retirement.org.nz

Reporting Entity

The Retirement Commissioner was appointed under the Retirement Income Act 1993 and confirmed under the amended New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001.  The Office of the Retirement Commissioner is a Crown Entity under the Public Finance Act 1989.  These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Public Finance Act 1989.

Measurement Base

The financial statements have been prepared on a historical cost basis.

Accounting Policies

The following accounting policies which materially affect the measurement of financial performance and financial position have been applied.

Revenue

The Office of the Retirement Commissioner derives revenue through the provision of outputs to the Crown, for services to third parties and interest on its investments. Such revenue is recognised when earned and is reported in the financial period to which it relates.

Goods and Services Tax (GST)

These financial statements have been prepared on a GST exclusive basis except for accounts receivable and accounts payable which are stated inclusive of GST.

Fixed Assets

The initial cost of a fixed asset is the value of the consideration given to acquire or create the asset and any directly attributable costs of bringing the asset to working condition for its intended use.

Depreciation

Depreciation is provided on a straight line basis on all fixed assets at a rate which will write off the cost of the assets to their estimated residual value over their useful lives.

The useful lives and associated depreciation rates of major classes of assets have been estimated as follows:
                        
Office equipment    2-13 years   7.8% - 48%
Furniture and fittings 5-15 years 6.5% - 18.6%
Computer equipment 3-6 years 15.5% - 36.0%

Leases

The Office of the Retirement Commissioner leases office premises, a photocopier and a car park. As all the risks and ownership are retained by the lessor these leases are classified as operating leases. Operating lease expenses are recognised on a systematic basis over the period of the lease.

Financial Instruments

The Office of the Retirement Commissioner is party to financial instruments in the form of bank accounts, short term deposits, accounts receivable and accounts payable as part of its operations. These are recognised in the Statement of Financial Position and all revenue and expenses in relation to the financial instruments are recognised in the Statement of Financial Performance.

Investments

Investments are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value.  Any write-downs are recognised in the statement of financial performance in the period in which they occur.

Taxation

The Office of the Retirement Commissioner is, as a public authority, exempt from income tax.

Employment Entitlements

Provision is made in respect of liability for annual leave.  Annual leave is expected to be settled within 12 months (or approval gained to carry forward leave) of reporting date, and is measured at nominal values on an actual entitlement basis at current rate of pay.

The Office of the Retirement Commissioner does not provide long service leave or retirement leave.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable are stated at net realisable value.

Statement of Cash Flows

The Statement of Cash Flows is prepared exclusive of GST, which is consistent with the method used in the Statement of Financial Performance.

Definitions of the terms used in the statement of cash flows are:

'Cash' includes coins and notes, demand deposits and other highly liquid investments readily convertible into cash and includes at call borrowings such as bank overdrafts, used by the entity as part of its day to day cash management.

'Investing activities' are those activities relating to the acquisition and disposal of current and non-current investments and any other non-current assets.

'Financing activities' are those activities relating to changes in equity of the entity.

'Operating activities' include all transactions and other events that are not investing or financing activities.

Changes in accounting policies

There have been no changes in accounting policies since the date of the last audited financial statements.