CIPFA to remain as Charities SORP secretariat

26 Feb 2019 01:35 PM

CIPFA will continue to provide secretariat support for the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP).

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, CIPFA, will continue to provide secretariat support for the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP), working in partnership with the SORP-making body.

The organisation will also provide support for the drafting of the statement’s future updates for at least another three years.

The Charities SORP is the set of rules which governs charity accounting for charitable companies and larger charities (charities with an income over £250,000).

Representatives from the three charity regulators in the UK make up the SORP-making body that develops this charity accounting framework.

CIPFA has been providing this service since 2014 with an initial three year contract extended for a further year whilst the contract was retendered.

Following an open tender process in 2018, the SORP-making body agreed to award the contract to CIPFA for an initial term of three years from December 2018 with an option to extend for up to two more years.

CIPFA were also awarded a related subcontract to provide a printing, publication, and distribution service for the SORP as part of an integrated service.

Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator’s (OSCR), Laura Anderson, on behalf of the joint-chairs of the SORP committee, yesterday said:

We are delighted to continue our partnership with CIPFA and very much look forward to the work we will carry out in developing the SORP to ensure it serves the charity sector well.

This is a very positive continuation of our work with CIPFA and something that we are all very excited about - we are looking forward to the challenges ahead.

Don Peebles, Head of Policy & Technical, CIPFA, yesterday said:

This renewed partnership provides an opportunity for CIPFA to use its expertise in providing advice and guidance on accounting best practice in the charity sector.

We look forward to continuing to support the development of the next version of the SORP, as well as other changes on the horizon for the newly extended SORP-making body.

For media enquiries contact the CIPFA press office on telephone number: 020 7543 5830 or email: Letreis.lawrence@cipfa.org.

Notes to editors

• The SORP-making body is comprised of representatives from Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland. The Charities Regulator in the Republic of Ireland has an option to become part of the SORP-making body in the future.
• CIPFA, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, is the professional body for people in public finance. CIPFA shows the way in public finance globally, standing up for sound public financial management and good governance around the world as the leading commentator on managing and accounting for public money.
• The Secretariat provides the technical drafting services to the SORP-making body, including handling consultations, servicing the advisory charities SORP-committee and developing consultation responses on behalf of the SORP-making body.
• The Charities SORP Committee is a sector-based expert committee that advises the joint SORP-making body in its development of the SORP. The Committee includes charity finance directors, charity auditors as well as members reflecting broader charity sector and academic interests.
• A governance review of the constitution and composition of the Charities SORP committee and the SORP making process was initiated in 2018.
• For more information about the SORP, the SORP-making body and advisory SORP Committee refer to the dedicated website www.charitysorp.org.
• The invitation to tender can be viewed in full online. The tender process was opened on 11 July 2018 and CIPFA were informed of their success on 8 October 2018.