New charity accounting framework published

Two new Statements of Recommended Practice (SORP) have been published by the joint SORP making body, the Charity Commission and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.

The new SORPs provide a comprehensive framework for charity accounting that all charities that prepare accrual accounts must follow. The new SORPs apply to financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2015.

The new SORPs were needed due to changes in UK accounting following the new Financial Reporting Standard (FRS102) that was issued by the Financial Reporting Council in March 2013. In their joint role as the SORP-making body for UK charities, the regulators have been working closely with the sector-based SORP committee to write the new SORPs, which included a public consultation held from July to November 2013.

Responding to sector feedback the new framework provides a SORP to support each of the accounting standards from which charities can choose, depending on their size. The new SORPs can be viewed on the SORP microsite at www.charitysorp.org along with a help sheet to assist charities in making their decision about which accounting framework to follow.