Financial reporting by Australian nonprofit organisations : dilemmas posed by government funders

Abstract

Nonprofit organisations comprise a growing and important sector of the Australian economy. Moreover, this sector is being used by governments to an increasing extent for the delivery of services. The most common manner in which nonprofit organisations are funded by government departments is through the provision of grants, contracts or service agreements. Nonprofits discharge their accountability for these funds through reporting guidelines issued by the government funders. This paper examines the financial accountability requirements of government funders, in one jurisdiction in Australia to support the central argument in the paper that the emphasis on ‘upward and external’ accountabilities serve as a functional and control tool on the sector. This emphasis detracts from the development of the ‘downward and internal’ mechanisms of accountability which are the essential building blocks for the strategic development of the capacity of the sector to respond to calls for greater accountability. The paper will be of interest to government funders, nonprofit practitioners and accounting standard setters, auditor practitioners and regulators.