Reporting: Performance

This page contains information and guidance from the Treasury to support agencies develop their strategic intentions and produce meaningful performance reporting. 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

• 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.

• 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).

• A new standard for service performance reporting (October 2021)
  This factsheet provides an overview of the new standard for service performance reporting that comes into effect from 1 January 2022.

• 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)

  Each Crown entity must explain in its statement of intent how the entity proposes to assess its performance. This guidance will also assist departments in setting up their performance reporting.

Reporting requirements under the Crown Entities Act

• Crown Entities Act 2004 and Crown Entities Amendment Act 2013

  Sections 139 and 141 of the Crown Entities Act (as amended in 2013) are most relevant for Statements of Intent.

• Crown Entities Act: Statement of Intent Guidance (December 2015)

  This guidance sets out the purpose of and the content, process and timeframe requirements for Crown Entity Statements of Intent.

• 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 (May 2022)

  This guidance provides advice on preparing annual reports and satisfying Crown Entity Act requirements to provide end-of-year performance information on appropriations.

Reporting requirements under the Public Finance Act

• Public Finance Act 1989 and Public Finance Amendment Act 2013

  Sections 38 to 41 of the Public Finance Act (as amended in 2013) are most relevant for Strategic Intentions.

• Public Finance Act: Strategic Intentions Guidance

  This guidance sets out the purpose, content and process requirements for departmental strategic intentions.

• 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.

• Year End Reporting: Departmental Annual Reports and End-of-Year Performance Information on Appropriations (May 2022)

  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.