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...

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...

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,...