Data Collections Financial Questionnaire

No new questions have been introduced for this year’s FQ collection. The FQ 2024 Data reporting guide offers further clarification and guidance on:

• reporting income using the same accounting recognition methodology as applied in your entity audited financial statements
• promoting the separation of excursions/extracurricular activities income at RI.020
• arrangements for reporting assets and liabilities for approved authorities that operate more than one school
• reporting salary and wage expenses of staff not reported in the Non-Government Schools Census
• disclosure of related party transactions in audited financial statements.

You can find the FQ 2024 Data reporting guide under the Downloads section at the top right of this page. 

The provision of the FQ is required under Section 36 of the Australian Education Regulations 2023 (the Regulations). It must be declared for each school by 30 June for the previous calendar year.

The FQ includes income and expenditure for all foundation (the year immediately before year 1) to Year 12 students, whether eligible or ineligible for Australian Government recurrent funding.

The FQ collects information:

• to monitor ongoing income and expenditure for each non-government school or system
• as an accountability measure for Australian Government grants paid to schools and systems in a program year
• for use by the Department of Education in policy development and financial analysis
• to create the My School finance report for your school. For more information, refer to the My School website
• to satisfy Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) financial reporting requirements. For more information, refer to the ACNC website
• to provide statistical information for national educational publications, reports and national bodies, including the:
  • Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
  • Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA)
  • Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

An FQ is required for:

• all non-government schools with students enrolled during the previous calendar year which received Australian Government recurrent grant funding for these students.
• approved authorities that operate more than one school.

An FQ is not required for:

• non-government schools which commenced (accepted students) after the 2023 calendar year’s census date (4 August 2023) or during the 2024 calendar year
• government schools.

In SchoolsHUB, you can submit your FQ data in one of 2 ways:

• enter data into each FQ reporting field manually
• enter all information at once by using a template Excel file through the upload data tool.

To access FQ reporting, follow these steps:

• Step 1: Open the SchoolsHUB homepage and click Sign in.
• Step 2: Enter your email or username and password and click Sign in.
• Step 3: In the Data collection progress table on your SchoolsHUB user dashboard, click Financial Questionnaire.
• Step 4: The Financial Questionnaire will open on the My organisations tab. Next to this is the Data Upload tab.

Manual Data Entry
To begin manually entering your data in each FQ data field, click on the name of the school you wish to report on and click start. This will lead you into the manual FQ data reporting fields.

Data Upload
To upload your data, click on the Data Upload tab. The instructions on this page provide appropriate templates for either single school cash or accrual-based accounts and multiple school bulk uploads.

For more information about the data upload tool, refer to the instructions tab of the appropriate template. You can find the upload templates under the Downloads section at the top right of this page. 

The FQ consists of the following data entry pages:

1. Contacts: you will confirm your contact details.
2. Getting Started: you will provide some information specific to the school location that will make it easier to provide your FQ data.
3. Enter Data: you will provide your FQ data based on your answers at Getting Started. This section is broken down into:

• Recurrent income
• Recurrent expenditure
• Capital income
• Capital expenditure
• Trading activities
• Loans
• General financial items
• My School.

The data entry pages shown will vary depending on your user access level.

4. Review: you will check your data has been correctly recorded.
5. Declaration: you (or your Approved Authority Representative) will complete a legal declaration about the accuracy and completeness of the data you have provided.

Before you begin your FQ reporting, you will need to obtain specific documentation and information.

To find out more about what you will need to complete an FQ and what may have changed from the previous year’s collection, download and review the:

• Before you begin fact sheet
• FQ 2024 data reporting guide.

You can find these documents under the Downloads section at the top right of this page. 

All non-government schools are required to electronically submit and declare their FQ by 30 June each year. 

All FQ financial data must relate to the previous calendar year. For example, the FQ data reported in 2024 is for the 2023 calendar year from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023.

All income received and expenditure incurred by the operating school to provide educational activities for students is collected.

Other non-school related income and expenditure is also captured in a summarised form. FQ submitted information must be able to be verified against audited financial statements.

