A leading Cumbrian accountant with a specialism in third sector finance is advising charities to review their Trustee Reports in line with substantial changes being rolled out.
As part of updates to the Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) 2026, the introduction of a new tiered reporting structure is designed to make the annual Trustee Reports more proportionate to the size and complexity of the organisation.
Charities will now be placed in one of three tiers based on their gross annual income.
The tiers are as follows:
- Tier 1 – charities with an income up to £500,000;
- Tier 2 – charities with an income between £500,000 – £15m;
- Tier 3 – charities with an income over £15m.
Around 62% of UK charities fall into Tier 1.
Sophie Graham, a Partner at Saint & Co Chartered Accountants, is urging all charities to review their requirements to ensure they are not unnecessarily compiling reports which don’t befit their scale.
She said: “The changes being implemented by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport will make a huge difference to a lot of charities across Cumbria, and it’s essential these organisations are aware of the new tiered requirements.
“A review of annual income is recommended for all charities to help them understand which tier they will fall into and any changes to their reporting requirements. This could potentially save charities a lot of time and hassle on a yearly basis.”
To help charities understand the changes and their new requirements, Saint & Co is hosting a free webinar. Sophie will be joined by colleague Clare Garrison to discuss the following topics:
- The new reporting requirements for Trustee Reports;
- Increasing levels of the audit thresholds;
- Upcoming changes to leases and revenue recognition.
Sophie said: “This free webinar is designed to provide top tips to charities to make financial reporting and accounting as easy as possible.”
The webinar will be hosted online on Thursday, June 11, between 10-11am. All guests need to register for the webinar link beforehand at https://live.zoho.eu/pngj-vxw-ryo.
Saint & Co has offices across Cumbria in Carlisle, Penrith, Millom, Whitehaven, Ambleside, Cockermouth and Wigton. It also has bases in Dumfries and Galloway, at Annan, Castle Douglas and Dumfries.
