CSU reported a $15.5 million deficit for 2020, down from a projected $49.5 million.

The Universities Audit Report for 2020 released on Friday however, found the institution failed to report $34 million in grants as revenue, bringing their overall finances to a surplus of $19.5 million.

The report found the university should have included the grant money revenue in their report under new accounting standards, bringing them into a net profit for the year, with a secondary finding reporting some staff had been under or over paid. The university has yet to release a figure on the wage discrepancies.

The reported surplus would make the university one of just four reported to make a net profit after making the most significant spending cuts of any institution proportionally, however CSU's Interim Vice-Chancellor Professor John Germov rejected the finding.

"While our overall result will be reported as a surplus of $19.5 million, this included over $34 million in one-off grants that were recorded as revenue but directed entirely to capital works," he said.

The "operational deficiency" reported by the university remains at $15.5 million.

Dr Helen Masterman-Smith of the National Tertiary Education Union said if the surplus is indeed indicative, it proves the university's spending cut of 9.2 per cent overall was "too severe".

Professor Germov reiterated their financial outcome was a $15.5 million deficit, but described the result as a success, achieved through the "swift and urgent" budget changes.

"We're well on track to break even by the end of 2021 [which] is an absolute success," Professor Germov said. "It's not just because of our expenditure control and our hard decisions, but we've also looked to grow in key areas."

Those changes included around 200 job cuts, a rise of 5 per cent in domestic enrolment numbers and the amalgamation of several disciplines into single schools to save on administration costs.

Professor Germov said the decisions made were difficult but necessary to secure the university's future stability.

"It's been a tough time for the sector and it's been awful that we've had to make these tough decisions," he said.

Dr Masterman-Smith said reports from faculty suggest the changes are far from sustainable and that and "hundreds of complaints" from staff have fallen of deaf ears.

"We're currently running workload disputes because the staff cannot cope with the work since the cuts," she said. "The work hasn't disappeared, the remaining staff have had to pick up the load."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: