Your task is to review all the transaction lines on this sheet to make sure they are correct. The main thing you will usually need to adjust is the category assigned to each transaction.
The sheet has 5 columns.
This is the date the transaction was recorded in your bank account. It should match what you see in your internet banking or on your bank statements. Your financial statements only include transactions from the 12 months up to and including the year-end date.
If you uploaded QIF files:
If you uploaded transactions using QIF files (instead of Akahu), you may see some dates highlighted in orange. This means those transactions fall outside the 12-month period for your financial statements. Check carefully to make sure you exported the right transactions. If they don’t belong in this period, you will need to delete them.
This is the value of the transaction.
Money out (shown with a minus sign “-”) is highlighted in blue.
Money in is highlighted in green.
This information comes directly from your bank. It usually shows the merchant name (for EFTPOS or credit card payments) or the reference details provided by the person who paid you.
The categories come from the XRB reporting standards, which all charities are required to use. The category you choose decides which line of the financial statements this transaction is added to, and every transaction must have one.
Categories for payments are shown in blue.
If you’re not completely sure which category is correct, the most important thing is to be consistent in how you treat similar transactions.
Money in:
Other money in:
These categories are only used for special types of money coming in – usually when selling investments, selling assets, or taking out a loan.
Payments:
Other payments:
These categories are only used for special types of money going out – usually when buying investments or assets, or when repaying a loan.
This column shows a short explanation of the category you selected. It will update automatically if you choose a different category.
Financial statements are prepared for the 12 months up to and including the year-end date shown in this document. This means:
Only include transactions that occurred in your bank account during that 12-month period.
When asked for balances or values, use the amounts as at the year-end date — not the value today when you’re filling out the statements.
It’s best to use the Good Numbers self-service tool soon after your year-end date, while the details are fresh, rather than trying to recall them months later.
Your task is to complete the boxes in grey/off-white. This includes:
An SSP is a short section of your financial statements that explains what your organisation actually did during the year. It focuses on your activities and achievements, not just your income and expenses.
Here is an example of a SSP for the fictional Community Garden Trust:
Include figures for two years if you can, and try to keep the activities you report on consistent from year to year.
We’ve created a separate guide with more detail on completing the SSP: What is a Statement of Service Performance?
This Represented by: section shows the cash your organisation has available to use. It includes bank accounts, term deposits, and petty cash, but does not include things you would have to sell first, such as shares or vehicles.
Closing balance of bank account(s)
This is automatically calculated from the transactions you provided. You must check that it matches the closing balance of your bank accounts as at the date shown at the top of this document.
Balance invested in term deposit(s)
If your organisation has any term deposits, record their value as at the date shown at the top of this document.
Cash on hand
If your organisation uses petty cash or receives cash donations, record the amount of cash you held as at the date shown at the top of this document.
Total cash balances held
The total in row 86 should match the figures in row 80. If they don’t, it may mean cash was withdrawn or a term deposit was purchased/cashed out. If you can’t work it out, get in touch at support (at) goodnumbers.nz
Assets are the things your organisation owns (other than cash). Liabilities are amounts your organisation is obligated to pay in the future.
You only need to record the ones that are significant for your organisation. For example:
Record a vehicle owned by the organisation, but not the spare tyres for it.
Record a laptop computer, but not a $100 keyboard and mouse.
Assets example:
The organisation owns no buildings or land and has not loaned money to other organisations, so those rows can be deleted.
The organisation owns one vehicle. Last year they estimated its value at $5,000, and this year they estimate it at $4,000.
The organisation also owns $10,000 worth of shares, based on the value shown in their statement.
Note
Always include a short description in the grey box explaining how you worked out the value of each asset. This helps readers know whether the figure is your own estimate or provided by someone else.
Liabilities example:
Record any significant liabilities in this table.
A common example is fundholding – when your organisation holds money on behalf of another group. For instance, if you are holding $1,000 for a smaller organisation, this is recorded as a liability because you will need to pay it out in the future.
A close relationship transaction is any significant transaction your organisation has with:
A person – such as a trustee, committee member, or manager.
Another organisation – that is connected to your organisation.
These count as close relationship transactions if the person or organisation can influence your organisation’s decision-making — for example, deciding how much they can pay themselves.
Example:
For a full description of transactions with close relationships, see our guide: What are Related Party Transactions?
For many organisations, there may be no transactions with close relationships, in which case you can simply make a statement to that effect:
Note
Whether or not your organisation has transactions with close relationships, you must delete either the table or the “no relationships” statement from these financial statements.
To do this:
Use your mouse to highlight the relevant rows in the left-hand column (where the row numbers are shown).
If deleting the table, highlight rows 125–134, then right-click and select Delete.
If deleting the “no relationships” statement, highlight rows 134–136, then right-click and select Delete.
Your task is to get the financial statements signed and approved. This includes:
Many people prefer to sign their financial statements digitally. Remain on the 'Statements' tab, and click:
You will also see the Print option in the File menu.
Follow your charity's rules to approve your financial statements. If needed, you can find a copy on the Charities Register.
Get one or two officers of your charity to sign and date the financial statements on page 1. Often this is your Chair and Treasurer. A list of your organisation's offices is also available on the Charities Register.
Hint: You might like to pre-fill out people's names and positions prior to PDF-ing or printing the financial statements.
Don’t forget to save a copy of your signed financial statements somewhere secure in your organisation’s filing system.
If you printed the statements for signing, we recommend scanning the full set back into a PDF using a good-quality scanner. (Many local libraries offer free scanning services and low-cost printing.)
Your task is to file your annual return with Charity Services.
Follow our handy guide here to do so: https://goodnumbers.nz/how-to-complete-your-annual-return-with-charities-services/