Approved authorities must have their financial reports audited before reporting their FQ. Schools are to source their reporting information from these audited accounts and upload a copy of the audited financial statements prior to declaring the FQ.

Save time and streamline your Commonwealth submissions. You may be eligible to share your FQ data and audited financial statements with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).

To find out more and sign up for this reporting arrangement, visit the ACNC Reporting and non-government schools page.

The table below maps individual FQ items that relate to the relevant ACNC financial information category, as shown on the ACNC – Preview page.

The additional display page has been updated for the 2024 (2023 data) FQ for schools that opted to report to the ACNC:

• The page contains basic information on the ACNC reporting process.
• The ACNC – Preview page will appear for schools (including systemic schools) that are registered charities reporting to the ACNC.
• For FQ items mapped to the ACNC, the school’s FQ data will be provided for publication on the Finance Section of the 2023 Annual Information Statement (AIS). Note: if a school opts out from the streamlined reporting arrangement by completing the Finance section voluntarily in the 2023 AIS, the mapped FQ data will not be used.
• Additional FQ items are introduced to enhance and improve the data mapping for ACNC reporting purposes.
• For systems that report to the ACNC on behalf of their member schools, the ACNC – Preview page will appear at the system level which aggregates the data for member schools that are not individually registered with the ACNC. Note: this means the page will appear in the system or diocese FQ and not in the school FQ.
• The ACNC – Preview page will not appear for a non-ACNC registered entity. However, where an entity is registered with the ACNC but cannot view the preview page, the ACNC will contact these entities directly for an alternative reporting solution.

Annual Information Statement

Gross income

Balance sheet

Assets

Liabilities

Throughout the FQ collection on SchoolsHUB, there are multiple blue question mark (?) icons. By clicking on these icons, detailed information about that section or question will be shown.

If you would prefer to view a document containing all the sections and questions help, refer to FQ data reporting guide. This is available from the Downloads section at the top right of this page.

There are 2 accounting methods – Cash or Accrual.

Cash

The Cash accounting method recognises income when revenue comes in, and expenses are recognised when paid.

All financial period transactions resulting in cash outflow are expenses. All financial period transactions resulting in cash inflow are revenue.

Accrual

The Accrual accounting method records revenues when they are earnt, and expenses are reported in the period that resources are used – which is often in a period to when the payment is made.
Accrual accounts include:

• accounts receivable
• accounts payable
• provision for doubtful debts
• bad debts
• amortisation
• depreciation.

Reminder

Financial statements prepared and audited on an Accrual basis must be reported on an Accrual method. This includes Commonwealth Recurrent Grants revenue at RI.100 which is to be reported using the same income recognition methodology applied in your audited financial statements.

The reporting obligations for schools are outlined below.

Requirements for audited financial statements
Section 38 of the Australian Education Regulations 2023 requires approved authorities to prepare financial statements in accordance with the Australian Accounting Standards that:

• relate to any money received by the authority or body in a year, and
• have those statements audited in accordance with the Australian Auditing Standards.

The Department of Education collects a copy of the audited financial statements as part of the FQ collection.

Reporting arrangement with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)
For non-government schools, the ACNC Commissioner has agreed that the financial information and the financial reports provided in the Department of Education’s FQ can be used to meet the ACNC's financial reporting requirements. This means that non‑government schools do not have to provide financial information to the ACNC directly – the ACNC will use the information and financial reports that non-government schools provide to the department in the FQ to complete the financial section of the Annual Information Statement.
To participate, please refer to the ACNC Guidance On Reporting and Non-Government Schools.

Format of the audited financial statements
The format and content of the audited financial statements provided to the department should be based on Australian Accounting Standards and the requirements of regulators such as the ACNC, Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and state or territory based incorporated association requirements. Approved authorities should seek appropriate advice to ensure compliance with these requirements.

