ACNC Reporting Requirements: A Guide for Charity Directors

By Panbo Ye, CFP^®, FCPA, SMSF Specialist Advisor · Founder of Everglow · Updated 10 October 2026

All registered charities must submit an Annual Information Statement each year, and if annual revenue is $500,000 or more but under $3 million, or $3 million or more, they also need to lodge a financial report that is reviewed or audited depending on size. For a new board member, that means the first job isn't memorising forms. It's identifying your charity's reporting tier early and building a process that can support it.

A board meeting often starts this way. Someone asks whether the charity only needs to “do the ACNC form”, and the room goes quiet because nobody wants to answer too confidently. In practice, ACNC reporting requirements are manageable once you separate the universal duty from the size-based duties and put a simple internal system behind them.

Can Your Board Meet ACNC Reporting Requirements Without Last-Minute Stress

By Panbo Ye, CFP® | FCPA | SSA® | Founder, Everglow

Who this article is for: charity directors, responsible persons, treasurers, finance managers, and operational leaders at Australian not-for-profits who need a practical understanding of annual ACNC compliance.

Currency note: This article reflects Australian rules, thresholds and regulator guidance current as at 07/2026.

If your board is still settling governance arrangements, it also helps to understand the setup decisions that shape later compliance. Everglow's guide to setting up a charity in Australia gives useful background on that foundation.

Introduction

For most boards, the main difficulty isn't the existence of reporting rules. It's knowing which rules apply to their charity, who owns each task, and when a basic governance process stops being enough.

The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) uses a proportional model. Every registered charity has an annual reporting obligation, but the financial reporting burden increases once the charity moves into the medium or large category. That structure is sensible. It also means a board can't treat “ACNC reporting” as a single checklist item.

Practical rule: The cleanest way to avoid late surprises is to decide your charity's size classification well before year end, then work backwards from the lodgement deadline.

A new board member should keep three points in mind from the start:

• Registration carries ongoing duties: Reporting isn't a once-off exercise completed at registration.
• Size changes obligations: Revenue determines whether your charity stays on an AIS-only pathway or moves into review or audit territory.
• Good records matter more than perfect wording: If the books, approvals, and related party records are tidy, the annual lodgement is far easier.

The board's role is stewardship, not just administration. That means understanding what the regulator expects, documenting decisions properly, and making sure the charity can support the disclosures it signs off on.

Your Foundational Duty The Annual Information Statement

The Annual Information Statement (AIS) is the starting point for almost every registered charity. The ACNC states that all registered charities in Australia, excluding those registered with the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC), are mandated to submit an Annual Information Statement each year to maintain their registration status: ACNC financial reporting guidance.

That point matters because some boards mistakenly treat the AIS as a minor online form that can be left to the end. It isn't minor. It is one of the core mechanisms the ACNC uses to keep the Charity Register current and to support public transparency.

What the AIS means in practice

The AIS is where a charity confirms key information about its operations, governance, and financial position for the period. Even where a small charity doesn't have to lodge a financial report, the board still needs reliable records so the AIS can be completed accurately.

That is why treasurers and responsible persons should not think of bookkeeping and ACNC reporting as separate jobs. They are linked. If the charity hasn't maintained orderly internal records throughout the year, the AIS becomes guesswork, and guesswork is poor governance.

A practical way to approach the AIS is to treat it as the end product of a year-round recordkeeping process:

• Operational records: Keep minutes, activity summaries, and beneficiary information up to date.
• Finance records: Reconcile income and expenses consistently so reported figures can be supported.
• Governance records: Track changes to responsible persons, governing documents, and internal approvals.

Boards that need more clarity on internal finance accountability often benefit from reviewing the role boundaries set out in this guide to nonprofit treasurer responsibilities.

The AIS is where the board tells the ACNC, and the public, “this is what we did, who led it, and how we remained accountable”.

What works and what does not

What works is assigning ownership early. One person may prepare the information, but the board should know who verifies operational details, who confirms the financial numbers, and who approves the final submission.

What doesn't work is assuming the external accountant can reconstruct the whole year from a bank feed and a few emails in December. The AIS may be lodged online, but the quality of that lodgement depends on the charity's internal discipline.

Understanding Your Charity's Size and Reporting Tier

The most important classification decision is your charity's size, because that drives the level of financial reporting required. For reporting periods from the 2024 Annual Information Statement, a charity is Medium if annual revenue is $500,000 or more but under $3 million, and Large if annual revenue is $3 million or more: Treasury guidance on charity size thresholds.

