Review of the Registered Clubs Industry in NSW - Clubs NSW

7 Improving clubs’ financial reporting and performance
benchmarking
In what form should the data be provided?
IPART considers that clubs should submit their data to the Club Viability Panel using
an electronic template. This is the method successfully implemented by Clubs
Secure, the greyhound racing industry’s similar program (see Box 7.2).
IPART also considers that, initially, clubs with annual gaming machine revenue of
less than $1 million should only be required to submit data on their performance
against ‘whole of business’ measures (such as those described in Table 7.3).
However, over time, as clubs move to the standardised reporting format for financial
management accounts (discussed in section 7.1), even the smallest clubs should be in
a position to provide data on their performance against a greater range of measures,
including those that related to the efficiency of individual departments (Tables 7.1
and 7.2).
How often should the data be provided?
IPART considers that clubs should provide their data to the Club Viability Panel on
an annual basis, as quarterly data would reflect seasonality factors and would not be
representative of a ‘typical’ operating period. This does not suggest that a club
should only analyse its performance on an annual basis. Best practice suggests such
analysis should occur on a monthly basis.
How should the industry benchmarks be presented?
During IPART’s review, smaller and regional case study clubs emphasised that they
need to be able to compare their financial performance and viability against similar
clubs – that is, clubs of similar size, type and location. Therefore, IPART considers
that in addition to calculating industry-wide benchmarks, the Club Viability Panel
should segment the benchmarks using appropriate classifications (such as size, type
and location of club) where this is possible.
Review of the Registered Clubs Industry in NSW IPART 119