The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has launched a new guide for charities: Managing charity money.
This guide for board members on managing finances and meeting ACNC duties contains an overview of the main issues charity board members need to be aware of, such as being diligent about a charity’s financial affairs, protecting its resources from abuse and ensuring it is accountable.
ACNC Commissioner Susan Pascoe AM said overwhelmingly, the majority of charities want to do the right thing. However, when issues do arise in charities, they tend to relate back to governance.
“72% of concerns substantiated and addressed by the ACNC between 2012 and the end of 2014 were about breaches of the ACNC governance standards,” Ms Pascoe said.
“To help address these issues, the ACNC is providing resources to assist all charities to operate with good governance and to understand their obligations as a registered charity.
“The Managing charity money guide provides insights into good practice in financial management, focusing on practical steps that charities can take to ensure that their finances are used appropriately and protected from misuse. It also explains the obligations that charities have to the ACNC with regard to their finances such as providing financial reports and ensuring that they continue operate as not-for-profits,” Ms Pascoe said.
More information is available from the ACNC website (www.acnc.gov.au).
The guide Managing charity money is freely available for download here.