Charities SORP 2026 accounts pack
The Charities SORP (FRS 102) 2026 applies to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026, so 31 December 2026 year ends are the first to use it. It brings three reporting tiers based on income, the performance model for all grants, a five-step model for contract income and lessee leases on the balance sheet, and it rewrites the trustees' annual report so that every charity reports its achievements, its volunteers, its reserves and its plans.
The Charities SORP 2026 Accounts Pack takes a charity from its trial balance to a SORP-format statement of financial activities, balance sheet and fund notes in one Excel workbook, and lists exactly what your tier must, should and may say in the trustees' annual report. A switch adapts it to the United Kingdom (England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland) or the Republic of Ireland – currency, charity and company law, regulator, governance code and wording – with a complete worked example to follow.
What it does
Setup and tier: works out the SORP 2026 tier from gross income (Tier 1 up to 500,000, Tier 2 up to 15 million, Tier 3 above), whether a statement of cash flows is required, and whether a Tier 1 charity is analysing expenses by nature.
Fund accounting: a register for up to 30 funds – general, designated, revaluation and pension reserves, restricted income funds and permanent or expendable endowments – with transfers, movements for both years, the first-year effect of the 2024 FRS 102 amendments on opening funds, and flags for funds in deficit.
Statement of financial activities: built from a mapped trial balance of up to 200 lines, in columns for unrestricted, restricted and endowment funds, with the prior year analysed by fund as the SORP requires.
Income recognition: a register for grants, legacies and contracts that applies the SORP 2026 performance model to grants and donations (performance-related conditions, other terms such as match funding, time restrictions), the probable-and-measurable test to legacies and the five-step model to contract income, and gives deferred and accrued income, accrued legacies and contingent assets.
Support costs: allocates support and governance costs to raising funds and each charitable activity, and produces the analysis of expenses for the notes.
Balance sheet, fund notes and cash flows: the balance sheet in the SORP Table 7 format with lease liabilities as a separate line, movements on each fund for both years, the analysis of net assets between funds, and a statement of cash flows that reconciles to cash.
Reserves: the reconciliation of total funds to free reserves, months of unrestricted expenses against your policy, and draft wording for the trustees' report that updates with your figures.
Trustees' annual report: 53 requirements from SORP Module 1, each with its paragraph reference, tier and level (must, should or may) and prompts drawn from your figures; plus a checklist of 37 notes to the accounts with what is new in 2026.
What it does not do
It does not prepare group accounts or receipts and payments accounts.
It does not measure lease liabilities or the revenue transition – the FRS 102 2026 implementation pack does that – or draft every FRS 102 and company law disclosure.
What you get
One Excel workbook (.xlsx) with instructions, the working tabs, two reference tabs (what changed in SORP 2026, and the United Kingdom and Ireland compared) and a completed worked example for a fictitious Irish charitable company.
Clearly marked input cells, protected formulas, 19 built-in checks and a status line on every tab.
Works in Microsoft Excel 2010 or later (Windows or Mac). No macros.
Who it is for
Finance staff, treasurers, accountants and auditors preparing or reviewing the first accruals accounts under SORP 2026 for charities in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, where the SORP is recommended good practice and often a condition of funding. Trustees will find the trustees' report tab useful on its own; for the board side – governance, funds, reporting and compliance – use the D.09 Trustee kit, the charities sector pack in the Directors Kit.
Scope
The pack covers a single charity preparing accruals accounts under the Charities SORP (FRS 102) 2026, for a 12-month period. Audit, independent examination and receipts and payments thresholds are set by each regulator and change over time, so check them for your charity. The pack is a working aid: it does not replace the SORP, FRS 102, charity or company law, or professional judgement, and its scope and limitations are set out in the Instructions tab. The worked example is fictitious.
