Dr Matthew Turnour & Rachel Sloper (24 November 2014)
No audit? No auditor…except for charities!
The Federal Government has passed legislation repealing the anomalous requirement that an auditor has to be appointed even if an audit is not required (for example, a review was conducted instead), but failed to include charitable companies in the repeal. The results of our enquiries suggest that this was simply an oversight. If this is correct, further correcting legislation may reasonably be expected soon. We take this opportunity to remind those companies registered with the ACNC that, while the Corporations Act requirement to conduct an audit or review has been reportedly ‘turned off’ by the ACNC legislation, the requirement to appoint an auditor has not! Those having reviews done under the ACNC legislation should also remember that the ACNC legislation requires reviews to be conducted by a registered company auditor.
Don’t assume your ACNC details are correct
Check your charity’s details on the ACNC website and make sure they are correct. Some of the data that came over from the ATO and ABN Register was not accurate and may need correction. We have found multiple historical inaccuracies when we have checked records for our clients. The 2014 Annual Information Statement for the ACNC is due by 31 December 2014 for charities with a 30 June financial year, and this would be an ideal time to correct other issues.
If you have concerns about your ACNC records or completing the 2014 AIS please contact us.
Insights on NFP matters from Stanford University
This month, ‘Insights’ by the Stanford Graduate School of Business has published a number of new articles on Not for Profit organisations:
- ‘How Nonprofits make the ask: framing donation requests’ discusses how prospective donors found it more appealing to give as part of a purchase than to receive a benefit, unasked, as a result of a donation
- ‘Frank Flynn: Are people in need more generous?’ briefly explains a series of studies which found that recent relief from a felt need made donors more likely to give to help others experiencing the same need
The articles are free to access. The ‘Insights’ webpage also has older articles about not-for-profit and general business topics.
Update on abolition of ACNC
Those who had thought that the ACNC would be abolished in 2014 will be disappointed, and looking into 2015 there are not that many sitting days before 30 June 2015. The abolition legislation or at least the proposed alternative, might reasonably have been expected to have been progressed by now. With that in mind, ACNC-registered charities should remember that lodging their 2014 Annual Information Statement is a legal obligation.