The Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which oversees financial reporting in the UK and Ireland, yesterday agreed that the proposed new charities Sorp can be issued for consultation with the sector.

The draft document was formally cleared for issue by the FRC's Accounting Council, which advises the board of the FRC on new developments in accounting and financial reporting.

Nigel Davies, technical secretary to the charities Sorp committee, told civilsociety.co.uk that the next step is for the Accounting Council's comments to be discussed at the forthcoming meeting of the Sorp committee on 5 June. "We will use that meeting to finalise our plans for the launch of the consultation, which is targeted for July", he said.

Davies also confirmed that the consultation period would run for four months in order to allow as many charities and professional advisers as possible to comment on the exposure draft.

Following publication in March by the FRC of a new form of UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (UK GAAP) and the new reporting standard FRS 102, the Sorp has been revised and updated by the Charity Commission and OSCR on the advice of the Sorp committee. The two regulators are jointly recognised by the FRC as the charity sector's Sorp-making body.

It is expected that, for the first time, the new Sorp will be published as a series of modules so that charities only need refer to those sections which directly affect them.