OpenCharities

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

2024-10-31-accounts

Registered number 14118614

Open Access Book Collective

Accounts

31 October 2024

Open Access Book Collective Accountants' Report

Report to the directors on the preparation of the unaudited statutory accounts of Open Access Book Collective for the period ended 31 October 2024

In order to assist you to fulfil your duties under the Companies Act 2006, we have prepared for your approval the accounts of Open Access Book Collective for the period ended 31 October 2024 which comprise of the Profit and Loss Account and the Balance Sheet from the company’s accounting records and from information and explanations you have given us.

As a practising member firm of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, we are subject to its ethical and other professional requirements which are detailed at https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/aboutus/regulation/rulebook.html

This report is made solely to the Board of Directors of Open Access Book Collective, as a body, in accordance with the terms of our engagement letter. Our work has been undertaken solely to prepare for your approval the accounts of Open Access Book Collective and state those matters that we have agreed to state to the Board of Directors of Open Access Book Collective, as a body, in this report in accordance with the requirements of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants as detailed at http://www.accaglobal.com/factsheet163. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than Open Access Book Collective and its Board of Directors as a body for our work or for this report.

It is your duty to ensure that Open Access Book Collective has kept adequate accounting records and to prepare statutory accounts that give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit of Open Access Book Collective. You consider that Open Access Book Collective is exempt from the statutory audit requirement for the period.

We have not been instructed to carry out an audit or a review of the accounts of Open Access Book Collective. For this reason, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of the accounting records or information and explanations you have given to us and we do not, therefore, express any opinion on the statutory accounts.

Cambridge Tax and Accounting Limited Chartered Certified Accountants Brookfields 2A Water Lane Histon Cambridge CB24 9LR

8 January 2025

2

Open Access Book Collective Directors' Report

Report of the directors of Open Access Book Collective for the period ended 31 October 2024

Introduction

The period documented by this report covers the period since the confirmation (on 19 December 2023) that the application by the Open Book Collective (OBC) to be registered as a charity by the Charity Commission of England and Wales was accepted:

https://doi.org/10.21428/41ca814e.caf1d303

The 31 October 2024 end date of the period was chosen as it aligns with the reporting requirements for the Copim Open Book Futures project: https://copim.pubpub.org/open-book-futures-project

Governance & Staffing

The Open Book Collective remains established as a charitable Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) and a UK registered charity. It is governed by the OBC Board of Stewards, which are elected by members and act as the charity’s Trustees. During the period, two Stewards stepped down from the Board. Cheryl Ball stepped down as one of our OA Expert Stewards due to other work commitments, and Andrea Hacker, another of our OA Expert Stewards, did not renew her term due to her institution, Bern University, becoming an OBC member, meaning she could not have remained an ‘independent’ representative. We offer our sincere thanks to Cheryl and Andrea for their contributions to the OBC.

The period saw the OBC convene its second Annual General Assembly of Custodians. This took place on 11 September 2024: https://openbookcollective.pubpub.org/pub/tjbb7k24

During the meeting, members voted to elect and re-elect Stewards to the board. Results of this election included the following:

During the period, the board met 4 times, as follows:

Staffing remains unchanged during the period. OBC employees include:

Francesca and Kevin continued to act as the OBC Secretariat, which supports the OBC’s Committees and governance functions. Many thanks to both Kevin and Francesca for all their work.

Thanks also to our colleagues seconded from partner organisations to the OBC, as part of the Copim Open Book Futures project. This includes Livy Synder (punctum), who leads much of our engagement in North America, Izabella Penier (Lancaster University), who leads our publisher and service provider engagement, and Judith Fathallah (Lancaster University), who leads our research work and work on the Collective Development Fund.

3

New Members

The OBC ended the 2024 financial year with a total of 79 Library Members, acting as supporting institutions, with a total of 14 Publisher and Service Provider Members. During the period, the following members joined the Open Book Collective:

New Library Members

• CDL (14/06/24) University of California, Berkeley University of California, Davis University of California, Irvine University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Merced University of California, Riverside University of California, San Diego University of California, San Francisco University of California, Santa Cruz University of California, Office of the President (UCOP)

4

New Publisher Members

New Service Provider Members

Outreach & outputs

A significant part of the OBC’s work is engaging with the scholarly community, with a particular focus on academic publishers and university libraries. As part of the Open Book Futures project, colleagues working to support the OBC contributed to a range of events and outputs, in which they explored issues related to the OBC’s aim to support a fairer, more sustainable future for OA book publishing. We have also refined our social media engagement work, including maintaining our presence on Mastodon, launching on Bluesky, and deprioritising posting on X.

