42 Annual Report
22 Capital management
The Law Commission’s capital is its equity, which comprises accumulated
funds and other reserves. Equity is represented by net assets.
The Law Commission is subject to the financial management and
accountability provisions of the Crown Entities Act 2004, which impose
restrictions in relation to borrowings, acquisition of securities, issuing
guarantees and indemnities and the use of derivatives.
The Law Commission manages its equity as a by-product of prudently
managing revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities, investments and general
financial dealings to ensure the Law Commission effectively achieves
its objectives and purpose whilst remaining a going concern.
23 Explanation of significant variances against budget
Explanations for significant variances from the Law Commission’s
budgeted figures in the Statement of Intent (SOI) are as follows:
Statement of financial performance
Variations in both personnel and project costs were primarily due to
additional projects being added to the work programme after the
publication of the SOI.
Statement of financial position
Overall the net position of the balance sheet is in line with budget.
Variances within the asset class have occurred as a result of the time
delays between confirmation of the work programme and the timelines
set for the production and publication of the SOI.
Statement of changes in cash flows
Cash flow requirements are simply estimates and are calculated on the
basis of some known and some unknown variables with reference to
the work programme timelines.