Governance

We provide a range of practical support for organisations at every stage of their development:

Supporting groups with Charitable Status, and the process of becoming a Registered Scottish Charity through application to OSCR, the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator.
Empowering groups to be more informed of their decision-making responsibilities, and the protection offered to trustees / committee members through the incorporation of their group or organisation as a legal entity in its own right. In particular, we can talk through the advantages of incorporation of a new or existing Scottish charity as a SCIO, a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
Encouraging groups to look at their day to day running, meeting legal and regulatory requirements in areas such as accounting, employment law, and meeting the specific requirements of OSCR and Companies House.
Enabling groups to work towards best practice and good governance. Assessing how well a group's existing financial, constitutional and governance arrangements allow it to fulfill its goals and ambitions, and enable it to function sustainably and effectively in its current operating environment.
Allowing groups to assess their current legal positions with the future in mind. We can review your current position and guide you towards a better fit for your plans if required.

Updated SORP: Charities encouraged to respond to consultation and be ready for change

The joint SORP-making body has launched a public consultation on the next version of the charities accounting and reporting framework.

The SORP-making body is keen to hear the views of charities, preparers, auditors and independent examiners of charity accounts, trustees, employees and beneficiaries of charities and others who may use charity accounts including donors, funders, financial supporters and other stakeholders.

Improvements are also proposed in other areas to make the SORP more straightforward to navigate for charities, and to improve information for beneficiaries, donors and the public about how charity resources are stewarded. These proposed changes include:

introduction of 3 tiers based on income levels to ensure proportionate reporting, whilst also meeting the information needs of users
advancing reporting in important areas such as impact reporting, reserves, going concern and volunteers
introduction of proportionate reporting for environmental, social and governance issues.