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ACNC releases information on the 2014 Annual Information Statement

In March 2013, the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) launched its public consultation on the proposed 2014 Annual Information Statement (AIS). The main purpose of the consultation was to find out what charities and the public thought about our proposed additional questions for the 2014 AIS.

The following is a summary of the feedback from the consultation and the resulting changes to the 2014 AIS.

Related party information

Although there was general support regarding the disclosure of related party transactions, the ACNC has also acknowledge the concerns which were raised in the feedback and have considered the burden placed on some charities. They have decided to remove this question from the 2014 AIS to allow for further consideration of the issues.

Business activity

The majority of respondents who were not supportive acknowledged that whilst the disclosure was good, there is a lack of an agreed definition of the term ‘business’. Many respondents sought clarification of why the ACNC would require charities to disclose information
about their business activities. They also suggested that disclosure relating to business activities would already be included in a charity’s annual financial report and not be required in the AIS.

The ACNC has now removed this question for 2014.

Financial information for small charities

Based on the feedback provided the ACNC has simplified the 2014 AIS for small charities, including through providing guidance notes to help small charities (particularly those using cash accounting).

Audit/review question:

There was support for the question in relation to details of the audit opinion, however respondents viewed that whether a modification was provided by the auditor or reviewer was unnecessary, and believe that the audit report is the best place to find that information instead. The ACNC has taken into account the concerns provided in the feedback and agreed to remove the question relating to audit or review from
the 2014 AIS. The ACNC intends to include this question within the declaration section (which is not published).

Salary sacrifice:

The ACNC received a number or responses opposing the separate disclosure of salary sacrifice, with most of the concerns relating to the difficulty in quantifying this. The ACNC has now removed the separate disclosure of salary sacrifice in the AIS.

Break down of government grants:

Many respondents expressed that the requirement to breakdown government grants separately would result in additional burden and noted that this is not currently required by the Australian Accounting Standards Board. The ACNC has now determined to leave grants as an aggregated figure.

To view the guide to the 2014 AIS CLICK HERE

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