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Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

Structural arrangements for providing water services - Water organisations - Governance of water organisations: consumer trusts

58: Financial statements and audits

You could also call this:

"Trustees must do accounts and get them checked each year"

Illustration for Local Government (Water Services) Act 2025

If you are a trustee of a consumer trust, you must prepare the trust's financial statements after each financial year. You have to do this as soon as possible, but no later than three months after the year ends, and you must follow standard accounting rules. You also have to send these statements to the Auditor-General for checking within three months after the year ends.

The Auditor-General then checks the financial statements you sent and gives a report to the trustees. This must be done within four months after the financial year ends. The Auditor-General looks at the statements to make sure they are correct and follows the proper process.

If you are a trustee and you deliberately do not follow these rules without a good reason, you can be fined up to $200,000.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1010427.

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Part 2Structural arrangements for providing water services
Water organisations: Governance of water organisations: consumer trusts

58Financial statements and audits

  1. The trustees of a consumer trust must,—

  2. as soon as practicable, but within 3 months, after the end of each financial year, prepare the trust’s financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting practice; and
    1. within 3 months after the end of each financial year, send those financial statements to the Auditor-General for audit.

      1. The Auditor-General must, within 4 months after the end of each financial year,—

      2. audit the financial statements received under subsection (1)(b); and
        1. give an audit report to the trustees of the consumer trust.

          1. A trustee who, knowingly and without lawful excuse, fails to comply with subsection (1) commits an offence punishable on conviction by a fine not exceeding $200,000.