Harrietsham Village Hall Trust
Treasurer’s Report for the year January 2023 – December 2023
The twelve months of 2023 saw the Village Hall take a significant step towards an improved financial position, although there remains a long way to go, with some significant hurdles to overcome.
Income, (minus deposits), rose from £31,624 in 2022 to £35,597 in 2023 – a 12.5% increase, mostly due to increased hall hire (up by over £5,200).
Expenditure, on the other hand, declined from its 2022 level of £41,547 to £29,301 (both excluding deposit repayments) – a drop of about 30%. The various categories of expenditure can be seen in the accounts, but as a general rule of thumb, those areas over which we have some control have gone down or remain about the same, those over which we have no control have increased.
On the face of it, therefore, the hall made a total operating profit for the year of some £6,700, which rises to about £7,500 once outstanding recoverable debtors (unpaid hires) are taken into account.
However, this apparently rosy position is somewhat undermined once one considers the input from the parish council. In the same period – ie 2023 – the council paid invoices for urgent work to the value of £7,784. The council, though, can claim back the VAT portion of invoices, whereas the hall cannot, so the cost to the Trust, had they paid for this work, would have been £9,340. This more than wipes out the “profit” described above, and means that the Trust really ran at a loss of £1,840.
Moreover, as part of the council’s assistance to the Trust, council staff have been seconded to provide administration support. In practice, this means that the Clerk has been organizing and minuting Trustee meetings and arranging for the huge amount of remedial work that the hall required. The council’s Responsible Finance Officer, meanwhile, has been conducting all the financial work for the Trust, including invoicing, paying bills, and accounting for income and expenditure. This staff time has been considerable, and accounts for a considerable extra amount of expenditure not previously covered.
It is hoped, though, that the introduction of a new hall-booking system will reduce the administration burden somewhat.
As this report opened, it can be seen that the situation is improving significantly from that which the Council inherited, but there is still a long way to go, not least in the provision of affordable, long-term resource for the Trust’s administration and financial requirements.
Mike Cuerden Acting Treasurer April 2024.
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Harrietsham Village Hall Trust
Income & Expenditure Summary
for 2023
2022 Income 2023
19,253.50 Hall hire - regular 26,128.00
6,151.00 Hall hire - one off 4,493.00
6,640.00 Deposits 6,200.00
6,214.37 Miscellaneous 3,900.00
5.33 Bank interest 76.88
38,264.20 40,797.88
Expenditure
5,380.00 Deposit refunded 4,800.00
1,770.00 Fees refunded 600.00
8,859.19 Utilities 9,766.21
1,996.99 Insurance 2,122.70
600.98 Broadband/mobiles 923.38
1,284.99 Licences 432.61
1,076.65 Sundries 3,808.00
12,856.66 Repairs & Maintenance 8,879.48
1,952.92 Staff - caretaker
2,123.00 Staff - cleaner
3,232.00 Staff - Booking Sec 2,628.65
666.00 Fund raising 140.00 Operating
5,128.00 Transfers Profit::
46,927.38 34,101.03 6,696.85
Bank Reconciliation
January Current Account 6,375.96
January Deposit Account 2,191.22
8,567.18
plus income 40,797.88
minus expenditure 34,101.03
15,264.03
EOM December Current Account 3,995.93
EOM December Deposit Account 11,268.10
15,264.03
Difference 0.00
Unpaid invoices (debtors):
Freedom Dance Collective 495.00
Kent Adult Education - Art (2 x invoices) 210.00 total
Pulse Health - NHS Diabetes 65.25 profit
Total expected rcoverable 770.25 7,467.10
Psychic Development (I part invoice £32 + 1 invoice) 72.00
In 2023, Harrietsham Parish Council paid (exc VAT)
Plumbing 1,832.51 Electrical work 5,277.50
Curtains 296.00 Service of Fire System 349.26
Misc 28.75 This amounts to a HPC subsidy of :: 7,784.02
plus HPC staff time for administration. plus VAT
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Statement of Outstanding Loans:
As of 31st December 2023, The Village Hall Trust owed the Parish Council:
£91,204 on a loan structured to finish in 2046 and
- £46,248 on a loan structured to finish in 2049
Report to the trustees of Harrietsham Village Hall Trust (registered charity number 283009) on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023 I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (Yhe Trust") for the year ended 31 December 2023. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 ("the Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent examinerfs statement I have completed my examination. I confitm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination which give me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance wtth section 130 of the Act; or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records. I have no cOnrnS and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. I have examined these accounts and they are in accordan with the documents presented for my inspection. In my opinion they are correct Signed: Date: 202£ Name.. Michael Gear Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any): By experien of accountancy Address.. Little Hatch, Ashford Road, Harrietsham, Kent ME17 1AJ