Cfc 2008-09 Financial Report

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

It is available at http://www.chess.ca/Gls/Fiscal-2009.pdf

[Bob Armstrong]

In January, the Grassroots' Campaign did a creative post about the " Elephant in the Room ". It referred to the fact that there was something obvious, uncomfortable and that no one in the CFC wanted to talk about - a substantial deficit in the 2008-9 fiscal year. The GC did not blame CFC for this - it acknowledged that this was a " transition " year , after 4 years of substantial deficits.

The GC had set out in its platform a number of restructuring measures for the CFC to take to return to financial viability. Fortunately the Governors agreed with the platform and implemented almost all of it in 2008-9. But despite the restructuring, costs of the old system were still going to be incurred in 2008-9, and a substantial deficit was still going to be unavoidable.

We had to make financial projections based on the part year statements then available, and on some good guess work. We would note that our estimate of the 2008-9 deficit was quite accurate. We projected a 2008-9 deficit of $ 24,500. What did it come in at in the final financials: ( $ 27,752).

This action by the governors in restructuring, has now finally put CFC in a position where it can finally stop navel-gazing, and gasping for financial air. It has allowed the governors to bring in a 2009-10 surplus buget. For all this the outgoing governors are to be congratulated ( and the current Executive ).

So CFC is now poised to start anew and reassess its objectives and priorities. It can finally look at implementing " Chess Promotion " to the general public, and trying to make chess a more mainstream activity in Canadian culture. We hope that whomever becomes President at the upcoming AGM will take this on as a major priority of the CFC in future.

Bob, Grassroots' Campaign Coordinator

[Peter McKillop]

Gerry Litchfield doesn't say so explicitly, but his comments in the cover sheet to the financial statements imply that he prepared them. I can understand that the CFC doesn't have several thousand dollars to fork out to a chartered accountant, but, if the Executive Director is going to prepare the financial statements then I hope the governors have enought sense to form an audit committee to test the numbers. And please don't take this as a negative comment about Gerry (or whoever prepared the statements if it wasn't Gerry). I have nothing but respect for Gerry but I'll bet that he would confirm that if you can't afford a proper separation of duties then you need some double-checkers.

[Hal Bond]

Actually the financial report was discussed at some length, and some skepticism was in the air. I questioned Gerry's restatement of the previous year's numbers, which had the effect of making the most recent year look better. Bill Doubleday was also taking Gerry to task. On balance I think Gerry held up pretty well. He doesn't play games, but the fact that we have not had externally prepared statements in a number of years begged questions.

Gerry also gave us a quick snapshot of the current year to date which shows a surplus. Externally prepared statements will not only cost the CFC for the outside firm, it will also cost us more for Gerry because his contract is based on 3.5 days work week. So Peter - your audit committee could be an effective solution. Might you chair it?

[Peter McKillop]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Hal, but, if it was offered to me I would have to respectfully decline. I don't have much free time anymore.

[Jason Lohner]

Accounting is certainly not one of my strengths, but some numbers certainly jumped out at me...

Salaries, benefits and staff travels - $76,703

This by far is the largest expense... is there any way to break this down so we can see exactly where this is being spent?

Total revenue from memberships is down over $4000. If we factor in the permanent drop of the $3700 from Tournament memberships, things are not looking good. But then again, who needs that extra $3700...

When you look at the CFC's main revenue source which is membership fees and rating fees, the total comes to just over $73k. This does not look promising.

[Hal Bond]

The new office contract is below $40K plus incentives for new revenue, so it is not all doom and gloom. Gerry is quite efficient, so as long as he doesn't burn out we are still in the game.

[Christopher Mallon]

Don't forget the AGM is a somewhat ridiculously long time after the end of the fiscal year for which the numbers are presented...

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Don't forget the AGM is a somewhat ridiculously long time after the end of the fiscal year for which the numbers are presented...

Chris, as the previous Treasurer, what was the deadline to submit a Registered Charity Information Return to Canadia Revenue Agency (CRA) for the 2009 fiscal year? The previous ones http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/srch/t3010returnlist-eng.action?b=106912058RR0001&n=THE+CHESS+FEDERATION+OF+CANADA%2FLA+FEDERATION+C ANADIENNE+DES+ECHECS&r=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cra-arc.gc.ca%3A80%2Febci%2Fhaip%2Fsrch%2Fbasicsearchr esult-eng.action%3Fs%3D%2B%26amp%3Bk%3Dchess%26amp%3Bp%3 D1%26amp%3Bb%3Dtrue

"C10 Did the charity charge fees for, or otherwise receive regular revenue from goods, services, or the use of the charity's assets? 2800 No"

Should it be YES, as the CFC collects the rating fee? If not, what is the "rating fee" for the CRA?