Action Insight | Written by ActionForex.com | Jul 25 07 08:53 GMT | Forex Daily Technical Report Dollar Rebounds ahead of Existing Home Sales Dollar rebounds against European majors today. A short term correction is at least due for the deeply oversold dollar. And, with the failure to take out some important medium term resistance against Euro and Sterling and break of near term support today, the correction could have just started. But it will depend on the reaction to today’s...
Accountants kick in with advice for non-profit groups
July 25th, 2007
AUSTRALIA’S accountants are leading the charge to fix up Australia’s $80 billion non-profit sector.
But Graham Meyer, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, acknowledged that the bean counters had their work cut out.
The ICAA has released a report, Enhancing not-for-profit annual and financial reporting, aimed at helping non-profits improve their reporting standards.
This follows a devastating ICAA report last year that revealed that the reporting standards of Australia’s 700,000 non-profits were in such a mess that it was hard for the public to make informed decisions about donations.
This is particularly critical because many non-profits are entirely dependent on the voluntary commitment of members and the community.
Last year’s ICAA report found that only a handful of charities and sports organisations provided annual reports that included outlooks for the future.
Very few reports of charities detailed the costs of fund-raising and costs of services. And while most non-profits received grant income, only 42 per cent indicated that they were dependent on taxpayers.
Another problem the ICAA identified was in relation to what accountants call “non-reciprocal transfers”.
Many non-profits receive free goods and services, such as donations of goods to op shops, “in kind” donations of facilities, and services such as advertising and construction. Because these are “non-reciprocal transfers”, the non-profit organisation is not obliged to provide goods or services of approximately equal value in return. And yet the ICAA found that most non-profits neither recognised nor explained the nature of these deals in their reports.
The latest ICAA report recommends that non-profits prepare a special-purpose financial report for presentation to stakeholders, differentiate between “reciprocal” and “non-reciprocal” grants, spell out how dependent they are on government money, and detail how international accounting standards have affected them.
The report also provides non-profits with some tools to improve their annual and financial reporting standards. It comprises four sections: the annual report; the financial report; an overview of the relevant laws and resources; and a list of resources that would help the organisation improve its reporting standards.
Mr Meyer said one of the problems was that non-profits involved the work of people who did not necessarily have the right financial skills. “Most people out there don’t have the requisite knowledge for what they are supposed to do,” he said.
To tackle the issues, the ICAA had been running roundtables for non-profits.
The ICAA was also talking to accounting firms, many of which did the work for non-profits pro bono. It was also talking to professional organisations that worked with non-profit groups.
« Motorists warned of delays as crowds flock to events
POLICE are warning motorists to expect long delays in East Lothian as two major events get underway this week. Thousands of people are expected to flock to Muirfield to see Nick Faldo and other big names in the Senior Open Golf Championship, which begins tomorrow. More crowds are expected on Saturday, as more than 13,500 people travel to the Museum of Flight’s annual air show at East Fortune, near North Berwick. Police and motoring organisations are advising people to allow extra...