ANNUAL
GENERAL MEETING
TREASURER’S
REPORT
AUGUST,
2007—CALGARY
Good Morning Everyone:
My name is Barry Mitchell. I am
the Treasurer of the National HKVCA and as well am the Treasurer of the
Manitoba HKVCA and HKVA.
I have distributed copies of the
audited financial statements for the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative
Association for the year ending December 31, 2006 and I would like to
offer a few comments on those statements. Hope you can stay awake.
The Commemorative Association
operates with 2 bank accounts, a General Account and a Book Account.
Each month I prepare a statement
for the national executive which shows the status of each account—where
the money came from and where the money went—plus a consolidated summary
of those accounts to complete a monthly snapshot of our financial
position.
The audited statement I have
handed out is prepared each year by the Winnipeg accounting firm of
Heisinger and Montgomery, and they do so for a very small fee which I
doubt covers their expenses. I work for a non profit organization which
has even fewer cheques written each year than the HKVCA and we are
charged thousands of dollars to have our annual audit prepared. I truly
appreciate the service provided by Jim Montgomery as I value the
opportunity of having our books examined from the outside.
I am just going to mention a few
items in the audited statement for your clarification.
First, on the balance sheet:
- Under current assets
we have the two bank accounts but next we have inventory (see
attached). This inventory is primarily books that we have for sale
but also includes videos, crests and grave markers. At the end of
last year, we had over 700 books in inventory.
- That brings me to
the point that while the dollar figures in the national accounts are
small, we raise enough cash to occasionally make a significant
purchase. For example, twice in the last couple of years, we were
made aware of the existence of supplies of two of the books on Hong
Kong that were out of print but could be obtained for a reasonable
price. We were then able to purchase all the remaining copies of
No Reason Why and One Soldiers’ Story from private
sources, place them in our inventory and thus continue to make them
available for sale to our membership and others.
- Under current
liabilities, you will notice that in the past year, we have been
able to retire a long term debt. Some years ago, before my time as
treasurer, the good people of the HKVA and HKVCA in Quebec loaned
the national organization funds to assist in a couple of initiatives
including a book publication. We have come to an agreement for
repayment of this loan which includes cash plus all the revenue
generated from the sale of all 140 copies of the book Royal
Rifles in Hong Kong. We extend our sincere appreciation to our
friends in Quebec for being our banker for awhile.
- Over to the
Statement of Income, you will note the two bank accounts with the
major sources of income being dues, donations and books. We also try
to raise funds through the sale of merchandise such as lapel pins,
decals, crests and ties.
- Under expenses, you
will see that the major item is the newsletter (which is published
twice a year) and of course there is the cost of purchasing the
books and other items which we sell through the mail.
- One difference this
year in fund raising is the opportunity to make a donation online
with the use of a credit card. On our website, there is a clear
notice, that with a couple of clicks, you can make a donation to the
HKVCA and you even have an opportunity to state whether you want
your donation directed to the Memorial Wall or to General Use.
Mr. Secretary, I present
to you the December 31, 2006 audited statement for the HKVCA, to be
entered into the Minutes of the Annual General Meeting.
Barry C. Mitchell
National Treasurer
