Reporting
Monthly and annual reporting are accountability processes. They provide a means for assuring the necessary checks and balances are in place and ensuring your P&C is in a sound financial position.
Monthly reporting
Annual reporting
Reporting periods
Set the accounting periods as whole calendar months. At each monthly meeting of the P&C, present the financial reports for the previous calendar month.
A calendar month must be used because this links in with the Business Activity Statement (BAS) or Instalment Activity Statement (IAS) reporting requirements of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). The ATO requires quarterly reporting (for example, to cover January, February and March) so accounting periods ending at the end of each month work well.
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What to report
Monthly reports must include the following:
- a list of the receipts and payments for the previous reporting period
- a bank reconciliation as at the end of the reporting period
- a trading statement showing year-to-date figures for any and every trading activity (preferably monthly but mandatory every three months)
- monitoring of budget position.
Other than routine stock purchases, payments for the future period should also be tabled and approved by the meeting before the event. These reports must be provided for all accounts held by the P&C and its subcommittees.
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How to report
If you are using an accounting package, select the appropriate reports to present the required information to the meeting.
If you are using the free spreadsheet application, the required documents are provided in the Monthly statements section of the menu:
- Cashbook (Example 2 new window 87k
)
- Bank reconciliation statement (Example 3 new window 70k )
- Statement of receipts and payments (monthly) (Example 4 new window 69k )
- Trading statement — Tuckshop (Example 5 new window 75k )
You can monitor your budget monitoring by comparing budget figures to the totals on the statement of receipts and payments.
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Avoid over-reporting
The purpose of reporting is to keep the school community informed of financial matters. Certain reports are mandated, but do not over-report or present large amounts of irrelevant data because too much information gets in the way of informing the school community. The meeting provides an opportunity for community members to ask questions about the finances of the P&C. This is the best way to achieve true accountability.
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After preparing the reporting documents for the last month of the financial year, you must compile a set of annual financial statements and submit them to the appointed auditor. The audited accounts can then be presented at the P&C annual general meeting. Following acceptance at that meeting, a copy of the set of audited documents must be sent to the district office within one month of the meeting date.
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What to report
The set of annual financial statements will depend on whether you use the free spreadsheet or a commercial accounting package.
Free spreadsheet
If you are using the free spreadsheet or hand-written cashbook, the required documents are provided in the Annual statements section of the menu:
- bank reconciliation statement as at the end of the last month of the year (Example 3 new window 70k )
- trading statement — tuckshop as at the end of the last month of the year (Example 5 new window 75k )
- statement of receipts and payments (annual) (Example 7 new window 69k )
- statement of financial position — balance sheet (Example 8 new window 71k )
- statement of financial performance — profit and loss (Example 9 new window 70k )
- certificates (Example 6 new window 59k )
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Commercial accounting package
If you are using an accounting package, select the appropriate financial reports. These are:
- bank reconciliation (the bank reconciliation for the last month should have the year to date figures)
- trading statements for every trading activity (trading statements for the last month should have the year to date figures)
- statement of financial performance (profit and loss)
- statement of financial position (balance sheet)
You will have to add the certificates identified in Example 6 new window 59k to the financial reports produced by the accounting package.
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Consolidated reporting
You must provide a set of financial statements, as detailed above, for every bank account held by the P&C and its subcommittees. If more than one bank account exists, a set of consolidated statements (in addition to the set of financial statements for each account) must also be generated and form part of the annual financial statements. These consolidated statements are:
- consolidated statement of receipts and payments (not necessary if using an accounting package)
- consolidated statement of financial performance
- consolidated statement of financial position.
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Auditor's needs
The auditor also needs to see the following information:
- bank statements for all accounts
- all payment vouchers
- all receipt books
- cashbook
- stocktake records
and any other documents that provide supporting information for financial transactions, for example, committee minutes authorising expenditure.
For more information on the auditor's role, see Audits.
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