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Co-operatives Act, 2005 (Act No. 14 of 2005)

Regulations

Co-operatives Administrative Regulations, 2016

Chapter 1 : Co-operative Registration and Support

Part 2 : Financial Reporting Framework for Co-operatives

29. Financial year and accounting records

 

(1) A co-operative must notify the registrar of a change in its financial year end by filing Form CO-OP 9: Provided that a co-operative may only extend or shorten the period of its current financial year once by a maximum of six months subject to section 29(1)(b) of the Act. Provided further that the newly established financial year end must be later than the date on which the Registrar is notified of the change.

 

(2) A co-operative must keep accounting records as necessary to provide an adequate information base sufficient to—
(a) enable the co-operative to satisfy all reporting requirements applicable to it; and
(b) provide for the compilation of financial statements, and the proper conduct of an audit, or independent review, of its financial statements, as applicable for the particular co-operative.

 

(3) The accounting records of that co-operative must include—
(a) a record of the co-operative's assets and liabilities including, but not limited to—
(i) a record of the co-operative's non-current assets, showing for each such asset or, in the case of a group of relatively minor assets, each such group of assets—
(aa) the date the co-operative acquired it, and the acquisition cost;
(bb) the date the co-operative re-valued it, if applicable, and the amount of the revaluation and, if it was re-valued after the Act took effect, the basis of, and reason for, the re-valuation; and
(cc) the date the co-operative disposed of or retired it, once it has been disposed of or retired, and the value of the consideration, if any, received for it and, if it was disposed of after the Act took effect, the name of the person to whom it was transferred;
(ii) a record of any loan by the co-operative to a member, director, or employee of the co-operative, or to a person related to any of them, including the amount borrowed, the interest rate, the terms of re-payment, and material details of any breach, default or re-negotiation of any such loan; and
(iii) a record of any liabilities and obligations of the co-operative including, but not limited to—
(aa) a record of any loan to the co-operative from a member, director, or employee of the co-operative, or from a person related to any of them, including the amount borrowed, the interest rate, and the terms of repayment, and material details of any breach, default or re-negotiation of any such loan; and
(bb) a record of any guarantee, surety ship or indemnity granted by the co-operative in respect of an obligation to a third party incurred by a member, director, or employee of the co-operative, or by a person related to any of them, including the amount secured, the interest rate, the terms of re- payment, the expiry date, and the circumstances in which the co-operative may be called upon to honour the guarantee, surety ship or indemnity;
(b) a record of any property held by the co-operative—
(i) in a fiduciary capacity; or
(ii) in any capacity or manner contemplated in section 65(2) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (Act No. 68 of 2008);
(c) a record of the co-operative's revenue and expenditures, including—
(i) daily records of all money received and paid out, in sufficient detail to enable the nature of the transactions and, except in the case of cash transactions, the names of the parties to the transactions to be identified;
(ii) daily records of all goods purchased or sold on credit, and services received or rendered on credit, in sufficient detail to enable the nature of those goods or services and the parties to the transactions to be identified; and
(iii) statements of every account maintained in a financial institution in the name of the co-operative, or in any name under which the co-operative carries on its activities, together with vouchers or other supporting documents for all transactions recorded on any such statement; and
(d) if the co-operative trades in goods, a record of inventory and stock in trade, statements of the annual stocktaking, and records to enable the value of stock at the end of the financial year to be determined.

 

(4) In addition to the requirements set out above, a co-operative must maintain adequate records of all revenue received from donations, grants, and member's fees, or in terms of any funding contracts or arrangements with any party.

 

(5) The accounting records required to be kept by the Act and this regulation must be kept in such a manner as—
(a) to provide adequate precautions against—
(i) theft, loss or intentional or accidental damage or destruction; and
(ii) falsification; and
(b) to facilitate the discovery of any falsification; and
(c) to comply with any other applicable law dealing with accounting records, access to information, or confidentiality.

 

(6) If a co-operative keeps any of its accounting records in electronic form, the co-operative must—
(a) provide adequate precautions against loss of the records as a result of damage to, or failure of, the media on which the records are kept; and
(d) ensure that the records are at all times capable of being retrieved to a readable and printable form, including by converting the records from legacy to later systems, storage media, or software, to the extent necessary from time to time.

 

(7) For greater certainty, the requirements of this regulation are in addition to, and not in substitution for, any applicable requirements to keep accounting records set out in terms of any other law, or any agreement to which the co-operative is a party.