This page contains information and guidance from the Treasury to support agencies to develop their strategic intentions, annual reports, statements of performance expectations, and information supporting the Estimates. It also includes guidance on how to produce appropriate and meaningful performance reporting for users, as per the reporting standard PBE FRS 48. This will help agencies meet their reporting requirements under the Public Finance Act and Crown Entities Act.
General guidance for all Departments and Crown Entities
- Companion document to Strategic Intentions / Statement of Intent (SI/SOI) guidance – process suggestions and prompts (April 2024)
This companion is linked to sections of the Treasury’s guidance on Strategic Intentions for Departments and on Statements of Intent for Crown Entities. This companion document is designed to help agencies before they start planning the development of their next Strategic Intentions or Statement of Intent. It provides suggestions for good practice processes and prompts to help develop meaningful and understandable information about the agency for users. - Good Practice Guidance on Performance Reporting (May 2022)
This guidance provides examples of ‘what good looks like’ in the central government sector. It covers reporting on what is important, providing a coherent account of performance, and reporting on outcomes and impacts. The guidance was jointly developed by the Office of the Auditor-General, Audit New Zealand, and the Treasury. - Improving external performance reporting (December 2020)
This document aims to support agencies to improve their performance reporting to Parliament and the public. The document contains improvement prompts that agencies’ performance information reflects:- funding and activity changes arising as a result of COVID-19
- a new standard for non-financial performance reporting coming into effect in 2022, and
- the opportunities to use evaluation information.
- Information on applying a wellbeing approach to agency performance reporting (November 2019)
The purpose of this document is to assist agencies to apply a wellbeing approach to their external performance reporting. - Performance Expectations: What's Intended to Be Achieved (February 2015)
Departments and Crown entities are required to set out the strategic objectives that their agency intends to achieve or contribute to. The purpose of this guidance is to assist agencies in thinking about their strategic intentions so that meaningful external information is produced. - Performance Expectations: How Performance Will Be Assessed (December 2013)
This document sets out possible approaches for how an agency could propose to assess its performance. This must be explained in all appropriations and multi-category appropriations, and in Crown entity statements of intent and reportable classes of outputs. We recommend departments include this information in their strategic intentions.
Information about the Service Performance Reporting Standard PBE FRS 48
- Service Performance Reporting Standard (PBE FRS 48)
This link goes to the External Reporting Board’s webpage about the standard and information about how Tier 1 and 2 public benefit entities to consider when presenting service performance information - Treasury Circular 2023/09: Guidance for applying PBE FRS 48 service performance reporting to annual reports and end-of-year reporting (June 2023)
This circular clarifies how to apply PBE FRS 48 given PFA and CEA requirements. It states that PBE FRS 48 only applies to reporting on appropriations (departments and Crown entities) and the statement of performance in relation to reportable classes of outputs (Crown entities). - Service Performance Reporting Standard (PBE FRS 48): Guidance for 2022/23 Estimates and statements of performance expectations (December 2021)
This guidance supports departments and Crown entities to comply with the new standard for service performance reporting by outlining the implications of the standard on agencies’ 2022/23 Estimates and/or Statement of Performance Expectations (SPE). This guidance remains relevant for performance information produced covering the period after financial year 2022/23. - A new standard for service performance reporting (October 2021)
This factsheet provides an overview of the new standard for service performance reporting that came into effect from 1 January 2022.
Reporting requirements under the Public Finance Act
- Public Finance Act 1989 Sections 38 to 41 of the Public Finance Act are most relevant for Strategic Intentions.
- Public Finance Act: Strategic Intentions Guidance (April 2024)
This guidance sets out the purpose of departmental strategic intentions, and the content and process requirements. - Estimates, Supplementary Estimates and their Supporting Information: Technical Guidance for Departments
This guidance sets out the purpose and content requirements for Estimates of Appropriations and the Supplementary Estimates of Appropriations. - Annual Reports and other End-of-Year Performance Reporting: Guidance for reporting under the Public Finance Act 1989 (June 2024)
This guidance sets out what is expected and/or required for annual reports and end-of-year performance information on appropriations in accordance with the Public Finance Act 1989 and with other legislative or administrative requirements and expectations. - Public Finance Act: Guidance for Specified Agencies (interdepartmental executive boards, interdepartmental ventures, and departmental agencies) (March 2023)
This guidance is to help anyone involved in establishing and administering a specified agency understand the Public Finance Act 1989 requirements that apply to specified agencies.
Reporting requirements under the Crown Entities Act
- Crown Entities Act 2004 Sections 139 and 141 of the Crown Entities Act are most relevant for Statements of Intent.
- Crown Entities Act: Statement of Intent Guidance (April 2024)
This guidance sets out the purpose of a Crown entity statement of intent (SOI), and the content and process requirements for a SOI. - Crown Entities Act: Statement of Performance Expectations Guidance (May 2022)
This guidance covers what an SPE is, the information an SPE contains, and the timetables for completing an SPE or an amendment to an SPE. - Preparing the Annual Report and End-of-Year Performance Information on Appropriations: Guidance for Crown Entities (June 2024)
This guidance provides advice on preparing annual reports and satisfying Crown Entity Act requirements to provide end-of-year performance information on appropriations.