Financial year end reporting can seem like a huge task but with some forward planning it need not be so onerous. In the two-part series on how to approach financial reporting, we are answering a few questions that can help nonprofits simplify the process. Today’s post contains a quick checklist to go through as you prepare your reports.
Check your country’s regulations
An important thing to keep in mind is that not-for-profit reporting may differ from for profit reporting depending on your country’s regulations. Usually there is additional reporting that needs to be done for nonprofit organisations in order to maintain their charitable status.
Check whether there have been any recent changes
It is also important to check whether your country changed their reporting standards and regulations. In the case of New Zealand, the External Reporting Board (XRB) issued a new financial reporting standard: Service Performance Reporting (PBE FRS 48).
From 1 January 2021, Tier 1 and Tier 2 charities need to include non-financial information alongside the financial statements they file with Charities Services. Together, the financial and non-financial information is referred to as a Financial Report.
As for Tier 3 and Tier 4 charities, they are required to prepare a Statement of Service Performance as part of the Performance Report which contains non-financial information about outcomes and outputs.
Outcome: What the entity is seeking to achieve or influence through the delivery of goods or services, in terms of its impact on society.
Example: To increase the native bird population by rehoming stray cats.
Output: The goods or services that the entity delivered during the year. Example: 100 cats were rehomed.
Get your non-financial information in order
Non-financial information is important for accountability and decision making as well as telling the story of the charity. In some cases, the non-financial information may be considered to be more important than the financial results.
The Service performance reporting content will be determined by your organisations objectives, mission, outputs (goals) or Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that have been set and should provide readers with the information they need to get a full picture of what a charity has been able to achieve in the past year with the resources available to it.
This means you need to be planning now for next year’s reporting!
While readers will not all be in New Zealand, most other countries have similar regulations. Even if you do not need to report on outcomes and outputs it is still good practice to provide your board, and your members with this information in your AGM reports. Showing you are responsibly carrying out your mission may also encourage more donors to contribute to your cause.
Plan for next year’s reporting
- Identify why the charity exists, what it wants to achieve.
- Identify how it wants to do this in a general sense. Example; Alleviate malnutrition among low income families by providing food parcels.
- Identify what needs to be included in the report. Example; Number of food parcels delivered, Number of families receiving repeat parcels.
- Plan how you will gather the information required.
Use a reliable system to generate reports
Once you have identified what you need to record you will need to ensure you have a system in place to gather and store those details. A good CRM that integrates with Xero like infoodle is your best option. Xero and infoodle together will provide the financial and non-financial reporting required.
For more information go to infoodle.com, or get in contact with our team – we’re happy to support you every step of the way!
