A four-month consultation on a new draft charity Statement of Recommended Practice (Sorp) is underway. The existing Sorp has been in place since 2005 but following an overhaul of accounting rules, there has been the issue of a new Financial Reporting Standard, FRS 102, in March this year by the Financial Reporting Council.
This means that the charities Sorp needed to be looked at afresh as the new Sorp will interpret the new FRS 102 for the benefit of charities. The new draft Sorp has been developed by a committee that includes the Charity Commission and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator as well as experts from the charity sector.
The Sorp is a technical document and the Charity Commission recognises that the existing Sorp isn’t as user-friendly for small charities as it could be. For that reason, the committee have adopted a ‘think small first approach’ when drafting the new Sorp. There are separately set out the requirements applying to smaller charities that have the option of sticking with the existing financial reporting standards for smaller entities.
Getting a Sorp that works for the sector is vital, and charities are invited to take part in the consultation by visiting the microsite developed for this purpose at www.charitysorp.org. The site explains how you can comment on the draft Sorp.
If you require any advice on any aspect of charity accounting please contact Lesley Malkin
