ICAS Charities Panel
The ICAS Charities Panel is responsible for representing ICAS on matters impacting on the UK charity sector, in relation to:
- public policy;
- law and regulation;
- financial reporting; and
- external scrutiny, encompassing both independent examination and auditing.
It also issues guidance on accountancy related matters to ICAS members who are involved with charities in a variety of roles including, as charity trustees, finance directors and advisers.
Policy Positions
Our policy positions are designed to support professional accountants working in the sector in whatever role and to encourage professional accountants into the sector through calls for improvements in charity law and regulation and for high quality accounting requirements which are tailored to the needs of charities of different sizes.
Annual reporting by charities
We support high quality accounting requirements for UK charities preparing true and fair accounts. We believe this can be achieved through:
- The needs of charities being adequately considered by the UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) in setting FRS 102, 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland'.
- The Charities SORP Committee preparing a Charities SORP (FRS 102) which clearly complies with FRS 102 and takes a think small first approach i.e. offers suitable concessions to smaller charities where flexibility exists within the financial reporting framework.
- Clear but flexible requirements within the Charities SORP trustees’ annual report requirements on how charities should report the difference they have made.
Charity law and regulation
We support the effective risk-based regulation of the charity sector by UK charity regulators which delivers measurable improvements in the overall quality of the governance and stewardship of charitable assets across the UK charity sector.
We believe that a further review of Scottish charity law is required which is broader in scope than the review which resulted in the Charities (Regulation and Administration) (Scotland) Act 2023. A broader review is necessary to ensure that charity law and regulation in Scotland remains fit for purpose.
The charity accounting regulations in both England & Wales and Scotland require modernisation to ensure that their requirements are proportionate and that charities are transparent about and accountable for their activities:
- The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008, applying in England and Wales, should be brought up to date to refer to FRS 102 and the Charities SORP (FRS 102) as they currently refer to out of date requirements.
- The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 should be amended to correct long-standing technical errors.
- Reporting thresholds, particularly the charity audit threshold in both jurisdictions should be reviewed. As a minimum, financial thresholds should be uprated for inflation and to ensure that charities are only subject to audit where an audit is the most appropriate form of scrutiny.
Charity Taxation
We support:
- Continuous improvement in the administration of charity tax reliefs and donor reliefs by HMRC, including investment in technology that would allow above basic rate taxpayers to manage the tax relief on their donations through their personal tax account.
- The equitable treatment of charities compared to other organisations which deliver public services through reforming the current VAT regime for providers of public services to establish a level playing field for all.
Panel Members
Keith Macpherson (Chair)
Keith is an Audit Partner at Henderson Loggie LLP. Prior to joining Henderson Loggie, Keith was an Audit Director and Head of not-for-profit at Johnston Carmichael LLP. He’s had previous roles with EY LLP and KPMG LLP where his focus was also the not-for-profit and public sectors.
Keith has 20 years’ experience of delivering audit services to Scotland’s not-for-profit sector and public sector. He has expertise in the external scrutiny and financial reporting and governance requirements across all aspects of charities, social enterprises as well as more traditional public sector work including local and central government, and higher and further education.
Chris Hession
Chris is an audit partner at BK Plus Limited, based at the firm’s Aldridge office in the West Midlands. He oversees the firm’s audit activity throughout the West Midlands. Chris qualified with a big 4 firm and has worked in audit for the past 10 years or so.
Chris has taken particular enjoyment over his career in working closely with many charitable and not-for-profit entities.
David Dewhurst
David is a Director and Principal of Baberton Accounting Ltd, a firm of Chartered Accountants providing freelance finance director and consulting services to commercial and not-for-profit businesses.
After training with Deloitte, Haskins + Sells (now PWC), David worked for more than 20 years in the private sector with Noble Grossart, the Edinburgh-based private merchant bank, followed by more than 10 years in the not-for-profit sector in senior executive roles, including as Director of Finance with EMMS International, an international healthcare charity, and with Edinburgh based Capital Credit Union as Director of Finance and Compliance.
David has a keen interest in the environment and recreational use of Scotland’s natural and created heritage assets and was a non-executive director of the Scottish Waterways Trust from 2013-2018. He currently serves as a Trustee of the Green Action Trust, Scotland’s leading environmental regeneration charity, the trusted delivery partner for the Scottish Government and a wide range of stakeholders. He has served as Independent Examiner, Adviser or Trustee, to a number of smaller charities, including from 2009-2014 as a Trustee of Fischy Music, a child-centred and creative charity that nurtures the emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing of children through song.
