Pensions Research Accountants Group

The Pensions Research Accountants Group (PRAG) is an independent research and discussion group focused primarily on the reporting and accounting of pension schemes. PRAG was founded in 1976 by Mike Young, the Group's first chairman and honorary President. PRAG is administered by an Executive Committee, with members from across the range of professions involved in pensions. It becaome a private company limited by guarantee in 1997.

PRAG produce reports on subjects of interest in the pensions field and responses to official documents on pensions. These are produced by working parties made up of PRAG members with a relevant specialism or interest who may be joined by external specialists. PRAG's first publication, Financial Reports for Pension Funds, was published in 1978, and working parties went on to produce a range of reports on specialist areas of accounting and the practical administration of pension funds.

PRAG were involved in the development of the Accounting Standards Committee's Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) on the Financial Statements of Pensions Schemes, and the Group later received approval from the Accounting Standards Board for producing pensions SORPs which enabled them to issue revisions of the Pension SORP in 1996, 2002 and 2007. The Group also submitted recommendations to the Accounting Standard Committee's Statement of Standard Accounting Policy on accounting for pensions costs in employer's accounts.

The papers in the collection come from four sources:

• Mike Young, Chairman 1976-1981 and President 1976-;
• Mike Jones, Research Secretary 1984-1988;
• Geraldine Kaye, General Secretary 1985-1988 and Research Secretary 1988-1991;

• Glyn Peat, Research Secretary 1991-1993 and Chairman 1993-1996.

  Source of information: www.prag.org.uk [accessed 19 May 2011].