Charity Commission issues revised SORP for charity accounts and reports
The Charity Commission has announced the issue of its revised Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting for Charities (SORP).
SORP 2005 explains how to meet the requirements when preparing charity accounts and the content of trustees’ annual reports. It comes into practice for accounting periods beginning on or after 1st April 2005, though early adoption is encouraged.
The revised Charities SORP builds on the foundations of the previous SORP -updating ./guidance for new accounting standards and includes developments in reporting practice. It allows charities to apply accounting standards in the right way for their particular needs and to meet the reporting requirements of a wide range of sector stakeholders.
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Key developments include:
– a new approach to the presentation of the Trustees’ Annual Report, stressing the reporting of activities and performance against a charity’s objectives
– an emphasis in the Statement of Financial Activities on the disclosure of the activities, services, programmes and projects undertaken
– improved ./guidance on when transactions are recognised
– accounting ./guidance for new developments such as programme related investments and total return on investments
– disclosure of grants made to institutions based on materiality principles.
SORP 2005 is now available on the Commission’s website.