As part of its responsibility as a SORP-making body, the IMA regularly reviews the SORP to ensure that it is in step with relevant industry developments and accounting practice.

SORPs are recommendations on accounting practices for specialised industries or sectors. They supplement accounting standards and other legal and regulatory requirements in the light of the special factors prevailing or transactions undertaken in a particular industry or sector.

The updated SORP incorporates enhanced guidance for recognising income from bonds and derivatives and requires more targeted risk disclosures. As a result of the revisions, the requirements for reporting at the half-year stage have been significantly reduced, according to the IMA.

Commenting, Mark Sherwin, Senior Adviser, Financial Reporting at IMA said: "The updated SORP provides clarity on revenue recognition that will enable greater certainty in the tax treatment of UK authorised funds. In what is a continuously changing accounting framework, IMA's SORP creates a stable accounting platform for investors in, and managers of, UK authorised unit trusts and OEICs."

IMA is the trade body for the UK's GBP3.4 trillion asset management industry. The money its members manage is in a wide variety of investment vehicles including authorised investment funds, pension funds and stocks and shares Individual Savings Accounts.