Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

Charity FDs issue reform plan: proposals are aimed at enhancing financial transparency.

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuthorHowarth, Anita
PositionReporting - Charity Finance Directors' Group

The voluntary sector faces a radical shake-up if recommendations intended to improve the quality of charities' annual reports are included in a statement of recommended practice (Sorp) currently being drafted by the Charity Commission.

The recommendations, contained in a report by the Charity Finance Directors' Group (CFDG), propose tightening the definitions used in charity accounting. Their ultimate purpose is to increase donors' knowledge of how their money is being spent. The CFDG hopes that greater transparency will help to restore public confidence and lead to more comparable reporting across the sector.

The CFDG's proposals seek to spell out more precisely the ways in which charities' costs are allocated within accounts. Key proposals include a consideration of how to include a value for volunteer time in the statement of financial activities, plus the recommendation that allocation policies relating to fundraising activities should be determined in advance of the year-end and be approved by trustees before they are applied.

"The issue of the use of financial information to compare charities is inevitable and, while there are many limitations to any such comparison, it is clearly going to happen. The...

To continue reading

Request your trial
COPYRIGHT TV Trade Media, Inc.
COPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT