In order to maintain their registration, charities are required to report annually to the ACNC.

This annual reporting is completed through the Annual Information Statement. Some charities are also required to submit an annual financial report.

Charities also have other ongoing obligations to the ACNC to maintain their charity registration. This includes keeping financial and operational records, notifying us of changes to charity details, complying with the Governance Standards and, if applicable, complying with the External Conduct Standards.

Why charities have to report annually to the ACNC

The ACNC Act requires registered charities to submit an Annual Information Statement. Medium and large sized charities are also required to submit an annual financial report.

If a charity does not meet their reporting obligations, it may have its charity registration revoked.

The annual reporting supports our work to:

maintain, protect and enhance public trust and confidence in the sector through increased accountability and transparency

promote the reduction of unnecessary regulatory obligations on the charity sector.

These are two of the three objects contained in the ACNC Act.

We use responses to Annual Information Statement questions in a variety of ways. Once we receive your charity’s responses, we:

publish the information - excluding some personal information - on the ACNC Charity Register, unless your charity successfully applies to have that information withheld

use the information to administer the ACNC Act, including assessing your charity's entitlement to registration, and its compliance with the Act

may share that information with other authorised Australian government agencies through the Charity Passport, removing the need for those agencies to ask you for the same information

share it with researchers through data.gov.au, contributing to charity sector transparency

analyse it in order to tailor our guidance and education to charities and the sector, as well as to provide information to donors, volunteers and the public in an effort to build greater understanding of the sector

monitor trends in the sector by comparing information over reporting periods.

Charity size and reporting requirements

Charity size

A charity’s annual reporting requirements depend on its charity size (small, medium, or large).

Charity size is based on total annual revenue. Revenue arises in the course of a charity’s ordinary activities, and is a component of total income. Revenue can include donations, government grants, and income from the sale of goods or services.

If a charity receives a large bequest, or there is a similar one-off event, it may change size for one reporting period. If the charity is likely to return to its original size in the following reporting period, it can apply to keep the original charity size for the reporting period with the one-off donation.

For more information, see our guidance on keeping your charity size.

Reporting requirements

All charities are required to submit an Annual Information Statement each year, and medium and large sized charities also need to submit an annual financial report.

This table summarises the annual reporting requirements for charities based on their size.

Financial reporting

Charities need to provide financial information in the Annual Information Statement, and medium and large charities also need to submit an annual financial report.

In some cases, charities may be exempt from providing financial information to us. For more information, see the guidance on this page about exemptions to the annual reporting requirements.

Small charities can choose to use either cash or accrual accounting, while medium and large charities must use accrual accounting.

Our guidance about annual financial reports includes an explanation of what an annual financial report is, and a checklist that charities can use for reference.

A charity’s financial statements must be either General Purpose Financial Statements (GPFS) or Special Purpose Financial Statements (SPFS). The type of financial statements a charity must prepare depends on if it is classified as a reporting entity.

The annual financial report needs to be audited for large charities, and can be either reviewed or audited for medium charities. We have guidance about reviewing and auditing financial reports, as well as some practical tips.

We also have some information about accounting and auditing standards bodies, as well as some frequently asked questions about how the standards affect specific elements of annual financial reporting for charities.

In their financial reporting, charities may need to report on key management personnel remuneration and related party transactions.