Model Budget 2016-17

The fourteenth edition of the Victorian City Council Model Budget Guide for the 2016/17 financial year was announced by James Scott, Chair of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) Model Budget Taskforce, on Thursday 18 February 2016 at the 2015 FinPro Professional Development Seminar.The Model Budget documents were released on Tuesday 2 March.

This edition of the Guide builds on previous editions in improving the usefulness of the budget to financial users. It responds to feedback from FinPro members received at a workshop at the end of the 2015 FinPro Conference. In particular, local government financial professionals were asking for the Guide to be clearer about what information is mandatory and what information is considered best practice. In addition, the Victorian Government has introduced rate capping legislation in the form of its “Fair Go Rates System” (FGRS). This will apply for the first time in the 2016/17 financial year and this Guide reflects the changes arising from that legsilation.

The key changes made to the Guide this year include the following:

• Changes to reflect the requirements of rate capping legislation.
• Significant restructuring of the document to bring all mandatory information forward into the new Budget Reports section and to move all best practice disclosure information to the new Budget Analysis section and the existing Long Term Strategies section.
• A revised Mayor’s Introduction and Executive Summary section. This section is not mandatory and so it provides local governments to tailor the key messages about finances and resources to reflect issues for their communities.

At the launch, James said ‘on behalf of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand Local Government Taskforce, we hope this is a tool that you will find beneficial for your Council’. The updated Model Budget guide 2016/17 is now available to download as per the documents included below.

The documents comprise:

• The full Model Budget Guide inclusive of introductions and commentary (PDF format)
• A Word format budget template (not including commentary)
• An Excel format budget template (not including commentary)

The Model Budget Guide will also be included on the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand website shortly. A web-link to this location will be sent to FinPro members once the documents are published.

Yours sincerely

James Scott, CA
CAANZ Local Government Taskforce Chair

Related Documents

Victorian City Council Model Budget Guide 2016-17
Victorian City Council Model Budget 2016-17 – WORD – Final
Copy of Victorian City Council Model Budget 2016-17 – EXCEL – Final