National Standard Chart of Accounts for
Victorian Not-for-Profit Community
Organisations
An implementation guide for Local
Government
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
1
Published by the Office for the Community Sector
Department of Planning and Community Development
1 Spring Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000
Telephone 03 9208 3543
January 2013
Contact Us
Department of Planning and Community Development
Email: communitysector@dpcd.vic.gov.au
© Copyright State of Victoria 2012. This publication is copyright. No part of it may be reproduced by any process
except in accordance with provision of the Copyright Act 1968
ISBN 978-1-921940-85-9
Designed by the Design Studio,
Corporate Public Affairs,
Department of Transport,
Level 10, 121 Exhibition Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000
Print managed by Finsbury Green
Printed on Ecostar 100% recycled paper
Accessibility
If you would like to receive this publication in an accessible format, please telephone the Office for the Community
Sector on 03 9208 3543, or email community sector@dpcd.vic.gov.au
This publication is also published in PDF and Word formats on www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/communitysector
This guide has been produced by the Office for the Community Sector (OCS), Department of Planning and
Community Development. It has been developed in consultation with Queensland University of Technology, members
of FinPro (Local Government Financial Professionals) , Local Government Grant Makers Network, the National
Standard Chart of Accounts (NSCoA) Local Government Implementation Project Reference Group and a number of
Council representatives.
The project reference group comprised representatives from:
Local Government Victoria (LGV), Municipal Associations of Victoria (MAV), Victorian Local Governance Association
(VLGA) and FinPro (Local Government Financial Professionals).
The OCS would like to thank these organisations and individuals for their guidance and assistance in the development
of this guide. The Office for the Community Sector acknowledges Accuteque Pty Ltd for their assistance in the
development of this guide.
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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Contents
1. Purpose....................................................................................................................................... 4
2. Background ................................................................................................................................ 5
3. Scope .......................................................................................................................................... 6
4. Key benefits of the National Standard Chart of Accounts (NSCoA) ...................................... 7
5. Implementing the NSCoA .......................................................................................................... 8
6. Further considerations ............................................................................................................ 13
7. Project Support ........................................................................................................................ 14
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
3
1. Purpose
This document is an implementation guide for Victorian Local Government Authorities (LGAs) when asking for
financial information from Victorian Not-for-Profit (NFP) community organisations using the National Standard Chart of
Accounts (NSCoA). The NSCoA is an agreed list of account categories and data dictionary that NFP organisations are
progressively implementing for use with all levels of government nationally. For LGAs, the NSCoA applies to the
collection of financial information from NFP organisations in receipt of local government funding for projects and
services.
The National Standard Chart of Accounts is an agreed list of account categories and data dictionary for use
by Not-For-Profit community organisations
The NSCoA aims to:

Reduce the regulatory and administrative burden on the Not-for-Profit sector

Enable increased consistency and standardised financial information in accounting categories and terms
across budgets, reporting and acquittal

Enable simpler and improved financial reporting accountability

Make it easier to compare financial information through grant application and assessment and reporting
phases.
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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2. Background
The Office for the Community Sector was established by the Victorian Government to support the Victorian NFP
community sector to be sustainable into the future. It has two key responsibilities: reducing the burden of government
red tape; and supporting the sector to build capacity to continue to be responsive to the needs of Victorians. The
Office for the Community Sector engaged the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS),
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to develop the Victorian SCoA in 2009 to reduce the reporting burden on
Victorian NFP community organisations.
In December 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to the development and implementation of
a National SCOA for use by governments in their activities with NFP community organisations receiving government
funds. The NSCoA was based on and supersedes the Victorian SCoA with the only differences related to state based
legislation.
The concept of a SCoA for NFP community organisations was to address the lack of consistency in accounting
categories and terms required by local, state and federal governments in their funding relationships with NFP
community organisations. This lack of consistency caused:

an inability to aggregate and compare financial data for any purposes, such as public policy development,
benchmarking of performance or indications of financial effectiveness or efficiency to funders

significant administration and follow up costs to government departments and

significant compliance costs to NFP community organisations.
The Victorian Government endorsed the mandatory application of the NSCoA by Victorian state government
departments and agencies and LGA’s in future contracts with NFP community organisations.
The Office for the Community Sector provided a targeted support program for Victorian NFP community organisations
considering implementing the NSCoA and will now provide a similar targeted support program for Victorian LGA’s.
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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3. Scope
For all Victorian LGAs, the standardisation of financial and accounting terms relates ONLY to the funding
arrangements between your council and the NFP sector. This funding relationship includes the kind of financial
information your council asks for from the NFP organisation.
Implementing the NSCoA is about LGAs requesting and accepting financial reports submitted by NFP
organisations in NSCoA accounting categories. There is no requirement for LGAs to change their chart of
accounts.
It does NOT relate to a local council’s internal chart of accounts or the reporting relationship between local councils
and state or Australian Government, even in the case where the local council acts as an auspice for a NFP community
organisation.
‘Not-for-profit’, ‘non-government organisations’, ‘community organisations’ and ‘third sector organisations’ are all
names used interchangeably with this sector. For the purpose of this application a NFP community organisation is one
that is not operating for the profit or gain of its individual members. It does not include local councils, universities and
hospitals.
Examples of NFP organisations:

Churches

Community child care centres

Community cultural societies

Protection societies

Neighbourhood associations

Public museums and libraries

Scholarship funds

Scientific societies

Scouts organisations

Sports clubs

Surf lifesaving

Clubs and traditional service clubs.
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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4. Key benefits of the NSCoA
Some key benefits of implementing the NSCoA for Governments and the NFP community sector are:

Better public accountability through more accurate reporting of financial information by funded organisations

More consistency in the data submitted by funded organisations as there is transparent guidance on coding
with the chart of accounts

A consistent framework in which to work for funded organisations dealing with multiple LGA’s and government
agencies

Better acquittals assessment as the data provided by the funded organisation is more accurate and there is a
greater confidence in what is being submitted is understood by both parties

Data for policy making is possible through consistent and more accurate data being submitted by funded
organisations

Benchmarking and unit costing is available through time as sectors adopt a standard way of capturing
expenses

Training of staff in acquittals (including non financials) is cheaper because there is a shared understanding by
both the funder and funded organisation of what is included within each line item, making detailed accounting
knowledge unnecessary

Easier approval process as the accuracy and transparency of reported financial information increases

Exception reporting – quicker and easier to flag

Lower administrative and compliance costs through increased efficiency.
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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5. Implementing the NSCoA
Councils should plan (as soon as it is practicable) to implement the necessary changes to their financial information
requests from NFP organisations. This may include aligning processes, application forms, funding requests, funding
agreements, reporting and acquittal templates.
Impact points where Council may ask for financial information
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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All future requests for budget information from an NFP organisation should (where expenditure is categorised) be
aligned to the NSCoA categories. This only applies where Councils currently request financial information in
categories that are not consistent with the NSCoA.
If your council has identified that it is compliant with the NSCoA no further action is required
An example of applying NSCoA categories is demonstrated below. A listing of the NSCoA categories can be found in
Appendix 1.
Council Categories
NSCoA Categories
Project Administration
ADMINISTRATION
Equipment
EQUIPMENT HIRE & PURCHASE
Artist Fees
CONSULTANCY FEES
When asking for budget information, an area can be left blank on a template, (i.e. application form, progress report or
acquittal) to be completed by the NFP organisation. See the sample budget table below. Many LGA templates already
do this.
Income
Expenditure
Description
$
Description
$
Please insert income
category
0.00
Please insert expenditure
category
0.00
0.00
Add more lines as required
Total Income
0.00
Add more lines as required
0.00
Total Expenditure
0.00
For more complex budget and reporting requests, guidance can be given to the NFP organisation about expenditure
forecasts and reporting using the NSCoA Listing. A sample is provided at Appendix 1.
Further information on the NSCoA can be found on the Office for the
Community Sector website at: www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/communitydevelopment/community-sector
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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How does a Council determine if it needs to take action?
Councils will need to identify all forms and templates that contain requests for financial information (budget
breakdowns):

guidelines

application forms

funding agreements budget categories

reporting template budget categories

project plan template budget categories; and

acquittal templates.
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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What documents or processes may be impacted or need changing?
Identify change touch points requiring update on:

Forms and templates

Supporting materials – internal and external, i.e. internal training materials, published grant program guidance
materials.