Gillian Harkness-McKinlay
Gillian is a Director with solicitors Anderson Strathern.
Hannah Flook
Hannah is a Director of Egia Financial Limited, a firm providing outsourced finance director services and fully outsourced finance function services to charities and not-for-profit organisations.
Hannah has over 16 years experience both in practice and industry. Her training started with PwC, where she qualified in 2010. After a further 6 years in practice, she moved into industry, working for Lloyds Banking Group and Tesco Bank, within their financial risk and decision support teams.
In 2018, she took on the role of Finance Director at ProjectScotland, a charity helping young people transform their lives through volunteering. During this time, she also launched Egia Financial, which is now devoted to supporting not-for-profit organisations.
Hannah is also a voluntary board member, and Treasurer, for Play Midlothian, which enables children to thrive through play by creating opportunities and removing barriers.
Jenny Law
Jenny Law is a Finance Manager at The Church of Scotland, with specific responsibilities for the support and services and trading departments, as well as the pension schemes.
Prior to joining The Church of Scotland, Jenny worked in practice for 16 years and qualified with ICAS in 2009. During this time she specialised in charity audit and accounting, working with a wide range of Scottish charities. She also provided charity administration services to a number of small grant-giving charities; managing the day-to-day activities, and supporting the trustees.
Kelly Adams
Kelly is an Audit Partner in RSM. She is a Chartered Accountant and leads the not for profit offering in RSM’s Glasgow office. She has over 18 years’ experience in providing audit and assurance services to not for profit organisations. She looks after a wide portfolio of clients ensuring that their compliance needs are met and providing general advice and support. Kelly is experienced in working with local and national charities and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs), as well as owner managed businesses.
Kelly is a member of the RSM national not for profit group, which meets quarterly in London to discuss sector developments and share issues arising, and solutions found, for our not for profit clients. She is involved in delivering training to Trustees/Committee members and management teams and delivering technical seminars and updates for charities and housing associations.
Kelly is a voluntary board member, and Chair of the Audit Committee, of West of Scotland Housing Association.
Robbie Young
Robbie is Head of Finance at insurance company QANW, part of the global Accelerant group where he is responsible for the finance function. He ‘cut his teeth’ training in charity audit qualifying with Chiene & Tait LLP in Edinburgh where he also became ICAS qualified. His current role includes management reporting, year end statutory reporting, audit, taxation, payroll, and supporting the other functions of the organisation.
Further to the day job, Robbie is a Non-Executive Director of two charities where he sits on various committees such as Finance & Audit and Renumeration.
Steve Harper
Steve is an audit partner at Haysmacintyre, an independent firm of accountants based in London. Steve qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2008 with a Big 4 firm, and subsequently worked for a number of top 20 accountancy firms before joining Haysmacintyre.
Steve has specialised in working with the charity sector since 2009 and over this time he has worked with a wide range of national and international charities. He holds the ICAEW’s Diploma in Charity Accounting.
In addition to external audit, Steve has led a wide range of other reviews and assignments for charities including internal audits, finance function outsourcing, finance function reviews and reviews of overseas country offices. He has spoken at a range of seminars and conferences, and has published a range of articles on topics relevant to the charity sector. He has also delivered training to trustees and committee members on a range of topics.
Steve is trustee and Treasurer of the Consortium for Street Children and the humanitarian mapping charity, MapAction. He is also a trustee of his local voluntary action group.
Tom Mitchell
Tom is a partner in CGPM Consulting LLP a firm of Chartered Accountants working almost exclusively with registered charities. Tom specialises in cross-border charity governance, risk and finance. Tom spends about half his time undertaking lessons learned reviews or investigations to support charities resolve notifiable events or serious incident reports and in more serious fraud or employment investigations. The other half is spent providing board secretariat and charity business improvement and consulting services.
He trained with KPMG and after a number of years working overseas troubleshooting for Big 4 firms and banks, Tom returned to the UK to migrate those skills into supporting charitable organisations through a range of assurance services within professional practice prior to setting up CGPM.
Tom is also a trustee of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, the Royal Scottish Forestry Society and of the Donkey Sanctuary where he also chairs their Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee. Until 2017 Tom was chair of Dunedin Canmore Housing and so also served on the Board of the Wheatley Group for a period.