. In Report type, choose Annual nonprofit report. The label identifies the operational report you are building; choosing it does not create signed or audited statutory financial statements.
Step 3 — Set the reporting period
Choose Previous year for the last completed calendar year or Custom for the exact dates you need. Always check the From and To fields. If the year is incomplete, label any shared material interim or provisional. For a full-year report, avoid accidentally leaving a monthly date range in place.
Step 4 — Include all projects and funds
Set Project → All projects and Fund → All funds. This also lets you see transactions assigned to the general organization rather than a dedicated campaign. Later, run separate reports for surgery, therapy, transport or equipment to check each purpose in more detail. An archived project might not appear in the project dropdown, but its in-period transactions may still be included when you use the organization-wide filter; inspect the source records if the resulting project label is unexpected.
Step 5 — Click “Update report” and interpret the five indicators
The summary shows Income, Expenses, Balance, Donors/sponsors in period and Documents. Amounts remain grouped by currency. Here Balance means income minus expenses from the selected period and filters. It is not the bank balance at year end and does not automatically carry forward the prior year's opening balance.
Step 6 — Inspect categories and project assignments
Review Income by category and Expenses by category, including the project names beside each amount. Entries under General / no project deserve a second look if they should belong to a specific purpose. Fix the original Finance record and regenerate the report. Do not move genuinely unrestricted donations into a restricted-purpose project merely to make the table appear tidier.
Step 7 — Check supporting documents and the AI review status
Under Supporting documents, TidyOne shows Expenses with a linked document, AI-analysed documents, Unanalysed documents and a list of Expenses without a linked document. These indicators depend on documents and links visible in the app, not on whether every original record in the organization exists or has been accepted by an accountant. An invoice can be present in your document archive without being linked to the correct financial transaction.
Go to Documents and use Unanalysed / Analysed AI and Unsent / Sent filters to work through the backlog. Check document dates, suppliers, duplicates and totals. Mark a file Sent only after it has actually been sent to the accountant; the status does not certify receipt or approval.
Step 8 — Review donors, sponsorships and funds
The Donors / sponsors metric counts distinct contacts linked to income entries whose contact type is donor or sponsor. A person donating several times may count once; an anonymous donation can contribute to income without increasing this metric. In Funds, TidyOne presents in-period inflows, outflows and their difference for funds with recorded activity. General income without a fund may appear in the main total but not in an individual fund row.
Step 9 — Compare the report with statements and your accountant's records
Gather bank statements, relevant cash records and any payment-provider statements. Compare amounts by currency and date. Investigate bank charges, internal transfers, cash payments, delayed postings and missing entries. TidyOne does not perform formal bank reconciliation by itself. After corrections, click Update report again so the output reflects the source data.
Step 10 — Export after reviewing the result
Where your plan includes Association PRO full export, use PDF / Print, Transaction CSV or the Accounting ZIP. The CSV contains the transactions in the selection. The ZIP adds lists and, when accessible, relevant files from the document archive. If more than 250 documents meet the selection, TidyOne can embed only the first 250 binary files in the ZIP while retaining the document listing in CSV. Check the archive before sharing it with your accountant.
Step 11 — Use an AI narrative as a reviewed draft
After updating the report, click Generate AI draft if available. TidyOne AI receives a structured summary to help organize a narrative. It must not invent figures, medical outcomes, delivery milestones or statements of legal compliance. Review every sentence, remove unnecessary personal data and have a qualified professional review any official accounting or legal sections.
Worked example: the fictional “Support for Anna” nonprofit
These figures are illustrative, not real charity results. The nonprofit tracks Surgery, Therapy and Transport projects. Over one calendar year, it enters the following transactions:
| Entry | Currency | Amount | Check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations for Surgery | RON | 30,000 | Donor, project and purpose |
| Therapy sponsorships | RON | 12,000 | Sponsorship agreement |
| General donations | RON | 3,000 | No invented restricted purpose |
| International donation | EUR | 500 | Separate currency |
| Paid and recorded Surgery invoices | RON | 22,000 | Invoice–transaction links |
| Paid and recorded therapy | RON | 8,000 | Project, supplier, documents |
| Paid and recorded transport | RON | 2,000 | Project/fund allocation |
From recorded RON transactions, 45,000 − 32,000 = 13,000 RON. The separate 500 EUR does not turn into RON without an explicit conversion policy. Opening balances, omitted records and other adjustments mean that 13,000 RON is not automatically the closing bank balance. A Surgery invoice stored in Documents but not represented by a Finance transaction does not automatically increase the report's expense total.
Year-end data quality checklist
Common problems and how to resolve them
The annual total looks lower than expected
Check that you did not leave Current year selected when you needed Previous year, or accidentally filter by Project or Fund. Also check the dates stored on the original transactions.
A campaign's records are listed as “General / no project”
Correct the underlying Finance entries, then regenerate the report. Do not simply edit the exported PDF and leave incorrect source data unchanged.
We have many invoices but too few expenses in the report
Uploading an invoice is not the same as recording a financial expense. Check the AI review and whether an appropriate Finance record exists for the selected period. Avoid creating a second expense for a record already generated through AI confirmation.
The donor count does not equal the number of donations
The metric counts unique linked donor/sponsor contacts, not transactions. Someone giving five times can count as one donor, while anonymous gifts do not automatically add a named contact.
We marked records as Sent but never received acknowledgement
Sent is a user-managed workflow status. Obtain actual receipt confirmation from the accountant and check that the files arrived complete and readable.
Our country requires a different statutory annual return
There is no single statutory annual form for every European nonprofit. Use TidyOne to prepare organized operational data and work with a qualified professional on the specific accounts, filings and disclosures required where your organization is registered.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the annual report in TidyOne?
Association workspace → Reports → Report type → Annual nonprofit report. Select the period and click Update report.
Do I need to choose the primary beneficiary again?
No. In single-beneficiary nonprofit mode the primary beneficiary is configured once; extra Beneficiary and Case selectors are hidden in Reports.
Does Annual nonprofit report automatically include every project?
Only when your other filters allow it. Leave All projects and All funds selected for the full organization; specific filters narrow the annual view.
Can I use a non-calendar financial year?
You can select a custom date range for TidyOne's operational report. Confirm the actual financial-year dates and statutory reporting format with your accountant.
Can I export the documents too?
Association PRO full export provides an Accounting ZIP subject to the app's limits. For a large selection, use the document CSV listing to identify files that were not embedded in the ZIP and send them separately.
Can TidyOne AI write the summary for donors?
It can produce a narrative draft from available structured data. You still need to check the figures, phrasing, privacy and any claims about real-world outcomes.
Will this report automatically satisfy a European grant requirement?
No. Each grant agreement or funding program has its own reporting calendar, eligible-cost rules, evidence requirements and submission templates. Use TidyOne as a preparation tool and follow the applicable agreement and national rules.
Related TidyOne guides
Open the Association workspace, check the underlying entries and generate a report for the year that matters to your organization. Your accountant can help you prepare any separate statutory or funder-specific return.
Open Reports in TidyOne →For EU-funded projects: European Commission — grant management, reporting, checks and keeping records. Specific requirements come from your grant agreement. This resource does not impose one uniform annual-report format on every European nonprofit.
Return to the checklist when late transactions arrive or supporting documents are corrected.
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