What the Ministry requires
Under the ECE Funding Handbook (Chapter 12), a licensed service must send the Ministry each year:
– a signed annual declaration, including how any equity funding was spent;
– a financial report for the year; and
– an independent auditor’s report on that financial report, signed by a member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand or CPA Australia.
The auditor must be independent of whoever prepared the report. Your accountant can prepare the financial report, but cannot audit it. That is where we come in.
If the report is not received by 30 June, the Ministry can withhold funding.
H2: Special purpose or general purpose report?
Privately owned services (companies, sole traders and partnerships) can choose a special purpose financial report, which covers accounting policies, the Ministry funding received, and how it was spent. It is shorter and simpler than full financial statements, and we audit it against those requirements.
Community-based services (incorporated societies, charitable trusts and registered charities) must provide general purpose financial statements. We can audit community-based services too.
If you are not sure which applies to your service, ask us. It is usually a two-minute answer.
How we work
- We work directly with you and your accountant, as a team. Your accountant prepares, we audit, and you stay connected to the process, but are not caught in the middle.
- Fixed fee agreed up front, with the work scoped to the Ministry’s requirements and nothing more.
- Fully online through our secure audit portal. No site visit needed for most services.
- One partner, start to finish. You deal with Michael Smit, CA, not different individuals or junior auditors
- Multi-licence operators: one engagement, itemised by service, as the Ministry requires.
Who we work with
Early learning centres, kindergartens, home-based services and multi-service operators, and the accountants who look after them. We are based in the Manawatū and work with services and their accountants throughout New Zealand.
Fees
One fixed fee, with everything the Ministry needs included.
- $1,800 + GST for one licensed service ($1,700 audit fee plus $100 technology use fee). This covers all Ministry of Education funding types – ECE Funding Subsidy, 20 Hours ECE, Equity Funding and Targeted Funding for Disadvantage – and how the funding was spent.
- $500 + GST for each additional licence.
Our fee is based on your special purpose report being prepared in a compliant model format, which we can provide free for you or your accountant to use. If your accountant prefers their own format, up to 10 additional spending lines are $250 + GST. A report that includes parent fees or other income, a balance sheet or full financial statements is a larger audit, and we’ll quote it before we start.
No surprises: we agree a start date and a date for your report with you, and if anything needs extra work, we’ll talk to you first.