​Charity regulator consults on SORP

Scotland’s charity regulator wants to know how SORP can be improved as part of a wide ranging consultation taking place with England and Wales’ Charity Commission.

SORP, which stands for statement of recommended practice, is the standard by which charities audit and report their accounts.

The consultation closes for comment on 11 December, with views being sought on structure, format and accessibility; implementation issues that require improvements to SORP; committee members’ suggestions for changes to SORP; charity regulator themes for making changes to SORP; ideas for items to remove, change or add to improve the process.

We look forward to gathering views across the UK and Ireland on how the SORP can serve the charity sector

It is anticipated that the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) will review the FRS 102 standard next year. The revised FRS 102 is anticipated to take effect from 2019. Any changes to the FRS 102 standard will in turn require a new SORP. The SORP research will therefore inform the development of the next exposure draft of the SORP. The exposure draft is likely to be consulted upon in 2018.

Nigel Davies, head of accountancy services and joint chair of the SORP committee, said: “We hope that sector practitioners and users of the charity reports and accounts will take the opportunity to tells us about what needs improving and share with us their ideas or solutions. The FRC is committed to a more frequent cycle of reviewing the standards that make up UK-Irish generally accepted accounting practice and now is a timely moment to feed in your ideas for change.”

Laura Anderson, head of enforcement at OSCR and joint chair of the SORP committee, added: “When we published the new SORP in 2014 we sought to develop a reporting and accounting framework that serves four charity law jurisdictions, each with its own reporting traditions and needs. We look forward to gathering views across the UK and Ireland on how the SORP can serve the charity sector well for the future. Please take part in this shared endeavour to make the SORP the best it can be.”

The SORP-making body anticipates that the results of the SORP research exercise will be published by mid 2017 on a dedicated micro-site.