The client:
The client was an RTO in business for under two years, with good profitability and financial viability. They were applying to ASQA for CRICOS registration had submitted their RTO Financial Viability Risk Assessment Tool pre-30 June 2018, under the assumption that they thought they were only required to submit ratios and limited information under the old rules.
ASQA rejected the application in accordance with its 1st July 2018 updated processing requirements, under which all RTOs registered less than two years must submit the new Financial Viability Risk Assessment (FVRA) tool, complete with all mandatory attachments, when applying for CRICOS registration and/or other changes to scope.
The client complied with ASQA’s request and submitted the new FVRA tool, however, this was also rejected by ASQA as it was incomplete, and the numbers were inconsistent and therefore incorrect. The client was frustrated by the process; it was costing them valuable time and money and extra resources in terms of staff. The business was also paying for empty premises while the registration process played out.
The need:
We were asked to review the RTO’s completed FVRA tool and address the inconsistencies. In ASQA’s new FVRA tool, there are a number of tabs that need to be completed. If figures entered in one tab are not consistent with another, related tab, the tool cannot be submitted. However, it is not always immediately obvious where the error or inconsistencies have occurred; the process of identifying the issues can be very time consuming for those not familiar with the tool.
The RTO wanted to ensure that registration was accepted by ASQA as soon as possible so that they could proceed with the plans for their business.
Our solution:
We reviewed the application to see if the FVRA could be tweaked for ASQA acceptance, but unfortunately this was not possible. Therefore, we restarted the FVRA process with the business, including preparing the underlying financial forecasts, in order to complete the FVRA tool compliantly. The new FVRA tool was submitted and accepted and the registration process was able to proceed.