Harry Ryland
I aplogise for not replying earlier but life does have a habit of getting in the way.
The easiest way to answer is to use the same numbering system that you used in your original post.
1. The cost of AGMs has indeed risen since 2022. This is not totally surprising since that was a virtual AGM. Such events are commendably cheap but do not, in my view, give the members such opportunities to engage with the board, either during the meeting or, more informally, before or after it. Some years ago the board took the decision to move the AGM around the country, thus giving more members the opportunity to participate. Understandably, local area groups like to make a good showing at these events. In my view, this has been successful. It also acts as a way of showing the benefits of EM to members of the public who are welcome to visit the mini show but who are not allowed access to the AGM itself.
2. I agree with some of what you say but direct debits, for example, relate solely to the collection of subscriptions and do not relate to the operation of the stores. Similarly, the great majority of the bank charges relate to the normal operation of the society. Most of the Paypal charges and all of the Stripe charges do relate to the operation of the stores, however. It is on the advice of the accountant who audits the accounts that they are shown separately so that people can understand where our costs come from. It is interesting that you talk of the requirements of our insurance declaration. When we insure the stock, we only have to declare its value. Sales figures are not required. We do not insure the moulds as these are held by (and partly owned by) Peco and covered by their insurance. The cost of insurance for the stock was £235.43p last year which is a small proportion of the total insurance. Almost all of the insurance costs are associated with our two main Expo events and the AGM. The introduction of the track and points was a strategic board initiative so the depreciation is taken by the Society as a whole. The Stores function is to buy it in and sell it on to our members. If we put that depreciation against the Stores, we would see a sudden increase in Stores profits in the year 2024-25 which would, I think, be rather confusing.
3. It is correct that the moulds are our only fixed assets. We have no investment in IT as the board members use their own equipment, such as PCs and printers, to carry out their Society functions. In the past, the Society has bought and depreciated expensive software packages. Currently, however, all of the software that is bought in is for use on the website and is sufficiently low cost that it is not capitalised. This is not to say that this will always be the case. The board is currently reviewing the state of the website and this may lead to further significant investment.
4. In his post above, Bill Wyatt-Millington addressed the issue of how best to use the money at our disposal and I think he summarises the situation accurately. It is interesting to look back over the approximately ten years that I have been treasurer. The surplus carried forward on 31st August 2013 was £102,793 while on 31st August 2023 it was £114,250. When one takes inflation into account, I would say that it has a slightly smaller value now than it used to have. It is not a matter of an ever growing cash mountain, I am happy to say. There is enough cash available for another major project plus a decent reserve. The problem, as Bill says, is one of finding a suitable partner.
Finally, I would like to say that I think the accounts reflect the state of the Society’s finances accurately. It is always possible to juggle numbers around, as I found when working, so long as the overall picture is correct. We are clearly not going to agree about the exact position of the depreciation within the accounts but I am untroubled by that. The main thing is that the Stores do make a profit and I would worry if they did not. Similarly, the Society itself is in good financial health so I am happy to leave things to Richard Bartlett, my successor.