Archived: Perth Bible College Inc: mini-charity review

Mini charity review of Perth Bible College Inc (PBC) as an organisation that invites you, on its website, to donate to it.

Is it responsive to feedback?

• When sent a draft of this review, they…did not respond.

Is PBC registered?

• As a charity, yes.
  • With a slight mistake in the name though – there are no brackets.
• Other registrations:
  • As a WA incorporated association (A0390019Y).
    • The website is in the name Perth Bible College. It is likely they use this name elsewhere. They don’t have this name registered as a business name, so are contravening their enabling legislation.
  • PBC doesn’t have a fundraising licence in the state in which, per the ACNC Register, it operates^[1].

What does PBC do?

• It’s all here.

Do they share the Gospel?

• No – at least not to show who haven’t heard it.

What impact are they having?

• No information found.
  • No outcomes given in the AIS 2015.

What do they spend outside the costs directly incurred in delivering the above impact, that is, on administration?

• The expenses are not classified to allow this calculation; for instance, personnel costs are not classified by the function of the employee.

Can you get a tax deduction?

• Yes

Is their online giving secure?

• PayPal is used, so yes.

What choices do you have in how your donation is used?

• ‘General College Donation’
• ‘Library Donation’
• ‘Student Scholarship Fund’
• ‘International Mission Teams’

Is their reporting up-to-date?

• Yes (six and a half months after year end, half a month late).

Does their reporting comply with the regulator’s requirements?

• AIS 2015: Not quite. ‘Email address’ is blank, and no outcomes are reported.
• Financial Report 2015: No
  • The ‘Going Concern’ Note does not explain what, if anything, is being done to overcome the fact that PBC is currently a loss-making operation.
  • There is no Statement of Changes in Equity
  • The Statement of Profit or Loss is incorrect:
    • No Other comprehensive income is shown.
    • ‘Assets written off’ have been excluded from expenses.
    • ‘Donations’ are not ‘Other Income’.
    • There is no calculation of ‘employee benefits expense’.
    • A major expense, ‘SCD Course Expenditure’, is unexplained.
    • Neither buildings nor the library are depreciated.
  • The directors do not say why the think that PBC is not a reporting entity.
  • The audit report is deficient (see below).
  • Neither the directors nor the auditor mention the ACNC Act.

What financial situation was shown in that Report?

• A surplus of 6% of revenue was turned into a deficit of 10% of revenue.
• ‘Personnel expenses’ were 67% of expenses.
• Working capital (current assets less current liabilities) decreased from a positive 1.2 times to negative 0.7.
  • The amount owed to the Department of Education increased from $67K to $301K.
  • The negative working capital has been addressed by borrowing against the property.

What did the auditor say about the last financial statements?

• He gave a ‘clean’ opinion^[2].
  • However, he
    • Makes no comment on the fact, acknowledged by the directors, that PBC’s financial situation means that the validity of the going concern assumption is under question.
    • Allowed PBC to omit a Statement of Changes in Equity;
    • Agreed with the directors’ decision to produce the lower disclosure special purpose financial statements;
    • Excluded the Statement of Cash Flow from the scope of his audit.

If a charity, is their page on the ACNC Register complete?

• No – ‘Email’, ‘Phone’ and ‘Website’ are blank.
• There’s a country under ‘Where the Charity Operates’, but there should be four more: Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda, and Ethiopia.
• The board (see Responsible Persons) is, compared to the constitution, one member short.

Who are the people controlling the organisation?

• Not shown on the website, but
• From ‘Responsible Persons’ on the ACNC Register:
  • Dixon (sic)
    • Is it Gillian Dixon?
  • Eichhorn (sic)
    • Is it Garth Eichhorn?
  • John Hoggett
  • Kerryn Monger
  • Newhouse-Maiden (sic)
    • Is it Lesley Newhouse-Maiden?
  • Smith (sic)
    • Is it David Smith?
  • Van Oudtshoorn (sic)
    • Is it Andre Van Oudtshoorn?

To whom is PBC accountable?

• To Missions Interlink, because it’s an Associate member.
• PBC is also accountable to the ACNC, and to the WA associations regulator.

1. The law in this area is not straightforward – is an internet invitation ‘fundraising’ for instance? – and advice varies, so check with the charity before drawing any conclusions. ↑
2. To take the right amount of comfort from a ‘clean opinion’, please read here and here. ↑