Internal business processes; and

Supporting systems that generate forms and templates (may be external, i.e. web-based application forms).
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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How does Council start the implementation?
Develop a change plan that takes into account:

Authorisations

Affected personnel

Sequence timelines and budgets

Grant program schedule

Communications.
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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6. Further considerations

Following the decision of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), the NSCoA categories should be
used for all new funding programs. Councils should only request financial and budget information as it is
represented in the NSCoA categories.

However, a deadline for implementation of the NSCoA for existing funding programs has not yet been set, so
each council will need to make business decisions about implementation appropriate to their funding
programs.

If the existing funding program is time limited (e.g. September 2010 - September 2011) it is suggested that
you wait until the next round of funding (e.g. September 2011- 2012) to make any required changes.

If the existing funding program is ongoing and not time limited, the decision of when to align becomes a
business decision for individual councils.
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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7. Project Support
The Office for the Community Sector is providing a targeted support program for all Victorian LGAs implementing the
NSCoA. The support program has been designed to assist with the technical side of implementation and to help
answer any additional questions not covered in this manual.
Implementation Manual
This Implementation Manual has been designed to assist with the implementation of the NSCoA while maintaining
internal management accounts.
Web support
For a copy of this manual follow this link to the Office for the Community Sector website:
www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/communitydevelopment/community-sector
Phone and email support
If your enquiry is about identifying account lines, contact:
Email scoa-vic@mob.com.au
Phone 1800 628 749
For all other enquiries contact the Office for the Community Sector, Department of Planning and Community
Development:
Email communitysector@dpcd.vic.gov.au
Phone (03) 9208 3423
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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Sample listing of NSCoA categories
Appendix 1
Income
Expenditure
Description
Description
Grants
Accounting Fees
Grants (Commonwealth)
Advertising and Promotion
Grants (State)
Amortisation Expense
Grants (Local)
Assets Purchased under $ [insert figure]
Grants – Other
Audit Fees
Fundraising – Gifts
Auspicing Fees
Fundraising – Contributions
Bank Charges
Contributions (Members)
Bad debts
Contributions (Public)
Business Planning Costs
Contributions (Government)
Cleaning
Contributions (Philanthropic trusts and corporations)
Client Support Services
Trading/Operating Activities
Client Support Consumables
Sales of Goods
Computer Expenses
Fees and Charges
Consultancy Fees
Sponsorship and licensing fees
Credit Card Fees
Sales of tickets to performances
Depreciation
Other Income
Donations Paid
Interest
Employment Support and Supervision Costs
Rental Income
Equipment Hire/Lease
Dividends Received
Fees & Permits
Other/Sundry Income
Fundraising Expenses – General
Insurance
Interest Paid
Legal Fees
Loss on Sale of Non-Current Assets
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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Income
Expenditure
Description
Description
Management Fees
Meeting Expenses and Fees
Membership Fees Paid
Motor Vehicle Expenses
Postage, Freight and Courier
Printing & Stationery
Property Management Fees
Publications and Information Resources
Rates & Taxes
Rent
Repairs & Maintenance
Salaries & Wages
Security Expenses
Staff Amenities
Sundry Expenses
Telephone & Fax Charges
Tenancy and Property Supplies and Services
Training & Development (Staff)
Travel & Accommodation
Utilities
Volunteer Costs
Other
National Standard Chart of Accounts for Victorian Not-for-Profit Community Organisations
An implementation guide for Local Government
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