There are just 23 places left on next month's special donorflex Gift Aid seminar.

With only three online booking days before the new year, clients who haven't yet secured their places for the event on Friday, January 29, are urged to do so soon to avoid disappointment when the House Full signs go out.

If the prospect of being helped to find untapped Gift Aid wealth isn't appealing enough in itself – only four months before the window available to make Gift Aid claims drops from six to four years – the latest addition to the agenda at Aston Business School Conference Centre surely will be.

As the updated timetable below shows, we're delighted that Mark Toner, one of HMRC's most experienced charity auditors, will be joining us to help set the scene and answer any Gift Aid-related questions.

Regulars at our user conferences and roadshows, over the years, have grown accustomed to the dry wit of Andrew Kayley delivering insight and reassurance on GA matters.

Mark's visit promises more of the same. He's been a charity auditor since 1992, and has carried out audits on repayments claims submitted by charities during all that time.

He has also been auditing financial institutions since 1996, looking at different schemes such as MIRAS, Personal Equity Plans and Individual Savings Accounts.

For the past eight years, his duties have also taken him on help visits to new charities, to ensure that their procedures are correct. He's no stranger to standing in the spotlight either.

"I've been presenting seminars, such as this, since 2002 to educate and enable charities to submit claims correctly first time."

If you're looking for something to chat about at lunch with him, he's spent 30 years trying to perfect hitting the golf ball straight – and his sense of humour currently has its most severe test every week as a season ticket-holder at Liverpool.

Back to the event itself. Friends and colleagues who've attended any of the past three Children's Hospices UK conferences will already know their way to the conference centre at Aston Triangle, Birmingham B4 7ET.

This is how the agenda is shaping up as we head to Christmas:

  • 10.00am: Registration
  • 10.30am: Welcome and donorflex introduction
  • 10.45am: Mark Toner, HMRC auditor: Mark will give a presentation on the dos and don'ts of Gift Aid, and he'll take questions from the floor on any aspect of the subject – most importantly the impending changes to the six-year rule that's bringing us together
  • 11.45am: Refreshments
  • 12.00am: How donorflex manages Gift Aid: Jo Davies and Steve Mason will prepare you for the focused afternoon session with an hour looking at how donorflex manages Gift Aid, from recording a declaration status all the way to the day you record the payment of your claim by HMRC
  • 1.00pm: Lunch
  • 1.45pm: Six becomes four... we'll introduce you to a new clutch of donorflex reports and guide you through the prescribed procedure for making sure that you make the very most of your supporters' Gift Aid potential before the six-year rule passes into history
  • 2.45pm Refreshments
  • 3.00pm: Six becomes four... we conclude our presentation, provide you with the all-important takeaways so that you can hit the road running when you return to your office, and offer a chance to ask some questions
  • 3.45pm: Carriages. It's our intention to close proceedings so that you can be ahead of the rush.

If there's a particular Gift Aid issue that you'd like to see covered, please e-mail and let us know what it is.

To book your place or places – which cost £60 including VAT per delegate – please ask your donorflex Liaison Manager to log in to the Client menu, then click the Events and bookings link. That's where you'll find the booking form for the big date.

Please note that we're only taking bookings online, not over the telephone. This will enable us to build the event and, at the same time, provide you with the means to manage your own booking details for each of the colleagues who will be attending.

Finally, we reserve the right not to refund payments for places that are cancelled within seven days of the seminar. And please note that training vouchers can't be redeemed against this event.