OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2021-08-31-accounts

Pilton Pre-School

Treasurer’s Report 2020-2021

1. Overview

Pilton Pre-school continues to maintain a good financial position despite the challenges presented by the Covid-19 global pandemic. This is largely down to good occupancy levels as Pilton Pre-school’s reputation continues to attract new families.

The Profit & Loss statement shows a loss, however this was a planned loss as the committee actively sought to start reducing the accumulated Pre-school reserves. £7,534 of reserves was spent, but they remain above the required level and the committee needs to prioritise a plan for further reducing the surplus funds[1] . The committee were perhaps more cautious than they needed to be due to uncertainty at the start of the year regarding the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, so need to look again at how best to further reduce the accumulated surplus over the next few years.

Fundraising has been severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic as we were unable to run any events or benefit from involvement in the Glastonbury Festival or Pilton Party as they were both cancelled this year. As the funds for the Festival and Pilton Party are received at the beginning of each academic year, the Pre-school did not feel the full impact of last year’s cancellations until this financial year, and this year’s cancellations will also affect next year’s finances so we should anticipate a similar fundraising income in next year’s accounts.

For the first time this year, Pilton Pre-school have been asked to pay £3,900 rent (£1,300 per term) for use of the premises by the Pilton Methodist Chapel. This has a significant impact on the Operating Expenses figure this year (a rise from the £1,300-£1,400 annually previously paid for utilities) and will continue to do so in future years.

2. Bank Accounts

The bank balances as at financial year end are shown below, together with the previous 2 years for comparison.

31 August 2021 31 August 2020 31 August 2019
Current Account £3,892.46 £2,113 £4,695
Reserve Account £62,764.59 £71,940.87 £59,985

Note re: Reserve Account The last calculated reserve amount in January 2021 was £37,329. The reserves policy states that the reserve amount should ideally be reviewed every 6 months so it was due to be reviewed at the start of Autumn 2021 term. The committee has actively sought to reduce the excess reserves and has invested £7,534 as follows this year:

1 Previous reports have detailed the reasons why the reserves have accumulated to such a degree in recent years. Please refer to those for more detail if required.

3. Profit and Loss Statement

A detailed profit and loss statement is included as an appendix to this report.

A summary of income, expenditure and profit taken directly from the accounts in Xero, is shown below, together with the previous 2 years for comparison.

he previous 2 years for comparison.
31 August 2021 31 August 2020 31 August 2019
Income £92,024 £78,741 £72,220
of which, incomefromfees £87,640 £65,559 £58,057
Income from Fundraising £558 £7,850 £12,137
Income from Grants £2,098 £750 £1,737
Other revenue £1,560 £3,979 £112
Operating Expenses £96,494 £66,171 £66,443
of which, staff salaries £75,384 £56,003 £51,872
Enrichment courses £549 £1,209 £2,420
Net Profit/Loss (£4,470) £12,300 £5,777

3.1 INCOME

Fees – income is primarily derived from fees income from Early Years Entitlement and a lesser percentage from feepaying parents. The committee decided to freeze the fee rates this year to remain in-line with other local settings and to remain affordable to parents. Fee income has shown a healthy increase this year as occupancy levels continue to remain high/increase. This year we had 3 children who received additional High Needs Funding EYE amounting to £3,614 which was subsequently spent on specific resources for their benefit (£1,786) and 1:1 staffing/salaries (£2,205)[2] .

It should also be noted that last year’s fees income may have been higher if we had not been closed in the Summer 2020 term due to Covid-19.

Fundraising – this year was minimal compared to usual periods due to our usual events being cancelled due to Covid-19 (Glastonbury Festival, Pilton Show, Easter Trail). Our only sources of fundraising this year were Class Fundraising (Christmas card sales), Bags2School, photography commission and our Leavers Party raffle. In context, our fundraising average income over the previous 5 years is £8754, compared to our income this period of just £557 – or in reality £345 as £212 of the income was for Christmas card orders so subsequently paid out from Fundraising Expenses when the cards were ordered from the Class Fundraising company.

Grants - Pilton Pre-school received £2098 this period in Grants: £1,598 Covid EY recovery grant from Somerset County Council and £500 from LocalGiving, the benefit of the latter will be seen in the 2021-2022 financial period as the grant was requested towards Forest School training due to take place until September 2021. Towards the end of the financial year, two further grants were applied for from the Somerset Community Foundation (one for rent and the other for enrichment activities) with the outcomes due to be decided early in the 2021-2022 year.

Other income - £1,560 was received from Somerset County Council for the Early Years Professional Development Programme – a fully funded national training programme focussing on speech, language and communication. This income has funded additional staff hours for 2 members of staff to undertake the training and for bank staff cover as necessary.

3.2 EXPENDITURE

There was a £30,000 increase in Operating Expenses this year, primarily accounted for as follows:

2 N.B. At the end of the financial period, a further £375 of EYE income was still pending receipt from Somerset County Council for additional High Needs Funding but had already been spent on resources/salaries as the children were due to leave Pre-school at the end of Summer 2021 and otherwise they would not benefit.

Enrichment activities - We were unable to run Forest School and Yoga this academic year due to Covid-19 restrictions. The amount attributed to this was mainly for enrichment activities for the school leavers at the end of term (Zoolab, Organic Rhythm & bouncy castle) plus some Dance expenditure outstanding from the 2019-20 year.

