Lodgement of financial reports

What entities must lodge financial reports?

Although all entities should keep financial records to ensure they understand how their operations are faring, some types of entities need to keep these records for the purposes of preparing and lodging financial reports with us.

Generally, entities must lodge reports where:

• there are substantial sums of money involved
• the general public has invested funds with the entity, or
• the entity exists for charitable purposes only and is not intended to make a profit (see Registered charities’ obligations to the ACNC and ASIC if your company is a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission).

Section 292 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Corporations Act) requires the following entities to prepare financial reports for:

• disclosing entities
• public companies
• companies limited by guarantee (except small companies limited by guarantee)
• large proprietary companies that are not disclosing entities (see Are you a large or small proprietary company)
• registered schemes
• registrable superannuation entities
• small proprietary companies that are foreign-controlled
• small proprietary companies that have one or more crowd-sourced funding shareholders at any time during the year.

The following entities may also be required to prepare financial reports:

• small proprietary companies that we direct to prepare financial reports
• small proprietary companies that shareholders direct to prepare a financial report
• small companies limited by guarantee subject to a member direction under section 294A of the Corporations Act.

Financial reports prepared in accordance with the Corporations Act generally must comply with accounting standards (see section 296). Australian Accounting Standards meet the requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards, which Australia adopted in 2005.

Section 601CK of the Corporations Act requires registered foreign companies to lodge balance sheets, profit and loss statements, cash flow statements and other documents with ASIC. You should seek professional advice if you are unsure of your company’s financial reporting obligations.

Australian financial services (AFS) licensees must also lodge financial statements under section 989B of Corporations Act. See Information on submitting Australian financial services licence annual statements.

Exemptions from having to lodge financial reports

In limited circumstances, some entities are exempt from the requirement to lodge financial reports, such as if:

• the entity has already lodged financial reports with ASX Limited ACN 008 624 69 (ASX), National Stock Exchange of Australia Limited ACN 000 902 063 (NSX), Cboe Australia Pty Ltd ACN 129 584 667 (Cboe Australia) or Sydney Stock Exchange Limited ACN 080 399 220 (SSX) and the conditions in ASIC Corporations (Electronic Lodgment of Financial Reports) Instrument 2026/59 are met.

• the small proprietary company is foreign-controlled but the foreign company that is in control is registered with ASIC as a foreign company and lodges consolidated financial reports that include the activities of the Australian company for the period that control exists
• the small proprietary company is controlled by foreign companies that are not part of a large group. In this case, you are not required to appoint auditors or prepare or lodge financial reports if the directors resolve to rely on relief that ASIC Corporations (Foreign-Controlled Company Reports) Instrument 2017/204 provides. 

Don’t assume that an entity would qualify for any exemption. Generally, it is the minority of cases that qualify for some form of relief.

In most cases, relief is not granted for financial reports that were due in the past.

For more information, see Relief from corporate finance provisions.

What documents must be lodged

Form 388 Copy of financial statements and reports should always be completed and lodged with the documents listed in the table below unless the entity lodges its financial statements and reports with: ASX, NSX, Cboe Australia or SSX.

Form 388 also does not need to be completed and lodged with the documents listed in the table below if the entity is a registered foreign company. In this situation, Form 405 Statement to verify financial statements of a foreign company should be completed and lodged with the documents.

If the entity holds an AFS licence, it must also lodge a profit and loss statement and balance sheet together with an auditor’s report through the ASIC Regulatory Portal, using the transaction named ‘Submit Australian financial services licensee annual financial statements’. The Form FS71 Auditor's report for Australian Financial Services licensee must be completed, signed by the auditor and attached to the portal transaction. For more information, see Submit Australian financial services licence annual financial statements.

A disclosing entity’s half-year financial report is lodged with ASIC using Form 7051 Notification of half yearly reports (ASX Form 1001), unless the disclosing entity lodges with ASX, NSX, Cboe Australia or SSX.

The table below lists the components of the annual report (except for the sustainability report and auditor’s report on the sustainability report – see Sustainability reporting):

Document	Section of the Corporations Act
Statement of financial position as at the end of the year (consolidated, if required by accounting standards)	295(2) and 296(1)
Statement of profit or loss and other comprehensive income for the year (consolidated, if required by accounting standards)	295(2) and 296(1)
Statement of cash flows for the year (consolidated, if required by accounting standards)	295(2) and 296(1)
Statement of changes in equity (consolidated, if required by accounting standards)	295(2) and 296(1)
Consolidated financial statements required by accounting standards may include parent entity financial statements where ASIC Corporations (Parent Entity Financial Statements) Instrument 2021/195 conditions are met.	295(2) and 296(1)
Notes to financial statements (disclosure required by the Corporations Regulations 2001, notes required by the accounting standards, and any other information necessary to give a true and fair view)	295(3)
Directors' declaration that the financial statements comply with accounting standards, give a true and fair view, there are reasonable grounds to believe the company/scheme/entity will be able to pay its debts, the financial statements have been made in accordance with the Corporations Act	295(4)
Directors' report, including the auditor's independence declaration	298—300A
Auditor's report on the financial report	301 and 308

When financial reports must be lodged

Section 319 of the Corporations Act requires a disclosing entity, registered scheme or registrable superannuation entity to lodge the complete financial reports within three months after the end of the financial year. All other entities must lodge their financial reports within four months after the end of the financial year.

If the entity has not made a profit or traded during the financial year, financial reports are still required – even if it is necessary to show figures as ‘zero’ (e.g. Total assets = $0.00).

How to lodge financial reports

You can lodge financial reports online using Form 388. You don't have to lodge with ASIC if you lodge with ASX, NSX, Cboe Australia or SSX.

Lodging online with ASIC

You can lodge online through the company officeholder, registered agent and auditor portals after you have registered for access.

To ensure your financial reports are lodged on time, you should:

• register for online access and create your account as soon as possible (you only need to register once).

Lodging using Standard Business Reporting (SBR)

If your financial, accounting or payroll software is SBR-enabled, you can voluntarily lodge financial reports in XBRL or iXBRL format.

You still need to lodge financial reports in the relevant ASIC portal using Form 388. For more information, see Digital financial reports.

Sustainability reporting

Entities that must lodge financial reports may also have sustainability reporting obligations under the Corporations Act. See Who must prepare a sustainability report? and Regulatory Guide 280 Sustainability reporting (RG 280).

If an entity is required to prepare a sustainability report for a financial year, the sustainability report and auditor’s report on the sustainability report will form part of the entity’s annual reporting obligations. These reports must be lodged separately to the annual financial report using Form 398 Copy of sustainability report and auditor’s report.

However, you don't have to lodge with ASIC if you lodge with ASX, NSX, Cboe Australia or SSX and the conditions in ASIC Instrument 2026/59 are met.

For more information, see How and when to lodge your sustainability report

Where can I get more information?

• Company financial reports
• Company record keeping
• Information Sheet 131 Obligations of companies limited by guarantee 
• Sustainability reporting

Important notice

Please note that this information sheet is a summary giving you basic information about a particular topic. It does not cover the whole of the relevant law regarding that topic, and it is not a substitute for professional advice. We encourage you to seek your own professional advice to find out how the applicable laws apply to you, as it is your responsibility to determine your obligations.

You should also note that because this information sheet avoids legal language wherever possible, it might include some generalisations about the application of the law. Some provisions of the law referred to have exceptions or important qualifications. In most cases, your particular circumstances must be taken into account when determining how the law applies to you.