These FAQs are for anyone interested in learning more about the International Non-Profit Accounting Standard, or INPAS. You can expect to learn about the standard, who can use it, how to download it, and more through Humentum, a leader in financial management for NGOs and nonprofits.
About INPAS
What does INPAS stand for?
INPAS is the International Non-Profit Accounting Standard. It was published in October 2025 and was developed by Humentum and CIPFA, through the IFR4NPO Project.
What is INPAS?
INPAS is the first internationally recognized accounting standard specifically designed for the Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs). INPAS provides guidance for preparing whole-of-entity financial statements and harmonized grant reports, enhancing transparency, accountability, and trust in non-profit finances globally.
Who can adopt INPAS?
INPAS and Practice Guide 1 can be adopted by three different groups of stakeholders.
- Countries: Bodies authorized to prescribe financial reporting requirements for their NPOs, such as national standards setters, regulators or accounting institutes.
- Donors: Donors who require accountability reporting for grants, can accept or require grantees to use INPAS Practice Guide 1. They can also encourage grantee organisations to adopt INPAS where they are allowed to.
- Nonprofit Organizations: If permitted by their national regulations, NPOs may voluntarily adopt INPAS for their whole of entity accounts, and use INPAS Practice Guide 1 for grant reporting, subject to the agreement of each funder.
What are the benefits of INPAS?
- INPAS streamlines operations by eliminating redundant reporting formats.
- INPAS enhance credibility by improving financial report quality and assurance.
- INPAS improve transparency by enabling clear reporting of unrestricted funds and support costs.
- INPAS strengthening financial resilience by tracking and justifying reserves effectively.
- INPAS enable comparability with the same requirements applying within the same country and across borders.
Can using INPAS increase my funding?
INPAS can help increase funding by supporting fundraising and grant-making due diligence. Need help preparing to adopt INPAS? Humentum can help.
Pricing and access
How can I download INPAS?
You can access and download INPAS through Humentum’s site at this link.
Does it cost anything to download INPAS?
No it is completely free to download and adopt INPAS.
Can I implement INPAS in my organization?
Absolutely. INPAS is freely available, and many organizations will successfully implement the standard independently using the comprehensive guidance provided.
But you don’t have to go it alone. Humentum’s deep expertise in nonprofit financial management and our direct involvement in INPAS development means we can accelerate your implementation, minimize disruption, and ensure you maximize the benefits of the new standard. Reach out to Humentum for help here.
Technical questions on INPAS
Can NGOs refer that the framework for their financial statements is INPAS or they can keep IFRS?
INPAS are recommended standards so if you are a non-profit and using IFRS, you can continue to do so however, IFRS are designed and aimed at for-profit entities. INPAS is meant for non-profits recognize and focus on some of the critical aspects of accounting and reporting for the non-profit sector, they will enable an nonprofit to enhance transparency, comparability, credibility and financial resilience of nonprofits.
Is INPAS rules-based or principle-based?
INPAS are principle-based standards. The INPAS Practice Guide 1 is a rules-based guide.
Does INPAS make provision for consolidated financial statements for an NGO that is a parent with subsidiary NGOs?
Yes, this is addressed in the section G1 of INPAS on page 288. Download here.
What is the mandate to make INPAS a requirement for nonprofits? How can INPAS be made enforceable by the entities?
INPAS as a whole of entity financial accounting and reporting can be mandated by the regulators in your jurisdiction. If you are allowed under your jurisdiction to voluntarily adopt it, you can do so. But just like the IFRS, INPAS also have to be mandated by the regulators. Until then they remain recommendatory standards.
Is INPAS now recognized as a financial reporting framework in all countries?
INPAS is not yet recognized as a financial reporting framework in all countries.
Is there any guideline that regulates the financial and non-financial management performance measures? (Something parallel to what IFRS 18 defines?)
INPAS recognizes the unique position nonprofits are in and how important contextualizing financial information is. This is why there is an entire section on Narrative reporting in Group A3 – which includes information and disclosures to be included, the principles on which the reporting is based, and how it is presented in the financial statements of the organization.
In a way, it goes beyond what IFRS 18 requires for-profit entities to report. While INPAS is based on IFRS for SMEs, Narrative reporting is a new section and unique to INPAS.
If an NPO is transitioning from IFRS or IFRS for SME, is there some sort of transition impact?
Yes, there will be some changes in the way accounting and reporting is done by IFRS and IFRS for SMEs vs INPAS. The Group Z starting on page 271 recognizes these transition challenges and has a guideline on how they should be navigated with detailed procedures for preparing financial statements on date of transition and the necessary disclosures.
Would the introduced INPAS override the IPSAS?
If an organization voluntarily adopts INPAS, it will override IPSAS, however, it depends entirely on the regulator. Since INPAS tackles issues for the nonprofit sector exclusively and is different from IPSAS which is for public-sector entities. In the jurisdictions where the regulators mandate INPAS, they will in all probability override IPSAS.
Are there mandatory disclosures that should be added to the financial statements and complementary statements required there in to have for reporting purposes?
INPAS has some detailed requirements for disclosures which are mandatory if you adopt INPAS for your organization. These can be found as a separate section in every group and additionally as a unique aspect of nonprofits. INPAS has a section: A3 on narrative reporting which has disclosures that provide context to the information provided in the financial statements.
Is INPAS applicable for small to medium NGOs and nonprofits?
Yes, INPAS is intended for small to medium organizations.
Is INPAS relevant and applicable for large NGOs and nonprofits?
INPAS is not intended to apply to larger organizations that have public accountability as defined in IFRS accounting standards. However, larger entities may benefit from accessing the approaches to NPO-specific transactions (this is further clarified in the INPAS section A1.16 on page 14). This means if you are a large nonprofit, but do not fall under the definition of organizations that have public accountability, you can follow INPAS.
Is there a recognition for doubtful accounts, regarding pledges receivables from donors?
Yes, there is an entire section on revenue recognition under various types of agreements, contracts as well as the steps and process to decide on whether that particular income should be recognized, when it should be recognized and how much of it should be recognized. Revenue is one of the largest sections of INPAS.
Questions on INPAS Practice Guide 1
How many dimensions are available to be used for aggregation? (I.e. activity, program, project, award, fund class, etc)?
The Practice Guide 1 allows substantial flexibility, it can be used to create reports based on donor, programs, projects, thematic areas, geographies, communities and many other dimensions provided there is a reconciliation and an attestation of the reconciliation that the numbers on report are coming from the general purpose financial statement.
The supplementary statement is a subset of the general purpose financial statement, so long as that can be reconciled and audited, the nonprofit can present the supplementary statement on the dimension or dimensions that best represent their work.
Is this practice guide for a specific grant/award/project?
Yes, the Practice Guide 1 is for a specific and specified grant/ award/ project. For format requires the nonprofit to clearly state the grant/ award/ donor/ project or whatever other dimension used on the top of the SS along with the period for which the numbers are being reported.
Do we need to prepare INPAS for each grant/award we have?
Practice Guide 1 is recommended. The nonprofit or NGO can decide based on its own requirements, at the direction of a donor or the needs of the users of their financial information which aspect they want to report on.
Is the practical guide for project or organizational financial statements?
The Practice Guide 1 is for presentation of a subset of the whole organization’s financial statements. This subject can be a project, a grant, a donor or any other aspect the nonprofit wants to report on.