Please refer to our previous article for details on the questions found in the return. 

What happens if you lodge your return late? 

If your NFP has missed the 31 March 2025 deadline, it is important to submit the return as soon as possible. The ATO has suspended penalties for late lodgement of the 2023-24 return with its transitional support for the NFP sector.  

From July 2025, the ATO will review NFPs that intentionally ignore their obligations and non-compliant NFPs may face further scrutiny and potential tax liabilities. 

Steps to take if you haven’t lodged yet 

If your NFP has not yet submitted the return, the following steps will help you fulfil your obligations and demonstrate to the ATO you’ve taken action: 

Lodge your return immediately  

NFPs can submit their self-review return using the ATO’s Online Services for Business or the self-help phone service at 13 72 26. A registered tax agent can also assist with lodgement. 

Updating your NFPs ABN details 

Accurate ABN details are essential for tax-exempt eligibility. If your organisation’s details have changed, update them via: 

• the Australian Business Register (ABR) 

• ATO’s Online Services for Business 

• submitting a Change of Registration Details form. 

If a Change of Registration Details form has already been lodged and is pending, the ATO will acknowledge this during their records review. 

Future compliance and potential reviews 

The ATO is committed to supporting NFPs that make genuine efforts to meet their obligations. However, from July 2025, organisations that ignore their self-review return requirements and fail to engage with the ATO may face: 
 

• compliance reviews  

• financial penalties and  

• loss of income tax exemption. 

How SW can help 

To avoid repercussions and maintain compliance, ensure your organisation submits the self-review return as soon as possible and keeps up with ongoing reporting requirements. 

Our NFP experts can assist with the preparation and lodgement of the return and assess your border eligibility for income tax exempt status. 

Contributors

Blake Trad  

The post Late NFP self review return lodgement: ATO suspends penalties appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

During the session, our experts will provide insights and actionable knowledge that will empower your organisation to navigate the complexities of the current tax landscape with confidence.

During these webinars our tax experts will provide an update on:

• New Developments: Examine recent cases and the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) compliance activities. This session will cover hot topics including guidance on electric vehicles, and recent updates in the application of the otherwise deductible rule, helping you understand their implications on your organisation.
• FBT Focus: In addition to a recap on the basics of some common benefits, explore hot topics in FBT, including FBT record-keeping concessions and recent updates in the application of the otherwise deductible rule, helping you understand their implications on your sector. Special emphasis on exempt electric vehicles, reflecting the shift towards sustainable practices.
• Global Mobility: Learn about proposed tax residency changes and how they intertwine with flexible remote working arrangements.
• Superannuation: Gain insights into ATO audit activities, powers of the FWO and their potential impact on your organisation. Additionally, prepare for the upcoming legislative changes requiring employers to pay super on payday from 1 July 2026, aligning superannuation guarantee payments with wage payment frequencies.
• Employee vs Contractor: Understand the ATO’s updated rulings and how they affect your workforce management.
• Payroll Tax: Stay informed about the latest developments in Payroll Tax. This segment will focus on the application of relevant contract provisions, the implications of the new temporary Payroll Tax surcharge, new payroll tax obligations for some private schools in Victoria and the impact of increased thresholds. We will also speak about how to make your payroll tax return preparation processes more efficient and reduce the chance of error. 
• Wage remediation: Wage underpayments continue to be the focus of media and government scrutiny and can have immense adverse effects on employers. We will speak about some common causes of wage underpayments, how STP 2 and payday super may super charge audit activity and the role of tax practitioners in the wage remediation process.

Webinar recordings

Session details

Session 1 | Employment Tax update: Corporate sector

Date

Wednesday 20 March 2024

Location

Online nationally – via Zoom webinar

Time

1.30pm – 2.30pm (AEDT)

10.30am – 11.30am (Perth)

12.30pm – 1.30pm (Brisbane)

Register

Session 2 | Employment Tax update: Not-for-Profit and Government sectors

Date

Thursday 21 March 2024

Location

Online or SW Melbourne office, Level 10, 530 Collins Street, Melbourne

Time

1.00pm arrival for a 1.30pm start, concludes 2.30pm (AEDT)

Light lunch will be provided in the SW Melbourne office for those attending in person

Register

Expert speakers

Stephen O’Flynn
Tax Director
SW

Sam Morris
Director
SW

Paul Hum
Employment Taxes Director
SW

Helen Wicker
Director
SW

Justin Batticciotto
Associate Director 
SW

Rahul Sanghani
Associate Director 
SW

The post Employment Taxes update 2024   appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

Webinar 1 (18 March 2021): Removal of special purpose financial reporting

• Moving from Special Purpose to General Purpose Financial Statements
• Exempt entities
• Requirements of AASB 1060 i.e. New tier 2 General Purpose Financial Statements – Simplified Disclosures
• Applying AASB 1 First-time Adoption of Australian Accounting Standards

Webinar 2 (29 April 2021): Valuation of assets

• Identifying impairment indicators
• Fair valuing assets in accordance with accounting standards
• Estimating key inputs
• Accounting for impairment of assets

Webinar 3 (27 May 2021): Financial Reporting update for 30 June 2021

• Accounting standard changes
• Key focus areas for 30 June 2021 reporting
• ASIC update and focus areas
• Corporate governance update
• Other regulatory changes

Webinar 4 (11 November 2021): Financial Reporting update for 31 December 2021

• Accounting standard changes
• Key focus areas for 31 December 2021 reporting
• ASIC update and focus areas
• Corporate governance update
• Other regulatory changes
• Not-for-profit update
• Employee share schemes update

Series speakers

René Muller
Partner

Tom Mullarkey
Partner

Kerry McGoldrick
Partner

Contact us

If you have any queries or would like more information, please contact the Marketing team via marketing@sw-au.com.

