Insights into reporting statistics
INSIGHTS INTO REPORTING STATISTICS
Each year, the ACNC analyses a proportion of each of Annual Information Statement and financial reports to test the integrity of the data provided, and where necessary seeks corrections to errors.
The ACNC has released a report R eporting statistics for the 2018 reporting period which described major reporting statistics identified from its 2018 Annual Information Statement and Annual Financial Report review process – including the most common errors found.
Based on review, amendments made to the ACNC register to correct errors totalling $195,522,440 in total revenue $614,226,373 in total assets.
Key findings included:
- 68 per cent of charities selected the correct type of financial report to submit with their AIS. Of the remainder, the most common errors were the misclassification of General Purpose Financial Statements-Reduced Disclosure Requirement and Special Purpose Financial Statements as General Purpose Financial Statements
- 21 per cent incorrectly stated they were using transitional reporting arrangements – where the ACNC accepts financial reports prepared for and submitted to other regulators. These charities stated that they had to report to another regulator when in fact there was a streamlined reporting arrangement in place with that regulator –their charity was only required to submit a financial report to the ACNC
- 17 per cent incorrectly identified their financial report as a consolidated financial report when it was in fact a single charity report
- 42 per cent of charities that submitted a consolidated financial report provided AIS income statement and balance sheet figures for the consolidated group as a whole rather than financial information on an individual charity basis
- 75 per cent of AFRs examined included a complete set of financial statements. Of the remaining 25 per cent the most common missing financial statements were those covering the statement of changes in equity and cash flow statement
- Some common disclosure issues were: no disclosure on whether the charity was a for-profit or not-for-profit entity for financial reporting purposes; and the legislative framework under which the financial report was prepared did not mention compliance with the ACNC Act.
The commission will continue to review AFRs that charities submit to ensure compliance with the ACNC reporting requirements. It will also focus on ensuring that the financial information charities provide matches the information in their AFRs. Dan Wade is the audit expert at Wrights Chartered Accountants, make an appointment to speak with him here .
