Statements of Recommended Practice (SORPs) set out current best accounting practice for specialised industries or sectors. The Further and Higher Education Statement SORP combines the requirements of institutions of both further and higher education in the UK.
What has been changed in the 2019 edition?
Statement of Recommended Practice
The 2019 edition became effective for financial periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. It reflects the Amendments to FRS 102 – Triennial review 2017 – Incremental improvements and clarifications issued by the Financial Reporting Council in December 2017
Most of the changes introduced by the Triennial Review 2017 were made to clarify rather than change the accounting treatment. There were also changes to disclosure requirements which must be adopted. As with the 2015 SORP, practitioners will also be required to consult FRS 102 to understand the full accounting requirements.
The 2019 edition also includes the previous amendments set out in the FE / HE SORP Guidance Note 2015, issued by Universities UK, in response to the 2015 amendments to FRS 102. In other areas, terminology was more closely aligned with FRS 102.
Latest guidance note
In July 2021, the FE HE SORP Board published FE / HE SORP Guidance Note 2021 to reflect the Amendments to UK and Republic of Ireland accounting standards – UK exit from the European Union issued by the Financial Reporting Council in December 2020.
More information
The FE/HE SORP reflects the collaboration between further and higher education funding and regulatory bodies, sector representative bodies, and accounting practitioners. These key stakeholders are represented on the FE/HE SORP Board. The FE/HE SORP Board’s technical advisory group is the British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG) Financial Reporting Group.
Further information is available on the BUFDG website.