What Australian funders ask first in a grant audit

When a Commonwealth, state, or philanthropic funder opens a compliance review, the first request is almost always the same: the signed funding agreement, the approved budget, and evidence that spend matches both. Fancy dashboards do not answer that question. A clear file does.

Nonprofits that struggle in the first week usually have the numbers — somewhere. What they lack is a trail from clause to invoice. A salary charged partly to Grant A and partly to Grant B needs an allocation note, not just a payroll export. A capital item needs proof it was eligible under the agreement, not only a receipt.

Prepare three packs before anyone asks: agreements with amendments, a spend sample with linked evidence, and a short variance narrative for lines that moved more than your board would expect. That preparation turns an audit from a scramble into a structured conversation.

Working from Banks Creek, Queensland, we see the same pattern across regional and metro NFPs: good programs, thin documentation habits. Closing that gap is the real work of grant compliance.