Over the past few months we have often been asked "when will things return to normal?". Our answer has been a paraphrasing of a recent quote from Jeff Immelt, CEO of American based GE - "This is the new normal". We are not alone in this view and if your expectation is that business condition will return to those we had before the 2008 economic meltdown, such as easy access to credit, consumers who buy on a whim and a 'me too' economy based on oversupply of essentially the same products and services, you may want to think again.

Recently Craig Fisher, Chairman and Audit Director of Hayes Knight, was a key note speaker at the Charities Commission AGM in Wellington. Craig spoke about the need for charities to be accountable and transparent. As auditors we see this issue resulting in clients sometimes trying to ‘massage’ their financial results so they don’t appear wealthy. In some cases quite considerable lengths are employed to in order to achieve a result of “looking poorer”. This generally puts them in direct conflict with following generally accepted accounting practice.

Hayes Knight tax director Phil Barlow says there have been major changes in recent times with the commencement of the Charities Commission and also the recent payroll giving legislation being enacted. He says organisations must demonstrate to the Government that they are robust in terms of their internal management and potential longevity, have adequate checks and balances in place for their project management and financial systems, and that they comply with the relevant law in New Zealand and the recipient countries.