Paul Palmer

The State of Charity Accounting - Developments, Improvements and Continuing Problems

This paper is based on a survey of charity accounts undertaken for the Office for National Statistics during the period 1995-1996, and reviews current charity accounting practices of some of these charities in 1994/5 prior to the inception of the new accounting regime from 1996. We look at the accounting practices identified by Bird and provide a comparison between the original Bird analysis in 1981 and current practices in 1994/5. We also consider smaller surveys undertaken in 1989 and 1990. The paper concludes that whilst there has been some progress - particularly among larger charities - since the Bird study there are still major accounting anomalies and examples of poor practice. The paper calls upon auditing firms to be less tolerant of inadequate sets of accounts and points to their pivotal role in improving charity accounting pratices.

Charity SORP compliance – findings of a research study

This paper describes an empirical research study on the first year of compliance by a set of “major” UK charities with the Charity SORP that came into force in 1996 and replaced the previous SORP, which had been recommended since 1988. This new Charity SORP, unlike its predecessor is prescriptive and has the authority of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 1995. From a sampling frame of top charities the accounts and financial statements of 125 major charities were selected for analysis (all of which were statutorily required to comply with the new SORP through the regulations). Additionally these top charities were selected as they were all subject to full professional audit, which should mean that the auditors would ensure compliance. Previous studies on charity accounts have recorded variations in accounting treatments. The new Charity SORP is mandatory for charities with an income of more than 250,000 and is designed to provide consistency in accounting by charities and a transparency to their affairs. The research found that there continues to be significant variation in the presentation of charity accounts and questions recent published research that claims significant improvements. The research also found that auditors, including those with charity expertise were failing in either advising or ensuring that charities complied with the SORP.

Accounting, auditing and regulating charities ‐ towards a theoretical underpinning

We outline the history of a distinct accounting standard for charities. It charts the development of the first charity SORP and its subsequent failure. The paper explains the development of the current second charity SORP, and reviews three philosophical schools of accounting ‐ positivism, interpretive and critical. We critique how each perspective would define the SORP’s development. We conclude that all three philosophies provide a context which validates the purpose of the new charity accounting statement and subsequent regulation. The interpretative school, however, provides fusion between theory and current professional practice.

Auditing, Accounting and Supervision in the European Charitable Sector

In this paper we first describe recent developments which have seen the emergence of a stronger regulatory structure for United Kingdom charities. Secondly, we outline the radical proposal to change the financial accounting practices of charities. These proposals are designed to provide the financial criteria for monitoring and ensuring greater accountability of charities. Finally we question what effect will these changes have had on the rest of the European charitable sector? How different is the ‘British Model’ from other European countries? Will other European States follow the ‘British Model’? Or has the ‘British Model’ lessons it could learn from its partner states? To effect an answer we illustrate from our recent survey the current audit, accounting and supervision practices in the other European Union States with the exception of Greece.

Internal audit in charities: a revolution still awaited

Charities are now big business in the UK, responsible for delivering major welfare services. The regulatory structure has been improved and a new radical accounting standard has been introduced. Little research, however, has occurred on the number of large charities that have internal audit and how such functions operate. Makes an extensive review of the literature and also reviews two major studies in this area in 1987 and 1991. Asks how representative are their findings in 1995? Makes a report on recent qualitative research reviewing these reports. Concludes that internal auditing will not be more widespread in larger charities unless an expectations gap is overcome and an educational initiative coupled with recommendations from the regulator is made.