Built to

The standards behind budgeting and finance

Australian Accounting Standards and the Local Government Code, appropriations law, three-way matching and tax invoice rules, payment times, internal control over journals, reconciliation and close practice, fixed assets, receivables, grants and segregation of duties.

Standard	Source	Requirement	Where it shows up here
Financial reporting	Australian Accounting Standards (AASB 101, 107, 116, 1058, 15, 1049); Local Government Code of Accounting Practice and Financial Reporting; PGPA Act s 42 and the Finance Minister's Orders	General purpose financial statements prepared from the accounts, presented fairly, with notes; certified and signed by the accountable officers.	Statements drafted from the postings with every figure listing its journals; notes on receivables ageing, commitments, contingent liabilities, assets and related parties; certified by the CFO and signed by the accountable officer (GL-FN-06).
Budget and appropriations	Local Government Act (operational plan and budget adoption); PGPA Act appropriations and s 23; Integrated Planning and Reporting	Spend only against an approved budget; re-allocations approved under delegation; commitments and actuals visible.	Budget built from the MG-13 program plan and fixed lines; endorsed by the CFO and approved by the executive; a commitment beyond the available appropriation is refused in code; re-allocations held for the CFO or executive by amount (GL-FN-01, 02).
Accounts payable control	Three-way matching practice (order, receipt, invoice); ATO ABN and tax invoice requirements (A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act s 29-70); ASIC and ANAO guidance on false invoicing	Pay only invoices matched to an order and a receipt within tolerance, from a valid supplier, once.	Order, receipt, price within 2%, ABN checksum, duplicate and GST checks on every invoice; exceptions resolved by a person with reasons within delegation; duplicates and invalid ABNs cannot be accepted (GL-FN-03).
Payment times	Payment Times Reporting Act 2020; Supplier Pay On-Time or Pay Interest Policy (20 days)	Small business suppliers paid within 20 days; late payments reported.	Every invoice carries a due date from its terms; payment batches record which invoices went past terms (GL-FN-07).
Internal control over journals	COSO Internal Control (2013); ASA 315; audit office guidance on manual journals	Manual journals reviewed and approved by someone other than the preparer, with higher-value entries approved at a higher level.	Manual journals at or above $50,000 hold for the CFO delegate; the preparer cannot approve their own journal; every posting carries a source reference (GL-FN-04, 09).
Reconciliation and period close	Audit office better practice guides on month-end; Local Government Code (bank and control account reconciliations)	Control accounts reconciled to their source each period; differences explained or owned before close.	Bank, receivables (MG-04), payables, grants (MG-02), payments (MG-03), assets and programs (MG-13) reconciled by the agent; the period closes only when every reconciliation balances or is owned (GL-FN-05).
Fixed assets	AASB 116 Property, Plant and Equipment; AASB 136 Impairment; asset accounting policy	A register with cost, useful life and depreciation; depreciation recognised each period.	Asset register with straight-line depreciation posted monthly and reconciled to the ledger (GL-FN-08).
Receivables	AASB 9 (expected credit losses); Local Government Act rates and charges provisions	Receivables recognised when raised and aged; recovery per the revenue service's policy.	Rates assessments and receipts posted from MG-04; receivables reconciled to assessment balances; ageing in the notes.
Grants and transfers	AASB 1058 Income of Not-for-Profit Entities; Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines (financial accountability)	Grant expenses recognised when the obligation arises; payments traceable to agreements.	Paid milestones posted from MG-02 with the agreement reference and reconciled.
Segregation of duties	COSO; audit office guidance	The person who raises an order does not approve its exception; the preparer does not approve the journal; the certifier is not the signer.	Checked in code on invoice exceptions, journal approvals and statement sign-off (GL-FN-09).