Welcome to NSW Sport and Recreation's website.

Financial glossary

Accounting period – the period of time which an organisation adopts between the production of financial statements.

Accounting standards – set of principles or standards issued by the accounting professional bodies to assist the definition and treatment of financial reporting.

Balance sheet – record of a club’s assets, liabilities and members’ funds for the organisation as at a certain date:

Assets – liabilities = members’ equity

It is a snapshot or a statement of the organisation’s financial position as at that date.

Cash accounting – an accounting basis that brings items into the accounts when they are physically received or spent.

Cash flow statement – a statement required in an annual report. Gives a summary of:

  • Cash flows from operating activities
  • Cash flows from investment activities
  • Cash flows from financing activities.

Constitution – name given to the memorandum and rules of an organisation.

Current assets – an item which in the normal course of business is expected to be turned into cash within 12 months.

Current liabilities – items which some of the assets are committed to have ie. funding in advance bank overdrafts or money set aside for leave provisions.

Current ratio – ratio of current assets to current liabilities. It is a measure of liquidity for the next 12 months.

Depreciation – accounting process used to reduce the book value of an asset over its defined useful, or effective, life.

Fixed asset – costs that do not increase as the volume/activity of your business increases eg rent.

Insolvency – when an organisation cannot pay its debts as and when they fall due.

Liquidity – the ability of an asset to be easily converted into cash with minimum delay and little or no loss of capital.

Net profit – the profit remaining after expenses, interest and accounting treatments, such as depreciation, have been taken into account.

Non-current assets – items that are not expected to be converted into cash within 12 months.

Operating profit – the profit arising from the organisation’s ordinary operations.

Profit and loss – financial statement which reflects the financial results (profit or loss) of the organisation over a certain period.

Ratios – calculations of performance figures which compare one item with another, such as debt/equity.

Variable costs – costs that increase as the volume/activity of your organisation increases eg fuel costs for a motor vehicle.

Working capital – funds available for the day to day operations of the business:

Current assets – current liabilities = working capital

Written down value – the amount left to depreciate on a fixed asset. Often this is also called the carrying value.