Reporting to ACNC – Did You Miss the Deadline?

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has announced that 7000 charities have failed to deliver their 2014 Annual Information Statements within the deadline.

Charities that have not lodged their AIS have failed in their compliance obligations under the law however leading service provider to the NFP sector HLB Mann Judd can assist any charity that has missed this deadline.

The ACNC legislation requires many charities to lodge their annual reports by 31 January 2015.

 It might be that many charities consider that the ACNC might not be around for long, given Commonwealth Government announcements to that effect, however it is still in place, and the law stands as it is.

Charities that do not comply with the law are not only breaching the Corporate Government’s principles of the ACNC, and in most cases in the charity itself, they also run the risk that their integrity and reputation may be damaged as a not compliant charity. With so many charities in Australia fighting for financial support, a black mark such as this will definitely not be helpful.

HLB Mann Judd, Head of NFPs, Darryl Swindells said, “A number of NFPs see their whole role as providing benefit to the community for which they are set up for. They are there to provide that benefit and that means they may not have a lot of experience in financial reporting especially in regards to recent legislation, such as the ACNC. These are organisations that should seek assistance to get through this obligation”.

For many charities, the Annual Information Statement is not an honourous document, and the financial reports that your charity has done in prior years will probably be sufficient for lodgement with the ACNC, with a few subtle changes to reflect that you are reporting under a different legislation.

Charities that have not prepared annual reports in the past that comply with Australian Accounting Standards will have to do so, and this will require some work, but may not be a gargantuan task. Of course, State-based legislation such as the various State Associations Acts, are still in place and charities incorporated under those State Acts will have to lodge accounts both with their State body and ACNC.

This situation will continue to apply until the Commonwealth Government decides on the future of the ACNC, and the State Governments realise that a central, national body is the preferred way to administer the sector. The original aim of the ACNC was to reduce red tape, and a significant part of that reduction would not occur until the State Governments understand this.

HLB Mann Judd is a leading service provider to the NFP sector and can assist any charity that has missed this deadline, in any way that helps the charity, to get the organisation back in compliance.

HLB is happy to talk to any such charities, to guide you, at no cost, and can provide more assistance if needed. Charities seeking assistance should talk to the HLB specialist in there area now!      

For more information contact Head of Business Development and Clients  Kim Kelloway on 02 9020 4285.