Large early childhood education and care providers must report financial information, including information about revenue, profits, and leasing arrangements.
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From 22 July 2024, a change to rule 54AA(2) of the Child Care Subsidy Minister’s Rules 2017 changes the reporting timeframe to 4 months from the end of the reporting period.
What is a large provider?
A large provider is one that:
- operates 25 or more services
- when combined with one or more related providers, the total number of services operated is 25 or more
- plans to operate 25 or more services, either individually or when combined with a related provider.
Providers are related providers if:
- both providers have at least 25% of persons with management or control (PMCs) in common
- one provider owns 15% or more of the other
- one provider is entitled to receive 15% or more of any dividends paid by another provider.
If you operate, or share operation of, less than 25 services, these financial reporting obligations do not apply to you.
What do large providers need to do?
Large providers must report financial information, including information about revenue, profits, and leasing arrangements.
The information you must report will depend on your circumstances and may include:
- a balance sheet
- a profit and loss statement
- a statement of changes in equity
- a cash flow statement
- details of leasing arrangements and costs
- a Director’s report if available
- if audited for the reporting period, the Auditor’s report
- information such as if a provider has a credit facility or any debt guarantees in place from a separate entity.
If you think you meet the definition of a large provider, but haven’t been contacted by the Department of Education, please email ECECFinancialViability@education.gov.au
When do large providers need to report by?
The reporting deadline depends on when you do your financial reporting. You must report within 4 months of the end of your financial reporting period.
Providers who report on the financial year
If you do your financial reporting on a financial year, you must report within 4 months of 30 June. The deadline will occur on 1 November each year.
The deadline for providers who report on the financial year occurred on 1 November 2024.
If you did not report by this date, please complete and submit the Large Provider Financial Input Report to ECECFinancialViability@education.gov.au as soon as possible.
Please ensure to include financial statements and information as outlined in the important information tab.
Providers who report on the calendar year
If you do your financial reporting on a calendar year, you must report within 4 months of 31 December. The deadline will occur on 1 May each year.
The deadline for providers who report on the calendar year will occur on 1 May 2025.
Please complete and submit the Large Provider Financial Input Report to ECECFinancialViability@education.gov.au by the deadline.
Please ensure to include financial statements and information as outlined in the important information tab.
Why is it necessary to provide this information?
We use this information to:
- assess the financial viability of large providers
- identify and mitigate risks posed by large providers exiting the market unexpectedly
- protect the government’s investment in the sector.
We may also publish some information, such as profits and revenue, on the Starting Blocks website. Publishing this information helps:
- improve the transparency of child care costs
- increase the amount of information available to families when choosing a service.
What are the consequences if large providers don’t comply?
We may take compliance action if you fail to meet your obligations. Compliance action could include:
- putting conditions on your approval
- issuing an infringement notice
- suspending or cancelling your approval.
More information
If you have questions about your obligations as an approved provider, please email the CCS Provider Helpdesk at ccshelpdesk@education.gov.au