Charity Commission
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SORP committee issue new information sheet
Technical guidance for auditors and preparers of charity accounts
Following the revision of the Charities SORP in February 2005, it's time to look at how individual recommendations have worked in practice and how they relate to other developments in accounting and reporting.
The Charities SORP Committee promised to keep reviewing issues where more information would help and publish Information Sheets - additional to the SORP - to clarify particular issues or offer informal guidance to help auditors and those preparing accounts.
The first Information sheet in the series is issued today and deals with topics as varied as where grant income appears in a SoFA to how charities meet the company law requirements for a business review.
The Commission's Chief Executive, Andrew Hind, said:
"Preparing accounts will always give rise to technical issues. While our own helpline staff answer many of these questions daily, having access to the SORP Committee is an invaluable way of clarifying key issues which can now be shared through published Information Sheets."
OSCR's Head of Monitoring, Kirsty Gray, said:
"The SORP Committee agenda and papers are already available on our website and published Information Sheets will be a further means for the SORP Committee to share information with the sector."
The Information sheet can be found at: http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk/investigations/sorp/infosheet1.asp
Ends.
Notes to Editors
1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator for charitable activity in England and Wales. See http://www.charitycommission.gov.uk for further information or call our contact centre on 0845 300 0218.
2. The SORP Committee is an expert sector committee that develops the recommendations contained within the SORP
3. The Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting and Reporting by Charities (the SORP) interprets UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice for charities and includes the form and content of charity reports and accounts, namely the Trustees' Annual Report, the financial statements and the accompanying notes to the accounts.
4. The Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA) is the section of the accounts which tells you how much income the charity received and the type of income received, and how much the charity spent and what activities it spent it on.
5. Information Sheets do not change the SORP in anyway but seek to provide additional information or add clarity so that the SORP can be used more easily by auditors and the preparers of charity accounts.
6. OSCR - The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is the independent registrar and regulator for Scottish Charities. They are a non Ministerial Department and form part of the Scottish Administration.
For further information please contact: Sush Amar on 020 7674 2462
