eFlash! 2016-09

2016 AGM — Annual General Meeting / AGA 2016 — Assemblée générale annuelle

Treasurer’s Report / Rapport Du Trésorier

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The following is the financial situation for the 2015–16 fiscal year as detailed in the 2015–16 Financial Report. You will note a small surplus once Accounts Due and Accounts Payable are resolved.

Year-End Financial Report

Page 2 of the Financial Report, summarizes the 2015–16 revenues and expenses.

Our main revenue streams are the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA), Writing & Publishing section, Annual Operations Grant (previously Core Funding) from the SOCAN Foundation, and membership dues.

Principle expenses are the CEC’s administrative salaries and fees for subcontracted work such as translation, Guest Editors, etc.

As you can see in the table, total revenues for 2015–16 ($38,459) minus total expenses ($37,946) leave a small surplus of $513.

Page 1 provides an overview of financial situation as of 31 May 2016: Assets of $11,977 in the bank plus $2091 in outstanding 2015–16 revenues (totalling $14,088) minus Liabilities ($6416 in accounts payable but not yet spent as of 31 May 2016). This leaves a Net Asset of $7672. Accounts payable this year consist of money allocated for eContact!, professional fees (translation and Guest Editors) and money set aside for an upgrade to SONUS.

Page 3 is an Annex providing information about Accounts Due and Accounts Payable, as well as the situation for 2016–17: Net Assets plus a payment due for the 2016 SOCAN Foundation Annual Operations Grant and the projected 1st payment for the 2017 Annual Operations Grant leave the CEC with a “working balance” of $27,672 for the 2016–17 fiscal year.

Institutional Income Sources

Of important note in the Annex of the Financial Statement: the absence of CCA funding for eContact! in the projected revenue for 2016–17. Very unfortunately, funding was not awarded for the publication of volume 19. The reasons are not clear in the letter received and the CCA contact person is currently on vacation. Thus, we are not able to get clearer information before the AGM. One positive thing to note is we did not receive warnings, suggesting the CCA is satisfied with the many changes we made (if you recall that last year, they commended the new formatting and presentation, but were highly critical that it had not gone online yet).

On the positive side, funding from SOCAN Foundation, which since 2005 has either remained the same or increased by an average of 10% each year, was increased by a whopping 60% this year (i.e. an increase of $7500 from $12,500 in 2015 to $20,000 in 2016).

With some relatively minor adjustments, careful financial planning and using $2500 from the Capital Fund for the 2016–17 fiscal year, it will nevertheless be possible to get through the year without cutting or seriously affecting any key activities (i.e. the publication of four issues of eContact! and production and promotion of JTTP, as well as general administrative maintenance).

The CEC endeavours each year to set aside a small sum to contribute to the growth of its Capital Fund (currently at $7672), meant to serve in times of particular fiscal circumstances to allow the CEC to rebalance itself, and effectively survive short-term financial problems that might arise. In the past nine years (ending 31 May 2016), we have only twice had to tap into the Capital Fund (for a total of $1700) — and this is exactly the kind of thing our Capital Fund exists for (the $2500 needed this year is also perhaps an insignificant amount, considering the circumstances).

In closing, CEC has finished the year in healthy state and despite an important and pressing challenge to the economic situation of eContact! for the coming year, based on recent discussions between the CEC Board and Administration, I have confidence that the CEC’s administrative team will be able to resolve this situation in a manner that does not in any way compromise the quality or substance of the CEC’s online journal for electroacoustic practices.

I would now like to invite CEC Administrative co-Director jef chippewa to give a brief report on the situation of the journal and the plans to address and rectify this unfortunate impediment.

Shawn Pinchbeck
Treasurer of the CEC
Toronto, Saturday, 13 August 2016