We are sending you this news alert because you are listed as the contact for one or more registered charities.

New reporting requirements for registered charities become mandatory from 1 April 2015.

DIA Charities Services is holding workshops throughout New Zealand from the beginning of March until the end of June, to help registered charities understand how to apply the new requirements. The workshops will be supported by the External Reporting Board (XRB).

The free, two-hour workshops are aimed at registered charities with annual operating expenses less than $2 million. These charities will be able to report using Simple Format Reporting standards.

The workshops will focus on the information that charities need to collect so they can report using the new standards at the end of their financial year.

Because the requirements for Tier 3 and Tier 4 charities are different, separate workshops will be held for each of the tiers. It’s important that you work out now which tier you’ll report in, so you attend the right workshop.

There are two things that charities must consider when deciding which tier they will report under – their annual operating payments or expenses, and the accounting method they use.

IMPORTANT NOTE: if your charity’s annual expenses are more than $125,000 and you currently use cash accounting, you will need to change to accrual accounting.

For more information about the criteria for each reporting tier, see Which tier will I use?

Information about the new reporting standards is available now on the Charities Services website, including frequently asked questions, a glossary of important terms, details of the new statutory audit and review requirements, and information about financial reporting and control relationships.

We understand that some people won’t be able to attend a workshop, so a copy of the presentation and supporting material will also be available on our website in the coming weeks.

Places at the workshops are limited – please register a maximum of two people per charity.

Go to the workshop registration page