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Accounting for education

Published: 04 Apr 2016 Updated: 12 Dec 2023 Update History

Accounting for schools, colleges and universities is a specialist area that requires expertise and an understanding of the sector. On this page you can access a range of articles, books and online resources providing quick links to Statements of Recommended Practice for Further and Higher Education, guidance and background knowledge.

We have a separate page on accounting for academies.

Statements of Recommended Practice (SORPs)

Issuing body

Statements of Recommended Practice (SORPs) related to further and higher education are issued by Universities UK (formerly known as the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals).

Sources for the SORP and associated guidance

Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting for further and higher education (2019 edition)
Revised edition of the SORP published in October 2018, effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. It incorporates the amendments set out in FEHE SORP Guidance Note 2015 and the Triennial Review 2017.

FE/HE SORP Guidance Note 2021
Guidance issued by Universities UK, published in July 2021, highlighting amendments to the SORP.

Archived documents

Useful links

Accounting for colleges
Information and resources from the Association of Colleges to help colleges prepare their 2022-3 financial statements. Includes an example set of accounts for a fictional college, Casterbridge College.

College Accounts Direction
Guidance produced by the Education and Skills Funding Agency for FE colleges, sixth forms and other designated institutions on preparing and submitting annual reports and financial statements.

Consistent financial reporting framework (CFR)
Guidance on the consistent financial reporting (CFR) framework from the Department for Education. It provides detailed definitions for each CFR code to assist maintained schools in mapping income and expenditure to the appropriate areas of the framework. The CFR is optional for nurseries and non-maintained special schools.  

SORP Model Financial Statements
Illustrative financial statements produced by the British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG). Only available for members of the BUFDG.

Organisations

British Universities Finance Directors' Group (BUFDG)
Group representing finance directors in UK higher education. Resources include a listing of institutions' financial statements.

College Finance Directors Group (CFDG)
Information on the College Finance Directors Group (CFDG) of the Association of Colleges.

Education and Skills Funding Agency
Government body accountable for funding education and skills for children, young people and adults. The website provides information on financial assurance.

Online articles

The library provides access to a range of articles in full text from leading business, finance and management journals. Access to articles is provided to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use.

Articles and books in the ICAEW Library collection

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.

Can't find what you're looking for?

The ICAEW Library can give you the right information from trustworthy, professional sources that aren't freely available online. Contact us for expert help with your enquiries and research.

Disclaimer

ICAEW accepts no responsibility for the content on any site to which a hypertext link from this site exists. The links are provided ‘as is’ with no warranty, express or implied, for the information provided within them. Please see the full copyright and disclaimer notice.

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