eFlash! 2021-09

2021 AGM — Annual General Meeting / AGA 2021 — Assemblée générale annuelle

Treasurer’s Report / Rapport Du Trésorier

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The following is a report on the CEC’s financial situation at the end of the 2020–21 fiscal year with a perspective on the current fiscal year, 2021–22. Please refer to the 2020–21 Financial Report (in the documents emailed to members prior to the CEC’s 2021 AGM). 1[1. The Treasurer’s Report starts at 26:49 in the audio recording of the AGM.]

Year-End Financial Report

Referring to the first page of the CEC’s Financial Report for the 2020–21 fiscal year, the association’s financial situation as of 31 May 2021 is summarized as follows:

• Actifs (Assets) of $26,023 in the bank plus $3,200 in Accounts Due give a total of $29,223;
• Passif (Liabilities) of $12,796 in Accounts Payable plus a grant portion received in advance of $12,000 give a total of $24,796;
• Assets minus Liabilities leave a Net Asset of $4,428.

Accounts Due this year are outstanding membership payments for 2020–21 and a small balance of membership payments received via PayPal but not transferred as of the end of the fiscal year. Accounts Payable consist of Administrative salaries and Professional fees owed for eContact!, translation and the CEC’s accountant, as well as some outstanding costs related to the completion of the Sonus upgrade.

The second page of the Financial Report presents a summary of revenues and expenses (grouped in categories) for the 2020–21 fiscal year. The CEC’s primary sources of revenue this past year were SOCAN Foundation grants and membership dues, as well as private donations. The principal expenses for the same period were Subcontracting (administrative salaries) and Professional Fees (programming, grant-writing assistance, accounting, translation and prize money awarded to JTTP 2020 winners). 2[2. The (negative) amount of $2750 listed as a revenue (Canada Council for the Arts) and an expense (Production) relates to a Representation and Promotion grant that had to be declined, as the event it was meant to support was cancelled due to Covid-19. This ultimately had no bearing on the budget (it was neither received nor spent and therefore “zeroes out”) but has been included here as it was mentioned in last year’s Financial Statement.]

The difference in total revenues ($29,886) and total expenses ($29,799) means that the CEC’s 2020–21 revenues exceeded its expenses by $87.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to acknowledge and thank Kevin Austin for the generous donations he has made to the CEC, which have allowed the CEC’s two administrators to complete the hours required for their work in the 2020–21 fiscal year, and also provided the means for the summer 2021 project to replace the deprecated Flash media player in CAP (Concordia Archival Project) and coordinate the internship and data management for the CAP-to-Sonus project mentioned in Myriam’s President’s Report.

Financial Forecast for the Current Fiscal Year

The third page of the Financial Report is an Annex that serves only to provide simplified summaries and projections to CEC members. The first table shows what I have described above. The second table presents a simple overview of the projected revenues available to the CEC for the 2021–22 fiscal year: Net Assets (the subtotal from the first table) plus projections of the 2021 Annual Operations grant, 2021–22 membership fees and JTTP 2021 donations leave the CEC with a “working balance” of $41,128 for the current fiscal year.

I would also like to again thank Kevin Austin, who has donated the JTTP Thematic Awards prize money for 2021–25, as well as Martin Gotfrit, who was inspired to offer a contribution to the financial reserves for these awards. Kevin’s initiative is a wonderful addition to JTTP and we are very pleased to be able to support these artists, thanks to Kevin and Martin’s contributions, through this new JTTP project component!

Institutional Income Sources

SOCAN Foundation

I am very happy to report that not only was the CEC successful in its application for multi-year funding starting in 2021, but also that the Annual Operations funding awarded to the CEC by the SOCAN Foundation is being increased by $3000 for each of the three years 2021–2023 (funding was at $21,000 in 2020). This provides a very welcome degree of stability in the CEC’s funding base; the next application deadline that the CEC will need to prepare for is in 2023 (for 2024–2026).

The Canada Council for the Arts

An unsuccessful Sector Innovation application in 2020–21 has unfortunately hindered the CEC’s plans for the first phase of a Public Outreach project that, as mentioned by Myriam in her President’s Report, was part of the CEC’s four-year Strategic Plan (2020–2024). We will be looking into the possibility of transforming the initiative into a scaled-down version with a much more modest budget. Unfortunately, this also means we have to restart the process to move towards eligibility for core funding through the CCA. 3[3. Revenues of at least $50,000 for three years in a row and three CCA project grants in a five-year period.]

The CEC’s Current Financial Situation

The increasing SOCAN Foundation support will help the CEC meet rising operational costs, as well as help forge a more viable fiscal position going forward.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am happy to present a Financial Report in the black, with funding increases in the next two years until 2023. This is a positive step towards building stability and sustainability for our future operations and programmes.

Shawn Pinchbeck
Treasurer of the CEC
Edmonton, Thursday, 26 August 2021.