In summary:

• Financial statements for the entity. The regulated requirement is for financial statements for the approved authority entity:
  • The audited financial statements provided must be clearly identifiable as financial statements for the entity that is registered as the approved authority.
  • Where the approved authority is applying AASB10 Consolidated Financial Statements, a parent or consolidated financial report structure will meet both the section 38 requirement and AASB10.
  • Separate reports for individual schools or other trading names or divisions within the entity are not required. The financial statements must be for the entire approved authority body corporate entity operations.
  • The audited financial statements report the funding year (calendar year).
  • Where the approved authority is a trustee for a trust, ensure that the financial statements present the entire financial information for the entity including the transactions and balances as trustee for the trust and transactions and balances that are not in the capacity of trustee for the trust.
• Approved authorities that are classified as reporting entities under the Australian Accounting Standards must prepare General Purpose Financial Statements that comply with all applicable Australian Accounting Standards.
• Approved authorities that are not reporting entities may be eligible to prepare special purpose financial statements that meet the financial reporting requirements of the ACNC, ASIC and state or territory based incorporated association requirements. Please note that the ACNC requires the application of 6 mandatory accounting standards and AASB 2019-4 that must be applied. Please refer to the ACNC’s information on Annual Financial Reports.
• Please also note that the ACNC streamlined financial reporting requirements have been agreed between the ACNC and some state or territory based incorporated association regulators. Please refer to the ACNC’s guidance on Transitional Relief for Streamlined Reporting.

The FQ report captures all income received and expenditure incurred in operating the school and providing educational activities for students.

For the FQ, ‘activities for students’ are those activities which meet any of the following criteria:

• The activity related to any course of study undertaken at the school, irrespective of when the activity is held during the school year.
• The activity (voluntary or compulsory) is organised by the school (staff or students), or on behalf of the school, and is recognised by the school’s community as a service or activity offered by the school for the educational, physical, personal, social or cultural development of its students, irrespective of when it is held during the school year.
  • This includes activities such as music tutoring, sport, school newsletters, formal graduation ceremonies, personal development and any self-defence activities.
• All excursions and trips organised under the sponsorship of the school, by the school or any other individual or organisation, which are done:
  • during the school’s designated term-time, either during or outside regular school hours
  • outside the school’s designated term-time but which relate directly to courses of study offered at the school that contribute to the educational, physical, personal, social or cultural development of its students.

When reporting current or non-current liabilities into the General Financial Information page, please include GST liabilities. Items can only be sourced from the balance sheet within the audited financial statements.
Activities that are not part of school education are recorded in the FQ in a summarised form.

Reporting Excursions
Most excursions qualify to be included in the FQ.

Report income collected separately for excursions under Item RI.020 – Income from Excursions or Trips.

Report income collected for excursions as part of school fees (not separately identifiable) under:

• Item RI.010 – Fees and Charges (excluding Overseas Students)
• Item RI.050 – Total Income from Overseas Students.

Report all excursion expenditure under Item RE.080 – Operating Expenses.

Schools must ensure the FQ values that are reported reconcile with the school’s audited financial statements. If the school’s accounts have been created using the Department’s Chart of Accounts (CA), use the CA as a reconciliation tool to assist in completing the FQ.

Australian Government funding may be suspended where the FQ data is unsatisfactory or a copy of the audited financial statements has not been provided.

Upon completion of the FQ, an authorised representative for the school’s Approved Authority must declare the FQ data by stating that:

• the information provided in the FQ is true and correct. It has been sourced from independently audited financial statements or accounts at either:
  • the entity level of the school, or
  • in the case of systems, at the school, diocese or system level.
• the school has satisfactory internal accounting Systems, controls and procedures for records to be maintained as set out in Section 36 and 37 of the Regulations.
• the department will consider the disclosed information in determining if the school meets the basic requirements as set out in Section 75 of the Australian Education Act 2013.
• an authorised signatory of the approved authority understands that giving false or misleading information is a serious offence.

For My School finance reports, the completion of the FQ declaration by the signatory confirms the school’s FQ data is ready for submission to ACARA for publication onto the My School website.

