ACNC Guide for Charity Boards

Australia’s soon-to-be charity regulator, the ACNC Implementation Taskforce has released a new guide for charity board members and others who manage charities.

The Head of the Taskforce, Susan Pascoe says that as the Australian Charities and Not for profits Commission (ACNC) progresses towards its start date in early December it is the best time to start thinking about what the ACNC will mean for a charity and how to prepare.

“We have developed this guide to provide charities with all the key information about the ACNC in one document as a preparation tool.

“The guide is available in both a HTML webpage format or as a PDF document (76KB) which you can save to your computer for future reference, email to board members or print out for your next board meeting.

It covers a number of situations which charities may find themselves in leading up to the establishment of the ACNC including:

• charities which are already endorsed by the ATO as a charity and which currently receive charity tax concessions
• charities which have recently applied to the ATO for endorsement and charity tax concessions
• charities which would like to apply for charity tax concessions.

“Our guide explains what you can expect from the ACNC in each of the above situations. It provides important information including a calendar of key dates and what your charity will need to do on or around these dates,” Pascoe said.

It also describes registered charity obligations such as:

• notifying the ACNC of changes to your charity's details
• keeping financial and operational records
• reporting to the ACNC each year
• complying with governance standards.

Download the Guide at Download the Guide at http://acnctaskforce.treasury.gov.au/content/Content.aspx?doc=publications/guides/html/affect_charity.htm