Non-government schools that are registered charities must report annually to the ACNC by submitting an Annual Information Statement and, for medium and large-sized charities, a financial report.
Since 2016 we have published the financial reports of non-government schools on the ACNC Charity Register.
To make reporting to the ACNC easier for these schools, we currently have an arrangement with the federal Department of Education (DoE) that streamlines the process.
Under this arrangement, we can use certain financial information that a non-government school provides the DoE in its Financial Questionnaire and financial report to complete the financial section of its Annual Information Statement.
This means that when a non-government school does its Annual Information Statement, it does not need to complete the financial section or submit a financial report – we will have the information to complete this for them.
The aim of this arrangement is to establish a single point of collection for financial information that satisfies the requirements of both the ACNC and the DoE.
Charities that can participate
A non-government school registered with the ACNC as a charity can participate in this arrangement.
A registered charity that represents only non-government schools can also participate. To be eligible, this representative charity must:
- represent only non-government schools
- submit the Financial Questionnaire to the DoE on behalf of its schools.
Charities that cannot participate
There are two common types of charities associated with non-government schools that cannot participate in this reporting arrangement.
- A charity that is associated with a non-government school but is registered with the ACNC independently (with its own ABN) and does not submit a separate Financial Questionnaire to the DoE.
Typical examples of these charities include:- school building funds
- scholarship funds
- early learning centres
- Parents and Friends Associations.
- A charity that acts as a representative entity for charities other than primary or secondary education.
Typical examples include charities that act as representative entities of:- churches
- community centres
- welfare services.
These charities must complete the financial section of their own Annual Information Statement.
How to participate in the reporting arrangement
To participate in this reporting arrangement for an eligible non-government school, you need to log in to the ACNC Charity Portal and complete the Annual Information Statement.
When you get to the financial section of the Annual Information Statement, you will see this question: ‘Would you like to provide financial information?’
To participate in the reporting arrangement, the school should answer ‘No’ to this question.
Answering ‘No’ lets us know to use the information submitted in the DoE's Financial Questionnaire to complete the financial section of the school's Annual Information Statement.
When completing the rest of the Annual Information Statement, it is optional for a school to provide its full-time equivalent (FTE) staff number. If a school does not provide the FTE staff number in its Annual Information Statement, we will get it from information submitted to the DoE.
Generally, the financial information and annual financial reports for schools that participate in the reporting arrangement are not published immediately on the ACNC Charity Register. They are generally published on the Charity Register at a later date.
Mapping financial information from the DoE
The DoE's Financial Questionnaire contains a preview of how the financial information will map to the financial section of the ACNC's Annual Information Statement.
The information displayed in the mapping template and tables below, as well as the school’s annual financial report, will be published on the ACNC Charity Register.
For a registered charity that represents multiple schools (and the schools are not individually registered with the ACNC), we will display aggregated information from the DoE Financial Questionnaire in its Annual Information Statement.
If these schools submitted multiple financial reports to the DoE, the financial reports will be combined into a single document and published on their representative charity's record.
As part of the transitional reporting arrangement with the commonwealth Department of Education (DoE) for non‐government schools that are registered charities, the ACNC accepts the Financial Questionnaire submitted by a school to populate the Finance section of the Annual Information Statement.
The table below maps individual Financial Questionnaire items that relate to each Annual Information Statement reporting category.
Comprehensive Income Statement Summary
Gross income:
| a: Revenue from government including grants | RI.070 & RI.070B – State government recurrent grants RI.080 – State government education allowances RI.090 & RI.090B – State government interest subsidy RI.100 ‐ Commonwealth government general recurrent grants program RI.110 & RI.110B – Indigenous education grants RI.120 & RI.120B – All other Commonwealth government recurrent grants CI.010 & CI.10B – Commonwealth government capital grants CI.020 & CI.020B – State government capital grants RI.040 & RI.040B – ABSTUDY Allowances paid direct to the school |
| b: Donations and bequests | RI.065 & RI.065B – Donations CI.055 & CI.055B – Donations for Capital Purposes |
| c: Revenue from providing good or services | RI.010 & RI.010B – Fees & charges RI.030 & RI.030B – Other receipts from students RI.050 & RI.050B – Total income from overseas students CI.030 & CI.030B – Fee/levies associated for capital purposes CI.040 & CI.040B – Capital funds received from overseas students TA.010 & TA.010B – Trading activities income TA.030 & TA.030B – Income not already captured in FQ |
| d: Revenue from investments | RI.061 & RI.061B ‐ Investment income |
| e: Other revenue | RI.020 & RI.020B – Income from trips & excursions RI.060 & RI.060B – Private income |
| g: Other income | CI.050 & CI.050B – Other capital income |
Expenses:
| i: Employee expenses | RE.010 – Executive – Senior executive staff salaries RE.030 & RE.030B – Principal, General teaching staff – lay & religious RE.040 & RE.040B – Salaries all other staff RE.050 & RE.050B – Other staff related expenses RE.060 & RE.060B – Superannuation (Employer contribution only) RE.070 & RE.070B – Long service leave |
| j: Interest expenses | RE.100 & RE.100B – Interest – Bank overdraft & recurrent loans RE.110 & RE.110B – Capital & bridging loans & finance leases |
| m: All other expenses | RE.080 & RE.80B – Operating Expenses RE.090 & RE.090B – Buildings and grounds – operations, building & equipment maintenance RE.120 & RE.120B – Amortisation – Leasehold land & building & assets RE.130 & RE.130B – Depreciation RE.140 & RE.140B – Total bad & doubtful debts expense TA.020 & TA.020B – Trading activity expenditure RE.085 & RE.085B ‐ Management Fees RE.095 & RE.095B ‐ Rental Expenses TA.040 & TA.040B ‐ Expenditure not already captured in FQ |
Balance Sheet Extract
Assets:
| r: Total current assets | GF.020 – Total current assets (including data from GF.010) |
| s: Non-current Loans: Receivables | GF.035 – Non‐current loans receivable |
| t: Other non-current assets | + GF.040 – Total non‐current assets ‐ GF.035 – Non‐current loans receivable |
| u. Total non-current assets | GF.040 – Total non‐current assets |
Liabilities:
| w: Total current liabilities | GF.030 – Total current liabilities |
| x: Non-current Loans: Payable | GF.045 – Non‐current loans payable |
| y: Other non-current liabilities | + GF.050 – Total non‐current liabilities ‐ GF.045 – Non‐current loans payable |
| z: Total non-current liabilities | GF.050 – Total non‐current liabilities |
Comparing schools
It is important to note that the information in a school’s Annual Information Statement does not provide a complete picture of a school and should not be used to compare school performance. See our general guidance on interpreting financial information on the Charity Register for more information.
Information about a school’s activities is available on My School, a website run by the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). My School contains a range of information on a school’s activities, including its student profile, NAPLAN performance, and finances.