Making Sense of Your Dollars and Cents

Date
25 August 2025

When the Agency for Co-operative Housing was established in 2005, our mission was clear: help federally funded housing co-ops improve their operations. 

And, as for most businesses, dollars and cents play a big role in that.

We needed a way to help co-op members better understand their co-op’s financial position. 

This is how the Plain Language Financials came to be. We wanted to design areport that presented complex financial information in a way that uses visuals and removes jargon so it makes sense to all the members in a co-op, not just those with an accounting or financial background.

As co-op members ourselves, we’ve seen our neighbour’s eyes glaze over when they review audited financial statements, leaving them unable to have input on key financial decisions. 

Recognizing this gap, we developed Plain Language Financials to democratize financial literacy within co-ops. 

The report translates complicated accounting data into clear, visual summaries that show where co-op money comes from, how it’s spent and what’s been saved for future repairs.

Your Plain Language Financials are structured across three intuitive pages:

Page 1 offers a visual snapshot of your co-op’s financial story for the year.

page 1

Page 2 compares performance over five years, highlighting trends like vacancy losses.

Page 3 outlines key milestones, including assets, liabilities and reserve savings.

This reader-friendly format ensures that every member, regardless of their background can participate meaningfully in annual meetings and in the co-op’s governance. 

Every year, each Agency client receives one of these reports generated from their Annual Information Return (AIR), which their auditor files on their behalf. Once submitted, the Agency verifies the data and e-mails a link to the report within five weeks (in time for the Annual General Meeting, if the audit went well.) The Plain Language Financials give boards another tool to remain accountable to their members.

Since the Agency got its start in 2005, we’ve had a commitment to transparency and empowering members to take part in the democratic governance of their co-ops. The Plain Language Financials give members the information they need to understand the numbers behind their co-op’s operations. And well-informed members make better decisions.

Tip of the Month

Good Vacancy Loss

Some vacancy loss is by choice, because units are being refreshed for new members. So not a loss but an investment.