Today, 31 October 2025, the final Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) has been published by the SORP Making Body. The SORP, which was last revised in 2015, provides a framework for accounting and reporting for charities. There are some big changes to note, including tiering, lease accounting and income recognition.
Richard Sagar, Head of Policy at CFG, comments:
“With the arrival of the new SORP, we anticipate that many charities will be worried about implementing the new requirements and, though we do welcome many of the measures the SORP Making Body introduced, we share the concerns that some will have.
“All charities following the SORP will be impacted by the changes, and charities at the bottom end of Tier 2 will be particularly affected because of the scale of the changes for them. We also understand that organisations will not have long to prepare before implementation.
“We recognise that the SORP Making Body has committed to ongoing dialogue around the tiering levels, and we will continue to advocate for the tiers to be adjusted in line with the audit thresholds. Additionally, we will also be open to working with the SORP Making Body to help improve the development process in future years.
“CFG is here to support charities with these changes. We strongly urge all charities across the sector to engage with our free webinars in the coming weeks, and look out for future trainings and resources to help charities in understanding and implementing these new requirements.”
With the final SORP now published, many charities, particularly those at the bottom end of Tier 2, can start preparing for the changes and will be seeking guidance and support in the coming months.
CFG will be supporting charitable organisations, large and small, by offering training and resources over the coming months to help them understand and implement the new SORP requirements.
The consultation process in which ended in June sought the views of the sector. CFG made a number of suggestions, some of which have been accepted. But there are still areas which are likely to cause concern.
CFG’s consultation response followed significant engagement with the charity’s members on the proposed changes. The survey captured 159 responses from charities and CFG also held four consultation events with over 200 charities participating, covering the key areas of changes proposed.
CFG welcomed the SORP-making body’s intent to introduce three separate tiers but raised some concerns, particularly about the range of Tier 2. CFG therefore called on the SORP Making Body to align with any changes to audit thresholds, which arise from the DCMS consultation on financial thresholds, now due imminently.
These recommendations were not implemented in the final SORP. The new SORP will put charities with incomes of £500,000 into the same tier as those with incomes up to £15m. As a result, many smaller charities will need to make additional disclosures in their accounts in future, adding to their workload and potential costs.
ENDS
Editor’s notes
About CFG
CFG is the charity and membership organisation that supports other charitable organisations to make the biggest difference possible. We do this by helping them to make their money and resources go further, by putting financial leadership at the heart of their decision-making. Since CFG was founded in 1987, we have evolved to welcome all finance professionals working for charitable and social change organisations. We also welcome non-finance professionals who recognise that we deliver greater impact when we are financially confident, trustworthy and dynamic. Today, CFG’s vibrant community manages around one third of the UK’s entire charity sector income. We are a diverse and inclusive community of people who are passionate about delivering impact through financial leadership. Together, we lead the way for charity finance.
Contacts
Richard Sagar, Head of Policy
Clare Mills, Co-CEO
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