The committee made a decision at the end of the reporting period to invest in Forest School training for a member of staff, primarily in order to return its provision to an in-house practitioner for the first time since December 2017 but also to slightly save when compared to an external provider. Should our grant application with Somerset Community Foundation be successful, we hope to offer these activities free of charge to parents next academic year.

Opportunities to save money were identified and acted upon – the Pre-school telephone & broadband package was renegotiated saving approximately £30 per month and a new ink-efficient printer was purchased saving approximately £21 per month in ink.

4. Projected Future Revenue & Opportunities

As per previous years, the biggest revenue generator will be fees. Pre-school’s occupancy levels for the 2020-2021 were greatly improved and new enquiries continued to be received throughout the year.

As mentioned above, towards the end of the reporting period, the Business Manager applied for a number of grants from the Somerset Community Foundation towards rent expenses and enrichment activities. The outcome of these applications will be known early in the 2021/22 financial year.

5. Projected Future Expenses and Risks

As has been obvious for some time, a large proportion of fundraising income continues to be linked to Glastonbury Festival and Pilton Party and at the time of writing this report, it is still unclear if and how these will return in the future.

Annual increases to National Insurance, PAYE and pension contributions continue to affect our operating expenses year on year. As per last year’s report, the committee should be mindful of the Government’s intention to move towards a National Living Wage of £10/hour over the next few years before the next election in 2024 – should Early Years Entitlement funding rates continue to remain at their current low level (highly likely) then this would have a serious impact on financial viability of the setting as we are already at the point where our fees income only just covers salary alone and other operational expenses need to be found in addition.

6. Summary

Pilton Pre-school concludes this financial year in a good financial position. As stated in previous years, the Early Years sector in general faces many financial challenges and it is widely acknowledged that many settings are struggling or closing. The committee should continue to seek opportunities to increase revenue (particularly grants and fundraising) to ensure ongoing financial viability and carefully monitor income and expenditure throughout the year. A priority for the next year is to formulate a plan for reducing the accumulated reserves in a manner which benefits the children, staff and setting for both the current and future generations.

Report presented to AGM compiled by Teresa England (Business Manager) and reviewed by Joy James (Treasurer), 31[st] October 2021

Appendices (1) Profit & Loss statement 1 September 2020 – 31 August 2021

(2) Balance Sheet as of 31 August 2021

Profit and Loss

Pilton Pre-school 1 September 2020 to 31 August 2021

1 September 2020 to 31 August 2021
31 Aug 21
Income
Donations 161
Fees 13,555
FundingEYES 74,085
Fundraising 558
Grants 2,098
Interest Income 7
Other Revenue 1,560
Total Income 92,024
Gross Profit 92,024
Less Operating Expenses
Advertising& Marketing 226
Audit & Accountancyfees 1,087
Enrichment Courses 549
FundraisingExpenses 328
Grant Expenditure 208
Insurance 789
IT Software and Consumables 85
Legal Expenses 104
Light, Power, Heating 2,806
Ofsted 50
Pensions Costs 1,401
Postage, Freight & Courier 8
Printing& Stationery 220
Rent 3,900
Repairs & Maintenance 2,713
Resource consumables 4,088
Salaries 75,384
Staff Training 902
Staff Uniform 163
Staff Welfare + Travel 423
Subscriptions 156
Telephone & Internet 300
Waste 604
Total Operating Expenses 96,494
Net Profit (4,470)

Profit and Loss | Pilton Pre-school | 31 October 2021

Page 1 of 1

31 Aug 2021 31 Aug 2020

Balance Sheet

Pilton Pre-school As at 31 August 2021

Assets

Assets 31 Aug 2021 31 Aug 2020
Bank
PettyCash 108 73
Pilton Preschool 3,892 2,114
Pilton Preschool Reserve a/c 62,765 71,941
Total Bank 66,765 74,128
Fixed Assets
Computer Equipment 1,476 -
Office Equipment 4,951 3,406
Total Fixed Assets 6,427 3,406
Total Assets 73,192 77,534
Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Accounts Payable 28 -
Income in Advance 889 789
Total Current Liabilities 917 789
Total Liabilities 917 789
Net Assets 72,275 76,744
Equity
Current Year Earnings (4,470) 12,300
Retained Earnings 76,744 64,444
Total Equity 72,275 76,744

Balance Sheet | Pilton Pre-school | 31 October 2021

Page 1 of 1

Independent examiner's report on the accounts

Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ members of

Pilton Pre-school

On accounts for the year ended Set out on pages

31[st] August 2021 Charity no 1028845 (if any)

2

2 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)

Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner

The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Charities Act”) and that an independent examination is needed It is my responsibility to:

Basis of independent examiner’s statement

My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a ‘true and fair’ view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.

Independent In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention examiner's statement (other than that disclosed below *)

  1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:

  2. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and

  3. to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act

  4. have not been met; or

  5. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

  6. Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.

Signed: Nicola Hooper

Date: 30[th] October 2021

Name: NICOLA HOOPER

Relevant professional MAAT

IER

1

qualification(s) or body (if any):

Address: 21 CHERRY TREE CLOSE EXETER DEVON EX4 5AT

Section B Disclosure

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material problems.(E.g. accounting records have not been kept in accordance with s132 of the Charities’ Act 2011 and those accounts do not comply with the requirements of the 2008 Regulations setting out the form and content of charity accounts; any material expenditure or action which appears not to be in accordance with the trusts of the charity; any failure to be provided with information and explanations by any past or present trustee, officer or employee; and any material consistency between the accounts and the trustees’ annual report.)

IER

2

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

IER

3