In practice, boards should proceed deliberately. The wrong size assessment creates the wrong compliance plan.

Before the table, one useful parallel is GST thinking. While ACNC annual revenue and GST turnover are not the same concept, directors often find it helpful to understand how revenue-based thresholds work in different compliance settings. Everglow's explanation of what GST turnover means can help frame that broader threshold discipline.

Here is the high-level position.

Why this one decision drives the rest

A board often asks whether it can decide later whether to obtain an audit or review. Sometimes it can, but only after it has correctly determined the charity's size.

Once the charity is classified:

• a small charity generally remains on an AIS pathway without mandatory financial report lodgement
• a medium charity needs a financial report and must choose between a review and an audit
• a large charity does not have that choice. The financial report must be audited

A practical board approach

The cleanest board process is to confirm size based on annual revenue as part of year-end planning, record that conclusion in the board minutes, and then align finance, adviser, and lodgement timelines around it.

What doesn't work is leaving the size question to the external reviewer or auditor after year end. By then, appointment lead times, document readiness, and board sign-off windows may already be under pressure.

A Deeper Look at Financial Reports Reviews and Audits

Once a charity falls into the medium or large category, the reporting standard becomes more formal. The ACNC says that for the 2024 Annual Information Statement, medium and large charities must generally submit a single document containing a statement of profit or loss, statement of financial position, statement of changes in equity, statement of cash flows, and detailed notes, together with a Responsible People's declaration and an auditor's or reviewer's report: ACNC annual financial report requirements.

That's a meaningful step up from maintaining bookkeeping records. It requires the charity to produce financial statements that comply with Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) requirements applicable to the charity.

What the board needs before year end

Most reporting problems start before the financial statements are drafted. They start when revenue has been coded inconsistently, grant conditions haven't been tracked, or related party transactions have not been documented as they occurred.

A sensible system usually includes:

• Consistent chart of accounts: Categories should support clear year-end reporting.
• Supporting files: Contracts, grant letters, payroll reports, and approvals should be stored centrally.
• Board visibility: Responsible persons should know when external assurance work is needed.

If your charity is reviewing systems before assurance work begins, it may be worth comparing options for choosing nonprofit accounting tools. Everglow Prosperity also offers not-for-profit accounting software with ACNC year-end reporting features that map trial balances to financial statements, note disclosures, and working papers for export.

Do We Need an Audit or a Review

For a medium charity, the choice is generally between an external review and an external audit. For a large charity, the audit is mandatory.

A review is often selected where the board wants to meet the ACNC requirement while managing cost and administrative load. An audit involves deeper testing and more extensive evidence gathering. That extra work may be appropriate or required by constitutions, funding arrangements, or stakeholder expectations, even where the ACNC itself would allow a review.

Board judgment matters here. Compliance with the ACNC minimum is one question. What your members, funders, or constitution expect is another.

The standard timing point also matters. The ACNC's reporting deadline is generally six months after the end of the reporting period, which for a charity using the usual 1 July to 30 June year means a standard deadline of 31 December, as outlined in ACNC annual reporting obligations.

If your board is uncertain about assurance requirements, the safest move is to confirm them early against ACNC rules, the governing document, and any funding agreements. Everglow's overview of not-for-profit audit requirements in Australia is a useful companion on that point.

Worked Example Castle Medical's First ACNC Report

Castle Medical GP Partnership in Sydney has recently become registered as a Health Promotion Charity. In its first reporting cycle, the board sees annual revenue of $650,000 and needs to decide what that means for ACNC reporting.

The first step is classification. Because annual revenue is $500,000 or more but under $3 million, Castle Medical falls into the medium charity category under the current threshold framework.

That conclusion gives the board a workable path. Castle Medical must lodge its AIS and also prepare an annual financial report. The remaining decision is whether the financial report should be reviewed or audited.

How the board reasons through the choice

Castle Medical's directors are cost-conscious, but they also want a disciplined first-year process. They consider three practical factors:

• External expectations: If a funder or constitution requires an audit, a review may not be enough.
• Internal readiness: If records and controls are still maturing, an audit can be more demanding.
• Timing pressure: A review may be more manageable where the charity is building its first full reporting file.

In this example, the board chooses a review for the first year because it satisfies the ACNC requirement for a medium charity and may help contain compliance costs while systems are still bedding down. The board also records that decision in the minutes and starts assembling grant records, payroll files, board approvals, and year-end reconciliations early.

