Standard Chart of Accounts

The National Standard Chart of Accounts (SCOA) was an initiative of the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and is now administered by the Australian Charities and Not for profits Commission (ACNC).

Through their research QUT discovered there was a lack of consistency in the reporting formats prescribed by government departments and that funding recipients were having to translate their financial information into various formats in order to meet their acquittal requirements.

In response to these findings, QUT developed SCOA, a data dictionary, providing consistency in the naming of income, expenditure, asset and liability accounts, and defining what transactions get allocated where.

It is mandatory for government departments to use the SCOA when prescribing their reporting formats for all new funding contracts issues after the adoption date.

While it is not compulsory for not for profit organisations to adopt the SCOA for their own accounting purposes, it may be in their best interests to do so, particularly where funding is received from more than one government department.

NFPAS was responsible for conducting training sessions on the SCOA in South Australia for both government and not for profit organisations and for the preparation of SA’s Implementation Manual.  As such, we have assisted numerous organisations with the following services:

• Mapping – we can map your existing chart of accounts to the SCOA relevant to your state
• Implementation – we can update your accounting software for the changes to the chart of accounts, set up your reports to meet your acquittal requirements and provide policies and procedures for maintaining SCOA compliance

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