Canva has been fined $792,000 by Australia’s financial watchdog after four of its Australian businesses failed to file accounts on time.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said Canva Pty Ltd, Canva Operations Pty Ltd, Canva Trading Pty Ltd and Fusion Books Pty Ltd each paid an infringement notice of $198,000 for failing to lodge their 2024 financial reports by the April 30 due date.
Canva says lodgements are up to date
Canva said it has now brought its lodgements up to date.
“We take our reporting obligations seriously and regularly share public updates on our business and growth. As we’ve grown and scaled, we’ve strengthened our reporting systems … and have strong processes in place to maintain this going forward,” a Canva spokesman told Mediaweek.
The company belatedly filed accounts for 2021 and 2022 last September, while its 2024 and 2023 accounts were filed in March, more than two years late.
The latest accounts do not reflect Canva’s global operations, but showed sustained net losses despite revenue growth to US$2 billion, or $2.77 billion, in 2024.
Canva’s timing for a potential IPO has not been confirmed, but it is not expected until next year. The company is working to reposition its platform for the era of artificial intelligence.
At its customer conference in Los Angeles last month, Canva said it now has more than 265 million monthly users, including 31 million paying users. The company also said it generates more than US$4 billion in annualised revenue.
ASIC widens reporting crackdown
The Canva penalties come amid a broader ASIC crackdown on private company disclosures.
ASIC has issued and received payment for 21 infringement notices, worth more than $4 million, for alleged failures to lodge 2024 financial reports on time.
Last month, the watchdog penalised Mecca $594,000 for failing to file audited financial reports on time. In December, ASIC also fined retailers, including White Fox, MJ Bale and Aje, for missing reporting deadlines for the financial year ending June 2024.
ASIC Commissioner comments
‘In line with our current enforcement priority, ASIC has a number of open investigations into alleged non-lodgment and late lodgement of financial reports, and enforcement action will continue,’ Kate O’Rourke said.
ASIC Commissioner Kate O’Rourke said the regulator has several open investigations and is using targeted, data-driven surveillance to identify companies that persistently lodge accounts late or not at all.
“Companies and other entities with reporting obligations must ensure financial reports are lodged within the required timeframes,” O’Rourke said.
“Both non-lodgment and late lodgement prevents creditors and other users of the reports from making timely and informed decisions when dealing with these companies and is a failure of their legal obligations.”
Top Image: Canva’s co-founders Cliff Obrecht, Melanie Perkins, and Cameron Adams. (Credit: Jonathan Young)