If you lead or sit on the board of a smaller charity, there are a few things coming this year that are worth a quick check now rather than a scramble later. None of them are cause for alarm — but a couple will quietly change how your accounts and your board work.

1. A new Charities SORP (the accounting rulebook). The 2026 SORP applies to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026, and it introduces a tiered system. If your income is £500,000 or under you're in "Tier 1" and get the lightest-touch reporting — but the trustees' annual report expectations have still shifted, so it's worth your treasurer or examiner reading the new tier-1 requirements before your next year-end.

2. Audit thresholds are going up (from 30 September 2026). The gross-income audit threshold rises from £1m to £1.5m. Most small charities were already below this, but if you've been near the line, you may find you can move from an audit to a (cheaper) independent examination. Worth a conversation with your examiner.

3. Companies House ID verification. If your charity is set up as a company (a CLG) or a CIO's trustees also sit on other companies, identity verification under the new economic-crime rules is being phased in across 2026. Every director will need to verify their identity — so it's worth getting your trustees to do it in good time rather than at a filing deadline.

Happy to expand on any of these in the replies — especially the SORP tier question, which is catching a lot of small boards out.

For anyone who wants it, I keep a set of free plain-English governance guides (structures, policies, trustees' annual report, minutes) over at thecommitteeroom.co.uk — no sign-up needed.

Rachel Wall ACG — chartered governance professional, and a charity trustee/secretary myself