Foss Craig: Financial Reporting Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFoss Craig: Financial Reporting Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 19 November 2013. Volume:695;Page:14996. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon CRAIG FOSS (Minister of Commerce): Just a quick call on a couple of issues that have arisen. The member Clare Curran asked a question before about the size of Supplementary Order Paper 376. The Supplementary Order Paper is basically the revision-tracked version of the Financial Reporting Bill. There are one or two kind of Supplementary Order Paper - type amendments in there and one of them is the point the member raised around the thresholds for large—or not—companies that are overseas-owned and operating here in New Zealand. So the size of the Supplementary Order Paper is no reflection of changes. In fact there are not too many changes as per the good work that the Commerce Committee did. I do acknowledge the fine work and the cooperation and acknowledgments from speakers about how we have got to this point and the very good ownership of the bill.Just one point on charities which the member just asked about before—yes I am very aware of those issues and the select committee also did good work. I think in fact that the committee itself raised the threshold from $40k to $125k for charities reporting anyway. Actually the professional organisations such as the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accounts and the Certified Practising Accountants are themselves undergoing quite a bit of educative work out in the voluntary sector for public good and social good to ensure and to just try to alleviate some of the concerns that the member did raise.Another point that was raised just in general conversation in regard to charities—in fact now there is the availability for organisations to have quite sophisticated and structured accounting packages online. Even though some of the members who have traditionally done some bookkeeping may not be all that comfortable working online with some of those cloud-type accounting packages actually the ability for an organisation to produce quite robust fair and transparent accounts is now much more apparent than it was. But I do acknowledge the concerns. I have heard those and I think the Commerce Committee also did a good example of those. We have to contrast that though with exactly what we have now because some not-for-profit organisations actually do have some quite substantial assets and it is only fair for those members who raise funds or who donate or give to them or who work for them that we do actually improve the current situation which is more like do-it-yourself bookkeeping. There is no checking really of some of the robustness or the integrity of the accounts as well-intentioned as many of them may be. As the previous member noted the committee spent a lot of time on this and it came to pretty good conclusions as is now reflected in the bill.The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Papers 376 and 393 in the name of the Hon Craig Foss to Part 4 be agreed to.Amendments agreed to.Part 4 as amended agreed to.The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 376 in the name of the Hon Craig Foss to schedule 1 be agreed to.Amendments agreed to.Schedule 1 as amended agreed to.The question was put that the amendments set out on Supplementary Order Paper 376 in the name of the Hon Craig Foss to schedule 2 be agreed to.Amendments agreed to.Schedule 2 as amended agreed to.The question was put that the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 376 in the name of the Hon Craig Foss to insert new schedule 3 be agreed to.Amendment agreed to.