Every governing council must have a finance advisory committee. They are central to how a council deals with the school or preschool's finance and budgets. When you are on a finance advisory committee you need to understand financial terms and be able to read some financial reports.

These sheets can help you understand the financial information provided to your finance advisory committee and council.

Balance sheet

This sheet explains the purpose of a balance sheet and goes over items that might be on your school or preschool’s balance sheet.

• Balance sheet – governing council finance information (PDF 127KB)

Profit and loss statement

This sheet explains the purpose of the profit and loss statement and goes over items that might be on your school or preschool’s profit and loss statement.

• Profit and loss statement – governing council finance information (PDF 105KB)

Governing council report (GCR)

This sheet explains the governing council report (GCR). The GCR is specifically for governing councils and has financial performance information.

• Governing council report – governing council finance information (PDF 201KB)

Budget vs actual sheet

This sheet has an example of a report that compares budgeted revenue and expenditure against actual results.

• Budget vs actual reporting – governing council finance information (PDF 96KB)