Tips for Malaysian non-profit organisations & registered societies on filing the Annual Returns

As mentioned in an earlier post, every registered society in Malaysia must lodge its Annual Returns with the Registry of Societies ("ROS") within 60 days of the date of the AGM or, if an AGM has not been held, within 60 days of the 1^st of March in any given calendar year.

Generally, the Annual Returns consists of a financial report, details of the executive committee and other information pertaining to the activities of a registered society for the year.

Previously, before the advent of the e-ROSES online portal, filing the annual returns involved a lot of paperwork. Now, the entire process has migrated online, and completing the various sections of the portal is quite easy and fast to do.

Here is a quick step-by-step guide that I hope you’ll find useful. 

First, you will first need to create a user ID and password for your registered society, on the eROSES portal in order to log in. The user ID will be the NRIC number of the Secretary of the registered society. (Presumably, you should have created this user ID and password earlier on - around the time of the incorporation of your registered society – as all transactions with ROS are now done via this portal).

So, assuming you already have the user ID and password:

1.Go to the eROSes portal at www.eroses.gov.my

2. Click “Setuju” under “Terma Penggunaan Sistem Elektronik e-ROSES"

3. You will land on a page entitled PROFIL PENGGUNA. If there are updates to the information of the secretary on this page, key in the updates and click KEMASKINI. If no updates, just leave the info as is, and click on the box marked PERTUBUHAN top right hand corner of the webpage.

4.On the left-hand menu, you will see a tab called PENYATA TAHUNAN.

Click on it, and you will be taken to a page where you will see the following sections for you to click on.

a) Maklumat Am Pertubuhan

Number of registered members, details of bank accounts, details of branches /affiliated organisations (if any)

b) Maklumat Mesyuarat Agung

This section requires you to fill in details of the last AGM, ie the date, number of registered members, number of members entitled to vote, etc. Note that it is no longer a requirement to submit the minutes of the AGM, to ROS.

c) Maklumat AJK/Ahli Jawatankuasa

This section requires you to key in or update the details of the Executive Committee, such as name, NRIC number, address and other personal details.

d) Maklumat Juruaudit (Bertauliah & Dalaman)

This section requires you to key in or update, the details of the external auditor (if there is one) and the internal auditor. If there is an external auditor, the external auditor must hold a valid professional license. The internal auditor could be any non-member, of the registered society. The person concerned is not required to be a professional or  licensed internal auditor. The number of auditors must be as set out in the Constitution, or the system will not allow you to proceed to the next section.  

e) Penyata Kewangan

This section requires you to key in all relevant financial information which you may extract from the audited financial statements. Note that it is not necessary to submit a copy of the audited financial statements, to ROS.

The income reporting sections include Operating income, Income from Fund Raising, Investment Income, Receipt of Grants and Other Income. The expenditure sections include Operating Expenses, Activity-related/Fundraising Expenses and Administrative Costs.

There is also a list of assets and liabilities to be completed.

f) Maklumat Pemegang Amanah (jika ada)

This section requires you to key in or update the details of Trustees, if there are any appointed.

5.A detailed step-by-step guide is also available here.

6.Once all sections are complete, you will be allowed to proceed to the final page where there is a declaration as to the veracity of the information submitted (pengakuan) for you to click on. You’ll then be given the option to download and print the annual returns (MUAT TURUN & CETAK), before clicking HANTAR to submit.

7.If your submission has been successful, you’ll receive an auto-generated email from e-ROSES confirming your that the annual returns has been successfully submitted.