Know where the council stands before someone else tells you.
FeeFrom $4,500 plus GST
$4,950 incl. GST
Timing10 business days
ForCouncils
“Are we financially sustainable on the measures the Queensland Audit Office and the Department actually use, and where are we drifting?”
What it is
An independent assessment of financial position and sustainability, benchmarked against comparable organisations, written in language that can be taken straight to a council meeting or board table.
Ratios are calculated against the current Financial Management (Sustainability) Guideline targets for your council's tier, with peer benchmarking where data is available.
When clients call us
Budget preparation, a new CFO or CEO wanting an independent baseline, an adverse audit comment, councillor or board questions about sustainability, or preparation ahead of a larger piece of work.
What you receive
Findings report, 12 to 20 pages
Benchmarking appendix
Ratio calculation workbook, unlocked
One presentation to management or executive
What we’ll need from you
A one-page checklist comes with the engagement letter, with a private page to upload everything. The main items:
Audited financial statements, last five years
Current year budget and most recent monthly or quarterly financial report
Long term financial plan, current version
Asset management plan and asset register summary
Loan and borrowing schedule with maturity profile
Reserve and restricted cash balances with purpose of each
Rates and revenue statement, current year
Not included
Does not include audit or assurance, does not constitute an opinion on the financial statements, does not include detailed transaction testing, and does not include implementation of recommendations.
What it can look like
Representative example
A tier 5 regional council in Queensland · Financial Health Check
Finding $1.5m in a council's operating result
A new CFO inherited three years of operating deficits and an audit letter questioning financial sustainability. Councillors wanted to know whether the problem was spending, revenue or the way the numbers were being calculated.
$1.5m a yearForecast operating result improved
$1.2m a yearDepreciation overstated
$4,500Fee for the work
Forecast operating deficit, $m a year
As budgeted$2.1m
With the three changes$0.6m
Down $1.5m
Where the gap was
$1.5m a year: $1.2m of depreciation overstated by road useful lives set below the council's own condition data, and $0.3m from two fee categories not indexed for four years.
Insight
The ratios were being dragged down less by spending than by assumptions. Road network useful lives were set well below the council's own condition data, so depreciation ran about $1.2m a year higher than the assets justified, and two fee categories had not been indexed in four years.
Advice
Review road useful lives against condition data before the next revaluation, index the two stale fee categories, and move three low-priority capital projects out a year so renewal spending matched the asset management plan.
Opportunity
Correcting the useful-life assumptions and indexing fees moves the forecast operating result by about $1.5m a year, and gives councillors ratios that describe the real position rather than an accounting artefact.
Results
The council adopted all three actions in its next budget. The forecast operating result moved from a $2.1m deficit to a $0.6m deficit, and the audit committee had a baseline to track against.
Representative example: a composite scenario with narrative-driven figures, showing the kind of result this work is designed to produce. It is not a specific client engagement and the outcome is not a guarantee. A full case study walk-through is available on request.
Common questions
How much does a council financial health check cost?
From $4,500 plus GST ($4,950 including GST), fixed for the agreed scope, delivered in about 10 business days from complete information.
Which measures do you use?
The financial sustainability measures and targets in the Queensland Government's Financial Management (Sustainability) Guideline for your council's tier, which are also the measures the Queensland Audit Office reports on, with peer benchmarking where comparable data is available.
What do we need to provide?
Recent audited financial statements, the current budget and long-term forecast, and the asset management plan or asset register summary. A one-page checklist sets out the full list.
Is it an audit?
No. It is an independent assessment of financial position and sustainability. It is not audit or assurance and is not an opinion on the financial statements.
