Annual filing requirements of building societies

Annual returns

An annual return and auditor's report, must be filed within 4 months of the start of the financial year.

What information needs to be in your annual return

The information required to be provided to us is outlined in Schedule 5, Building Societies Regulations 1989.

Specifically, the annual return includes:

• name of society, annual return year, registered office and details of directors, secretary and manager
• summary of fixed capital shares
• list of present fixed capital shareholders
• list of persons ceasing to be fixed capital shareholders, and
• bonus ballots information.

Changing your annual return filing month

The term ‘financial year’ is defined in section 2, Building Societies Act 1965 (the Act) with reference to section 41, Financial Reporting Act 2013 (FRA 2013) where ‘balance date’ is the close of 31 March or any other date that the directors adopt as the entity’s balance date with the approval of the Commissioner of Inland Revenue.

Related legislation

• Auditors’ report on annual return — Section 106, Building Societies Act 1965
• Duty to file an annual return — Section 103, Building Societies Act 1965
• Content of the annual return — Schedule 5, Building Societies Regulations 1989
  
• Meaning of balance date — Section 41, Financial Reporting Act 2013

Financial statements

Building Societies are FMC reporting entities and must comply with subpart 3 of Part 7 of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (which relates to the preparation, audit, and lodgement of financial statements).

The directors of every building society must ensure that the financial statements of the society are laid before the society, at least 14 days before the annual general meeting. A society’s annual general meeting must be held in the first 4 months of every financial year. 

You must file financial statements even if there are no outstanding loans or mortgages

If, at any particular time, your building society has no outstanding loans, mortgages etc, it does not exempt your building society from lodging financial statements under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.

Form to use

When filing your financial statements please also complete and attach form FMC1.

Related legislation

• Financial reporting — Section 91, Building Societies Act 1965
• Preparation, audit, and lodgement of financial statements — Subpart 3, Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013
• Annual General Meeting — Section 76, Building Societies Act 1965

Filing fees and levies apply

The fee for filing an annual return is $62.52 (plus GST). This fee includes a Financial Markets Authority (FMA) levy and an External Reporting Board (XRB) levy.

The fee for lodging financial statements for a building society is $255 (plus GST). This fee includes an FMA levy.

Payment options

We offer two payment options for paying fees — credit or debit card, and direct debit. To pay by direct debit you will need to set up the direct debit facility several days before you apply to register your retirement village.

File formats for uploading documents

Any forms or supporting documents you upload must be:

• clear and easily read
• saved in PDF format, and
• no larger than 20MB.

How to complete your return and file financial statements online

You will need:

• a RealMe® login
• confirmed authority with us to update the register for this society, and
• card details or a direct debit to pay the fees.

If it is your first time updating details for a building society, you will be prompted for information to set up an online account with us.

For help check our guides

Step by step

Complete your annual return any time during your annual return filing month.

1. Log in using your RealMe login.
2. Select 'Authorities' from the menu.
3. Choose your society from the list.
4. Go to ‘In Progress Filing Services’.
5. Edit the draft ‘Annual return’.
6. Upload the documents, including your:
   • Annual return
   • Financial statements
   • Completed form FMC1.
7. Check the registered details.
   1. Update your society's contact details (if they have changed).
   2. If other changes have not yet been recorded (such as your registered office address):
      • Save and Exit.
      • Update the register.
      • Return to and complete your annual return.
8. Submit your annual return and pay the fees.
9. Wait for the payment confirmation before closing the window.
   Find out what payment options are available.

Update a society

We will send you an email confirming that your annual return has been submitted. We will then review your return and contact you if we have any questions or need any further information. We aim to complete our review within 10 working days.

If we register your annual return, we will confirm that by email. If we reject it, we will email you and outline the reasons why.

You can check the status of your annual return by logging into the register. Choose the ‘Filing Services’ option to view any register updates that are in progress. If your annual return status shows as ‘Draft’ you can edit it by choosing the drop-down arrow alongside the filing service. 

Check the status of an update

Last updated September 2025