Q: I have heard that small charities can use a shorter reporting form to make their annual return to DIA Charities. Can you please confirm.
A: Yes, that is basically correct, but subject to certain conditions.
The External Reporting Board has introduced a “Simple Tier 4 Reporting Template” for “very small charities who do not engage in any complicated transactions, and do not need to disclose any additional information.” (Ref a) The template is available in a number of languages in addition to English (Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Fijian and others). In addition DIA Charities have created a guide to the new template “providing definitions and examples for the key items.” (Ref b)
Essentially, if your charity has a single bank account with no major assets (car, land etc), few/no significant commitments (eg loans), and has not entered into complex transactions like multi-year loans then you may choose to use the Simple Template (see (Ref b) for full details.
Note that the use of the simple template is optional for those charities that qualify and that some lenders may, in any case, require that the full reporting template is used.
References:
(a) https://www.charities.govt.nz/reporting-standards/tier-4/simple-tier-4-reporting-template/