Some items should not be reported in the FQ. Exclude the following from your reporting:

1. Report FQ data exclusive of GST. Report GST liability to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) or GST owing by the ATO in the FQ General Financial (GF) Information section.
2. Money received by the school from, or on behalf of its students which is passed on in full to a third party for the delivery of goods or services unrelated to activities defined above. This may include:
   • banking for students
   • school photos
   • book clubs
   • student insurance premiums
   • mission collections or other recognised charitable organisations and donations to Parents and Friends associations
   • school building funds and foundations.
3. Money the school receives from organisations, including government agencies, which the school passes on in full to third parties and does not benefit the school or fund its operations. For example, paid parental leave funds from the Department of Human Services which are given in full to staff where the school is acting only as an agent.
4. Money held by the school on behalf of the parents of boarding students to cover costs incurred by the school in acting as the student’s guardian (for example in loco parentis – ‘in the place of the parent’), including to cover the cost of recreational activities organised by the school solely for boarders.
5. Costs associated with building maintenance, other school structure, furniture, fittings or equipment funded by a claim on an insurance policy. The exception is where monies received from the claim are insufficient to cover the full costs of the reconstruction. Only include the extra construction expenses or costs incurred in the FQ.
6. Revaluations of land and buildings or other relevant capital items are not stated as income or expenditure. Revaluations can either increase or decrease the value of the asset and should be stated on the FQ General Financial Items page as sourced from the entity’s balance sheet.

For more information about overseas students, click on the ‘How to report overseas students’ tab on the Non-Government Schools Census page.

Who is responsible for the cost of an overseas student?

Overseas students are responsible for the cost of their education and do not attract Australian Government recurrent assistance funding.

Report all income and expenditure from overseas students under:

• Item RI.050 – Total Income from Overseas Students (if funds are for recurrent purposes)
• Item CI.040 – Capital funds received from Overseas Students (if funds are for capital purposes).

You can access a Preliminary My School report populated with the responses from your 2024 FQ data collection (2023 financial data) through SchoolsHUB. Only the amounts reported for tuition (and system and diocese where applicable) are included. Boarding is excluded under the My School finance data collection methodology.

The preliminary report is provided as a guide only. It does not include possible allocations of expenditure incurred by third parties, which are required under the methodology such as those incurred by Block Grant Authorities for administering government capital grant programs to schools for Catholic independent, non-Catholic systemic and non-systemic independent schools. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority will include these amounts before publishing the finance report on the My School website.

Per student amounts are calculated using the number of FTE from the Friday 4 August 2023 school census. It does not include any enrolment adjustments made after the FQ opens. 
Total deductions from gross income should not exceed the school's privately sourced income unless the school has documentation that shows it can use government grants for capital purposes. For further information, refer to the note under MS.100 in these instructions.

FQ items mapped to My School finance reports
The table below maps individual FQ items that relate to each My School reporting category, as shown in the Preliminary My School Finance report.

Recurrent income

Deductions

Capital expenditure

Note: 2 additional questions (MS.070 and MS.080) are also included in the FQ to provide a data quality control measure to ensure the accuracy of amounts reported at MS.050 and MS.060.

The FQ Verification Exercise (FQVE) is a quality assurance process. Each year, the Department of Education selects individual schools to verify and declare that the information provided in their FQ is accurate.

The FQVE assesses the school’s FQ reporting against their audited financial statements. This is usually supported by ;a reconciliation spreadsheet. The reconciliation spreadsheet balances items reported in the individual school FQ to the audited financial statements of its approved authority.

Systemic schools
A systemic school selected for the FQVE asked to provide additional information to balance items reported into the individual school’s FQ to the systems audited financial statements.

Requirements
Reconciliation spreadsheets should be prepared according to FQ instructions to ensure amounts are entered against the correct FQ items. Documentation used to prepare the reconciliation statements should be kept for future reference to be provided to the department if requested.

Accuracy
If the FQVE shows that data reported in the FQ does not reconcile with the audited financial statements, the school will be required to explain the reasons for the difference(s) or amend the data.

Note: The school may also be selected again for the exercise the following year to ensure the correct data is reported in the FQ.