A good first report is rarely about elegance. It's about producing a supportable file, getting the declarations right, and meeting the deadline without panic.

The key lesson isn't that every medium charity should choose a review. It's that the board should make a deliberate decision, document why it chose that path, and make sure the finance team can support it.

Key Exemptions and Special Disclosure Rules

Some of the most important ACNC reporting issues sit outside the basic size table. They don't affect every charity, but when they do apply, boards need to understand them clearly.

One major exemption concerns Basic Religious Charities (BRCs). The ACNC notes that BRCs are exempt from the requirement to prepare and lodge financial reports or provide financial information in their AIS under the financial reporting framework discussed earlier. That makes them distinct from the general charity population.

Another special area concerns charities that receive a meaningful share of revenue from government. The ACNC says that charities receiving 10% or more of total revenue from government sources must include detailed information in the notes to their financial statements, including revenue by level of government, names of up to 10 departments or agencies, and the exact amounts received from each: ACNC best-practice annual financial report disclosures.

How should a board handle related party transactions

From 1 July 2023, all charities except Basic Religious Charities must report related party transactions in their AIS. The ACNC also provides a template register for the charity's own use, and it distinguishes between reportable transactions for small charities and material transactions for medium and large charities: ACNC related party transaction guidance.

This is one of the most common practical pain points for boards, because the technical rule is easy to read but harder to operate. The board usually doesn't struggle to recognise an obvious loan to a director. It struggles with ordinary, recurring transactions and with deciding what is material in context.

A workable internal framework is simple:

• Create a standing register: Record transactions involving responsible persons, close associates, and connected entities when they happen, not at year end.
• Capture the basics: Note the date, parties, nature of the transaction, amount, approval pathway, and supporting documents.
• Record the board's reasoning: If a transaction is not treated as material, minute why that judgment was made.
• Review before lodgement: Compare the register against the general ledger and board minutes before the AIS is finalised.

Boards that want stronger governance around status and concessions sometimes also revisit whether their charity settings align with registration outcomes such as Deductible Gift Recipient status.

What works is contemporaneous recording. What doesn't work is trying to reconstruct related party transactions from memory after the year has closed.

The practical takeaway is this: ACNC reporting requirements start with the AIS, but sound compliance depends on getting the size classification right, preparing the correct level of financial report, and maintaining an internal related party register that the board reviews.

Frequently Asked Questions About ACNC Reporting

Do all registered charities have to lodge something every year?
Yes. All registered charities, excluding those registered with ORIC, must submit an Annual Information Statement each year to maintain registration. The AIS is the universal reporting obligation. Additional financial reporting depends on the charity's size and whether any exemption category applies.

When is the ACNC reporting deadline usually due?
The standard rule is that lodgement is due within six months after the end of the charity's reporting period. For charities using the usual 1 July to 30 June year, that generally means a 31 December deadline. Boards should still confirm any extensions or special circumstances before relying on that date.

If our charity is small, can we ignore financial reporting completely?
No. A small charity may not need to lodge a financial report with the ACNC, but it still needs accurate financial records to complete the AIS properly and meet governance obligations. Good records also matter if the charity grows, is audited by another body, or applies for funding.

What is the difference between a review and an audit for a medium charity?
A medium charity may choose either, but they are not interchangeable in effort or cost. A review is generally lighter in scope. An audit involves more extensive testing and evidence. The right choice may depend not only on ACNC rules, but also on constitutions, grant agreements, and stakeholder expectations.

How should directors deal with related party transactions during the year?
Don't leave them to year end. Keep an internal register, update it as transactions arise, and document approvals and reasons. The ACNC template is useful for this purpose. Boards are better protected when they can show a clear process rather than relying on memory.

Can late or missing reports create a registration problem?
Yes. The ACNC treats annual reporting as a core obligation tied to ongoing registration. Missing the deadline or failing to lodge required documents may trigger compliance attention and can place registration at risk depending on the circumstances.

The short answer is that ACNC reporting requirements are not just about submitting forms. Your board needs to confirm the charity's reporting tier, prepare the right level of financial information, and keep evidence for sensitive disclosures such as related party transactions. The right approach depends on the charity's size, structure, funding profile, and governance maturity.

If you would like clarity on how these principles may apply to your own circumstances, contact Everglow on 1300 913 929 or email contact@everglow.au.

To book directly: Book a meeting with Panbo.

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