A sense of the broad ambitions of this work is provided in the first report to supporters, published on 29 February 2024. We will repeat this report next February. https://doi.org/10.21428/41ca814e.3db1e0a1

Since February, the OBC has been involved in numerous other outreach activities. These include:

Events & conference papers

https://doi.org/10.21428/41ca814e.c8fbbc53

5

Other outreach

Collective Development Fund

Considerable work has focused on launching the OBC Collective Development Fund. This fund is financed in 2024 and 2025 by the Open Book Futures project, with calls from 2026 onwards relying on financial contributions from OBC’s Publisher and Service Provider Members.

Significant milestones for the Collective Development Fund during the period included:

We look forward to including information on the final awards in the next reporting period.

6

Funding & financial position

The OBC was supported through the present period by the Copim Open Book Futures project. The project covers the large majority of OBC’s current financial costs and will do until the end of the project on the 30th April 2026. During the period, we have begun work to prepare for the post-Open Book Futures period. This includes:

We look forward to providing further updates about the development of the OBC in next year’s report.

Prof. Joseph Deville OBC Managing Director and Trustee Approved by the board on 8 January 2025

7

Open Access Book Collective Profit and Loss Account

for the period from 19 December 2023 to 31 October 2024

Turnover
Other income
Grants and donations
Gross profit
Staff and subcontractor costs
Other charges
Profit before taxation
Tax
Profit		 2024
£
44,476
229,487
(1,369)
272,594
(113,343)
(66,033)
93,218
-
93,218		 2023
£
19,844
141,385
(415)
160,814
(54,855)
(67,520)
38,439
(7,803)
30,636

8

Open Access Book Collective Registered number: 14118614 Balance Sheet as at 31 October 2024

Current assets
Creditors: amounts falling due within one
year
Net current assets
Total assets less current liabilities
Accruals and deferred income
Net assets
Capital and reserves
Average number of employees		 2024
£
307,248
(33,182)
274,066
274,066
(144,231)
129,835
129,835
Number
2		 101,543
(35,190)		 2023
£
66,353
66,353
(29,736)
36,617
36,617
Number
1

The company is a private company limited by guarantee and incorporated in England. Its registered office is One Bartholomew Close, London, EC1A 7BL.

The directors are satisfied that the company is entitled to exemption from the requirement to obtain an audit under section 477 of the Companies Act 2006.

The members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Act.

The directors acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 with respect to accounting records and the preparation of accounts.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the micro entity provisions of the Companies Act 2006 and FRS 105, The Financial Reporting Standard applicable to the Micro-entities Regime. The accounts have been delivered in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

Prof. Joseph Deville Director Approved by the board on 8 January 2025

9

Open Access Book Collective Detailed profit and loss account items for the period from 19 December 2023 to 31 October 2024

This schedule does not form part of the statutory accounts

Turnover
Fees from institutions
Fees from providers
Recharged expenses
Other income
Development Fund contributions
Grants and donations
Interest receivable
Grants and donations
Collective Development Fund
Staff and subcontractor costs
Wages, pensions, social security and subcontractor costs
Payroll overheads
Other charges
General administrative expenses:
Admin
Bank charges/(cashback)
Conferences/events
Equipment
IT Costs
Legal and accounting
Network engagement
OBC board translations
Platform development
Travel and subsistence
Exchange gains		 2024
£
20,127
24,349
-
44,476
20,387
208,408
692
229,487
1,369
112,640
703
113,343
494
(172)
6,628
-
1,391
13,336
10,000
1,404
20,000
13,821
(869)
66,033
66,033		 2023
£
7,751
11,157
936
19,844
8,340
133,045
-
141,385
415
52,321
2,534
54,855
13
97
4,443
483
188
6,585
10,000
-
40,000
6,547
(836)
67,520
67,520

10

Open Access Book Collective Detailed balance sheet items as at 31 October 2024

This schedule does not form part of the statutory accounts

Current assets
Trade debtors
Cash at bank
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Trade creditors
Platform providers
Corporation tax
Other creditors
Accruals and deferred income
Deferred income
Capital and reserves
Profit and loss account
Profit and loss account
Brought forward
Profit		 2024
£
94,840
212,408
307,248
2,776
27,291
-
3,115
33,182
144,231
129,835
36,617
93,218
129,835		 2023
£
8,060
93,483
101,543
139
21,870
9,206
3,975
35,190
29,736
36,617
5,981
30,636
36,617

11