Treasurer’s Report on the Accounts to 31 July 2024
Income
Subscriptions, storage & locker income exceeded last year by £10k and there seems to be a continuing demand for Give it a Go sessions though these are less than last year, as we have had to restrict those who want to come, to manageable numbers. Overall income exceeded last year by £6k.
One item requiring comment is the lack of income from members for airgun refills. The club has to either buy refills of air for the diving bottles and pay for the bottles to be recertified periodically and pay to repair and maintain the compressor kindly donated to the club. Every cylinder recharge should be paid for at 50p per time. We need more notices to this effect and air rifles should probably be paying £1 per fill as they are much bigger than those for pistol.
Ammunition controls changed last Autumn with the cessation of use of the intermediate safe and Lindsay and myself taking over the buying and re-stocking of the Orange box. Profits on ammunition sales exceeded expectations at £3,735 compared to £1,019 last year. This is more than we aim to make due to about half of the profit being attributable to the sale of Tenex bought at an exceptionally low price. The buying of ammunition remains difficult due to the paucity of availability of good quality ammunition. It seems that Brexit has created problems for those manufacturers from abroad wanting to import to the UK and Eley seem more keen to supply the USA and other export markets than the UK shooting community.
Shooting Expenses
Targets are much less than last year because I have not valued old stock of pre 18 series targets so these are effectively “free” to use for Give it a Go sessions, practice and in-house competitions as opposed to Devon or NSRA competitions.
With more shooting activity we have incurred more expenditure on equipment and gun repairs.
Overall though shooting costs were only £340 more than last year.
Overhead Expenses
Last year overheads included our contribution to Valencia for the new building grant to create the new front entrance and equipment store of £4,669 so expenses were less for the current year at £25,642. Property repair costs have increased by over £3k, a lot of which related to the roof leak. The preparatory costs to the sale of the plot have not been repeated but as yet the plot has not been sold though we are hopeful regarding a new offer that has been accepted.
Profit, Budget and Proposals for Subscriptions next year
Last year we made £14,360 and this year sees an increase up to £21,465 which is £7k extra; an excellent result.
Turning to next year’s budget I have been conservative regarding income but allowed for extra shooting costs and overheads so the budget shows a break even position.
Accordingly I don’t see any need to increase subscriptions from 1 January 2025 subject to
your approval tonight. I do think sales of airgun air refills needs to be tightened up as
referred to earlier.
My other fundamental requirement, approved by the Committee, is that Cash and Cheques cease to be legal tender in the club other than for book & CD sales and airgun refills though these can be paid by card if required. The Kitchen is run differently and this will not apply to breakfasts etc which is dealt with by Chris, Hazel and Alan. I felt so strongly about this that my decision to stand again as Treasurer was conditional on the Committee approving this. Accordingly cash and cheques will cease to be an acceptable means of payment as from 31 December 2024. For the few who do pay by cash or cheque you have about 8 weeks to set up standing orders and card payments.
The reasons to abolish the use of cash and cheques are as follows:-
- Risk of theft
- Errors and shortages
- The additional work involved in reconciliations, bookkeeping and time going to the bank etc
- Card transactions provide an audit trail which does not apply to cash and cheques
- Paul Eatough has resigned, having kindly done the bankings and spreadsheet reports of bankings for many years and I am not prepared to take on this extra work
- The failure of some people to pay subscriptions, as required by the club rules, by either one annual lump sum or by monthly bank standing order creating additional work to both myself and the membership team.
Balance Sheet and Fixed Assets Notes
At the year end we had £15,788 in the bank and this has since risen up to £25k three weeks into October. Stocks of targets and ammunition are double what they were at this time last year and we have a policy to hold a reserve stock of targets so that we should never run out. Debtors are largely gift aid claims outstanding that I need to deal with but these are very laborious and time consuming as the Government force the use of their own bespoke Libre Office template which you cannot copy into or use like one would use an Excel spreadsheet. The remainder relates to prepayments of things like insurance where part of the premium
relates to next year.
Creditors and accruals are the amounts that we owe at the year end, be they actual amounts due and already invoiced to us or accrued for items where we have not yet had a bill but have already had the goods or services. It also includes the value of subscriptions not yet due where full annual subs were paid at the start of the year but of course the part of the sub that relates from August to December should not be reflected in the accounts to 31 July 2024 as income.
The rifle loan scheme is the value of loans received where the club has bought guns for members who have not yet received their FAC due to Police delays.
Loans from Club members are now down to £56,004 from £79,445. I had omitted one repayment from the past and this has been adjusted this year.
The additions to fixed assets in the year were roof insulation throughout the club which was grant funded by East Devon District Council. There was a small addition to the door lock system and guns under the rifle loan scheme for members. We also bought 3 used guns as club guns and an action air pistol and three secondhand telescopic sights.
Summary
The club is in a good financial state. The present looks good with excellent demand for the club from potential new members. The club’s training courses offered by Andrew and his team are also widely popular and earn money for the club. Looking forward we have the potential sale of the plot to look forward to.
The Committee have resolved that Captains should have an annual budget for new equipment subject to their proposals being approved by the Committee.
The intention is that the club provides a basic level of gun and equipment. With multiple and constant use these will never be the latest technology and will require sights adjustments etc for every use.
It is important therefore to stress the goal that every club shooter should have which is to buy their own equipment once they have become established in the club and in shooting.
We also need to replace and remodel the kitchen and I have set aside £10k in a deposit account towards this if we cannot get a grant for it.
I would like to thank Paul for dealing with the bankings throughout the year and Robin and Gwen for dealing with membership which is so helpful and they provide me with an analysis based on the bank credits each month. Mark Lang also deserves a special mention for firstly introducing the payment for competitions and events via the website and then by introducing the till system which has helped both me and duty officers in both simplifying and regulating the way members buy goods and services from the club. I would also like to thanks Lindsay for help with the restocking and reconciliations of the till and ammunition.
Detailed Accounts
The accounts for the period ending 31st July 2024 including the profit and balance sheet are available below:
