Charities SORP (FRS102)

Charities SORP is the Statement of Recommended Practice which provides guidance on how charities should prepare and present their financial statements in accordance with FRS102. It is issued by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland and the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator in their role as the joint SORP-making body, as recognised by the Financial Reporting Council. While it is not currently mandatory outside of the UK, it is widely accepted to be best practice for the charity sector and, as such, many Irish charities have chosen to adopt Charities SORP. The key principles underpinning Charities SORP are transparency and accountability.

Why apply Charities SORP?

• It is best practice for charities
• Openness
• Transparency   
• Accountability 
• Enhanced reputation, trust and confidence           
• Inspire confidence in funders and donors
• Demonstrates a commitment to good governance

Challenges of applying Charities SORP

How can Mazars help?

The Mazars charity team has an in-depth working knowledge of Charities SORP and many years of experience in supporting our charity clients with both first-time adoption and with ongoing interpretation of Charities SORP. Below are some examples of how we can support you:

• Perform an impact assessment
• Prepare shadow financial statements
• Train & upskill finance teams
• Train directors/trustees to ensure they understand SORP accounts
• Support and advice for in-house transition
• Full transition to Charities SORP
• In-depth SORP compliance review for organisations that currently apply SORP but may be concerned about the level of compliance 
• Assist with tailoring your accounting policies
• Ongoing technical advice post-transition
• Assist with mapping nominal ledger codes for external and internal reporting