Why you should check your Society’s balance dates and AGM dates
All societies are required to hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) and their committee must present the financial statements for that period to its members at the AGM, before submitting it to the Registrar. Under the new Act, the end of the financial year (balance date) plays an important role in determining other deadlines. In particular, within six months of the balance date your Society must:
- Prepare its annual financial statements, and
- Hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM), and
- File an annual return with Charities Services, along with the annual financial statements.
IMPORTANT: You will need to make sure your Society’s financial statements are prepared early enough to be presented at your AGM and be filed with Charities Services all within the six month time frame.
There is an exception to this rule for a society which is newly incorporated – a society does not have to hold its first annual general meeting in the calendar year of its incorporation but must hold that meeting within 18 months after its incorporation. Logically this would only apply to a newly incorporated society, not a society who is reregistering under the new Act. The Incorporated Societies Act 2022 (the “new Act”) recently received Royal Assent resulting in significant changes for the 24,000 incorporated societies in New Zealand. The new Act replaces the Incorporated Societies Act 1908 (the “old Act”), which has been long overdue for an upgrade.
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