The post Financial Reporting series 2021 appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

Introduction

Whilst the removal of Special Purpose Financial Statements (SPFS) has yet to impact Not-for-Profit entities (NFPs), the AASB has introduced AASB 2019-4.

NFPs preparing SPFS from 30 June 2020 must now disclose its compliance with the recognition and measurement (R&M) requirements to the Australian Accounting Standard (AAS), including consolidation and equity accounting requirements.

Who is affected?

• Medium and large ACNC charities preparing SPFS that compliywith ACNC reporting requirements
• NFP entities lodging SPFS with ASIC (e.g. companies limited by guarantee)

Who is not affected?

• ACNC small charities
• ACNC charities not required to comply with ACNC reporting requirements due to transitional reporting arrangements
• NFP public sector entities
• FP and FP public sector entities preparing SPFS

What action must be taken?

1. Review existing accounting policies and R&M requirements in AAS to assess impact on any future transition from SPFS to any potential new reporting requirements
2. Draft disclosure in SPFS for approval by those charged with governance prior to year end

What are the disclosure requirements?

• The basis on which the decision to prepare SPFS was made
• Accounting policy in SPFS
  • Disclose an indication of where the accounting policy does not comply with the R&M requirements in AAS (except for consolidation and equity accounting), or
  • State that assessment on compliance has not been made
• Overall compliance with R&M requirements
  • Disclose whether or not, the SPFS overall comply with the R&M requirements in AAS (except for consolidation and equity accounting), or
  • State that such an assessment has not been made
• Application of consolidation and equity accounting requirements
  • Disclose whether or not interests in subsidiaries, associates or joint ventures have been consolidated or equity accounted consistent with requirements in AASB 10 and AASB 128. If not, disclose that fact and the reasons why
  • If assessment has not been made and not required by legislation to do so, disclose that no assessment has been made

Reference

Important Dates

Annual reporting periods ending on or after 30 June 2020.

How ShineWing Australia can assist

Contact one of our experts below to discuss how these financial reporting disclosure requirements affect your existing accounting policies.

Contacts

The post NFP Special Purpose Financial Statements appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.

The new standards for recognising revenue for NFP entities are AASB 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers and AASB 1058 Income for Not-For-Profits. These standards are now in the year of adoption and Universities will need to be applying them for the first time in the 2019 financial year.

Impact of the new standards

The old revenue recognition standards generally resulted in Universities being required to recognise revenue when received rather than aligning the revenue recognition with the performance of obligations.

The adoption of the new standards can have a material impact on Universities financial position. ShineWing has been assisting several Universities with reviewing contracts and assisting with the implementation. Based on our experience, the opening balance adjustment can be in the order of $30 – $90 million representing between 5-10% of revenue.

In simple terms, income has previously been recognised when the funds were received rather than apply a matching principle as to when the obligations associated with the receipts of the funds are discharged.

An adjustment may be required upon adoption to reverse income booked in previous years and return to equity in future years as the obligations are satisfied. The adjustments will have no cashflow implications.

How to apply the new standards

NFP entities are required to assess each individual revenue contract to determine whether the income received is that of a contract with a customer, a donation or a combination of both.

A contract with a customer would exist if the following two criteria have been met:

1. The entity has a legally enforceable contract with a customer
2. That contract includes “sufficiently specific” promises for the not-for-profit entity to transfer goods or services to the customer or third party beneficiaries.

If these two criteria have been met revenue would be recognised in accordance with AASB 15. If not met, then the revenue would be accounted for under AASB 1058.

Depending on the size of the organisation and the individual number of funding contracts, the exercise of reviewing individually contracts could be time consuming and complex. The complexity arises in determining whether promises are sufficiently specific, NFPs would need to consider indicators such as whether there is enough detail in the contract regarding the nature of the good/service they’re providing, the cost/value of the good/service and the period of time over which the good/service will be transferred. Judgement will be required in assessing these indicators.

Managing AASB 15 & AASB 1058 implementation

Because of the wide ranging effects of the new standards, the implementation effort should include functions outside of the Finance team, including R&D, Philanthropic Grant managers and senior managers. A number of related work streams should be considered in this effort, including:

• Finance department
• Business processes and systems
• Change management, communication and training team.

It will be critical to have strong project management in order to coordinate the roles of the various business functions and to keep the work streams running smoothly and on schedule.

Hayley Underwood

E hunderwood@sw-au.com

The post Universities – Not-for-Profit revenue recognition appeared first on SW Accountants & Advisors.