If you’ve ever read an audit report, you’ve probably seen a line like: “The financial statements present fairly, in all material respects…” Or when preparing your annual statements, you might be asked to: These terms sound technical — but the ideas behind them are actually pretty simple. This guide breaks them down in plain English. […]
It’s one of the most common things we hear from small charities and incorporated societies: “We’re over $60,000 a year now — so we have to register for GST, right?” Not necessarily. There’s a long-standing bit of “community wisdom” that if your organisation earns or spends more than $60,000 a year, you must register for […]
This is one of the most common questions I get from volunteer treasurers. “If someone is a contractor, can I put them under Employee Remuneration and Related Costs in the XRB report?” Usually, the question isn’t really about accounting. There’s often a concern that including contractor costs under “employee” might imply an employment relationship — […]
Working capital is an accounting term, but it answers a very practical question: How long could your organisation keep operating if no new money came in from today? At Good Numbers, that’s how we think about working capital.You can express it as: For most small charities, the months view is far more helpful. The definition […]
This is a common and very reasonable question we hear from charities and community groups. Many organisations assume that because their annual return has been accepted by Charities Services, their financial statements must also be approved. Unfortunately, that’s not quite how the system works. Accepted ≠ reviewed Each year, nearly 30,000 charities in Aotearoa file […]
Your financial year is the 12-month period your organisation uses to track money coming in and going out, and to prepare your annual financial statements. It’s the timeframe that everything in your year-end report is based on. It does not need to match the calendar year. Your financial year is whatever 12-month period your organisation […]
(sometimes called “Current Year”) When you prepare your year-end financial statements, you’ll usually see two columns side by side: These columns help anyone reading your statements understand how your organisation’s finances have changed over time. Here’s how it works. Summary (TL/DR) What “This Year” Means This Year is the financial year you are currently reporting […]
If you are an ASB or BNZ customer, you may only see your personal accounts listed when connecting via Akahu. Unfortunately, your organisation's accounts may not appear. This happens because ASB and BNZ use separate mobile apps for personal banking and for business or organisation banking. Akahu (and therefore Good Numbers) can only access the […]
What are transactions with close relationships (sometimes called related party transactions)? These are important to disclose in financial statements when someone who helps make decisions about how money is spent also receives money or benefits from the organisation. In many cases, paying someone who is connected to the organisation is totally fine and often part […]
A Statement of Service Performance (SSP) is a short section of your financial statements that explains what your organisation actually did during the year. Key concept: What Is a Financial Year? It focuses on your activities and achievements, not just your income and expenses. Think of it as the story behind the numbers: who you […]
