Documents and records of a Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG)
The Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) requires a CLG to keep proper records, including financial information, registers, annual reports, deeds and other important documents.
For more information, go to ASIC Information sheet 76 - What books and records should my company keep?
Financial Information
The Corporations Act requires that a company must keep written financial records that:
- correctly record and explain its transactions and financial position and performance, and
- would enable true and fair financial statements to be prepared and audited.
Financial records are defined as including:
- invoices, receipts orders for the payment of money, bills of exchange, cheques, promissory notes and vouchers
- documents of prime entry, and
- working papers and other documents needed to explain:
- the methods by which financial statements are made up, and
- adjustments to be made in preparing financial statements.
The Corporations Act requires financial records to be kept for 7 years.
Financial records may be kept electronically. The Corporations Act states that if financial records are kept in electronic form, they must be convertible into hard copy. Hard copy must be made available within a reasonable time to a person who is entitled to inspect the records. If financial records are kept on a computer which is owned and operated by a third party (eg. your company's accountant) you still have the responsibility to provide a hard copy.
If your company limited by guarantee is a registered charity it is also required to comply with its record keeping obligations under the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Act 2012 (Cth). For more information, go to the ACNC page on Record Keeping.
For more information about reporting requirements, go to Financial Reporting obligations for a Company Limited by Guarantee.
For more information about general record keeping requirements, go to Document and record keeping FAQs.