Quick guide — Life after registering

Life after registering under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022

Part of: Reregistration videos and tools

In this guide:

Maintaining your structure

Members

  • Minimum 10.
  • New members must consent to be members in line with your constitution.

Committee

  • Minimum 3.
  • Most must be members of the society, and all are officers.

Officers

  • Includes all committee members and other people with significant influence over management or administration of the society (e.g. the Treasurer or CEO).
  • Must consent in writing to be an officer and certify that they are not disqualified from being an officer.

Contact person(s)

  • Minimum 1, Maximum 3.
  • Doesn’t need to be an officer but should be someone who can handle enquiries from the Companies Office.

Your society must decide who you want as committee members and contact persons. An example of a compliant society is set out below.

A diagram that illustrates the minimum requirements described above.

Holding Annual General Meetings (AGMs)

Timing

Must be held no later than 6 months after the balance date and 15 months after the previous AGM.

Agenda

Committee must present:

  • annual report on the society's operations and affairs during the most recent accounting period
  • financial statements for that period
  • notice of any disclosures of conflicts of interest.

Your society may also use AGMs to vote on changes, like amending your society's constitution.

Minutes

Meeting minutes must be recorded and kept as part of your society's records.

Providing information to the Companies Office

Financial statements

Timing

Must complete financial statements within 6 months of your balance date (the end of your financial year) and:

  • have them dated and signed by or on behalf of the society by 2 committee members
  • provide them to the Companies Office for registration (can submit this online).

Reporting requirements

Requirements vary depending on your society. If your society is:

  • a ‘small society’ you only need to meet minimum requirements set out in the 2022 Act.
  • not a ‘small society’ you must use External Reporting Board’s accounting standards. There are 4 reporting tiers. Your tier will depend on your total operating payments or expenses.

Auditing

An audit is only required if, in each of the 2 preceding accounting periods, the total operating expenditure of your society and all entities it controls (if any) are $3 million or more.

Annual return

Timing

Must complete an annual return each time your file your annual financial statements (can submit this online).

Return requirements

To complete your annual return you need to review, and if necessary update, key information about your society.

Changes to key information

Must update society's details if there are:

  • changes to your constitution
  • elections, appointments, and other changes relating to officers
  • changes to your contact person, including name changes and updating their contact details
  • changes to your registered office and address for communication.

Keeping society records

Register of members

Must keep a register of current and former members’ details since reregistration (to be kept for 7 years).

Interests register

Must keep a register of any disclosures officers have made regarding their conflicts of interest.

Accounting records

Must keep accounting records for the current accounting period and last 7 completed periods.

AGM minutes

Must keep AGM minutes.

Other records

Other records may also need to be kept (e.g. copies of the constitution, officer documents and member consent documents). Your society can specify in its constitution what other records must be kept.

Read our help guides for more information about incorporated societies.

Published 7 August 2024

More 'Reregistration videos and tools' guides:

All help topics

Getting started on the register 8 guides

Find out about incorporated societies and the Incorporated Societies Register, and what's needed to register and maintain an incorporated society in New Zealand.

Searching the Incorporated Societies Register 2 guides

Find out how to search our registers for information about incorporated societies, and other entities

Starting an incorporated society 5 guides

To incorporate a society in New Zealand you must submit an application, along with the required documents, and pay a registration fee.

Reregistering under the 2022 Act 6 guides

To remain on the register, existing societies will need to reregister under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 before April 2026

Running your incorporated society 7 guides

Once you’ve registered, you’ll need to keep your details on the register up to date, and follow the rules that apply to incorporated societies and how they are run.

Meeting your annual filing requirements 3 guides

Once you've registered your incorporated society, you'll need to file annual financial statements. Societies registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 must also complete an annual return.

Keeping society details up to date 8 guides

Once you've registered your incorporated society, you'll need to file annual financial statements and update other society details when they change.

Ending an incorporated society 3 guides

When an incorporated society reaches the end of its 'life', it must be wound up and removed from the register. Here we outline the ways this can be done, and the steps involved.

Restoring an incorporated society to the register 2 guides

An application can be made to us to have an incorporated society restored to the register, by the society itself, or by a creditor. You'll need to provide evidence to support your application.

Forms and fees 3 guides

The forms you might need to update a society's details, along with the fees that apply and ways you can pay.

Managing your online account 7 guides

To update society details on the Register of Incorporated Societies you need a Companies Office online services account. It's free to set up, but fees apply for some transactions.