For our not-for-profit clients or potential clients registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission one of our first steps when commencing work is to review the charity’s details on the ACNC website. We would encourage registered charities to do the same and consider if the information presented is up to date and accurate. These are some areas where corrections may be needed.
Entity Subtype
If under Registration Details, you see “Charity to select subtype” as a hyperlink it means that the Charity’s existing subtype is out of date – action should be taken to update this by choosing one of the current 14 charity subtypes that applies to your Charity.
Charity Details
Check that your address, phone number & email contact details are correct if the Charity has trading names these should be included as Other Name(s). Is the Charity’s website correctly recorded?
Annual Reporting
This section lists documents lodged and due for lodgement. Check that all required AIS and Financial Reports have been lodged, plan for future lodgement requirements in good time.
Charity’s Documents – Annual Report
The Annual Report is not the same as the financial report, uploading an annual report to the ACNC is optional. It is a report on your charity's activities for the past year including an overview of activities, governance, finances and other important information. The ACNC provide a template and note that the Annual Report can assist a charity with meeting Governance Standard 1, making information about your purposes available to the public.
Responsible Persons
Check that the list of responsible persons is up to date. A charity must notify the ACNC of changes via their charity portal, this includes changes to the responsible person's position, for example, a treasurer becoming president.
The ACNC website is a great source of information and advice for those involved in a governance role within a registered charity.
Contact SAAS Audit if you require an audit or review or if we can assist with the preparation of your financial report.
