We’ve learnt from your feedback that many co-ops are not sharing their Plain-Language Financials with their members. Because the Agency introduced this service to help members get a better grasp of their co-op’s statements, we asked why. The answers varied. Some boards just haven’t thought of it. Others say, “Too much paper,” but co-ops with the right equipment could project the Financials at their annual meeting, using no paper at all.
The biggest roadblock seems to be that the Plain-Language Financials don’t always reach the co-op in time for its annual meeting. This is a real issue in BC, where the annual meeting must be held within four months of the co-op’s fiscal year end.
The Agency can help if we receive your co-op’s Annual Information Return (AIR) and back-up documents at least a month before the date of your Annual General Meeting (AGM). That gives us time to confirm all the numbers. As soon as we tell you that we have accepted your return, you can go on line and download your Plain-Language Financials.
Some co-ops feel that the audited statements become “official” only when approved by the members at the annual meeting—and until they’re “official,” they shouldn’t go to the Agency. Actually, under all the provincial co-op acts in Canada, the statements are the board’s responsibility to approve and present to the members. The role of the members, legally, is to receive the statements, not to approve them. Once the board has adopted the audited statements and two directors have signed them, they are official enough for the Agency!
Get them to us in time, along with the rest of your AIR filing, and you’ll have Plain-Language Financials to present at your annual meeting, along with your audited financial statements. The goal? A membership that truly understands their co-operative’s financial position and its results. That’s a priority for a movement that takes its members seriously.