Selsig Musical Theatre Society – Audit Report 2024-2025
Auditors - Ffion Jones and Elyn Stephens
Treasurer – Robert Huxton
The 2025 Audit took place on the morning of the 16[th] of August 2025 at Thomastown Community Centre, CF39 8DS.
Overview:
This year has been a positive one for the society, with another excellent production and a RAFT performance which audiences enjoyed. We are pleased to share that the society made a profit last year, however, we feel it is important to note that the amount of profit reduced significantly compared to last year. As we alluded to in our previous report, we were concerned about a drop in the number of performing members and lower ticket sales due to ‘9to5’ being less prominent than the previous productions of ‘Grease’ and ‘Legally Blonde’, and this became the reality. And so for the society to still make a profit for the financial year, we should be commended.
Emerging from a successful financial year in 2023-24, the Society has made a further £703.26 profit in 2024-25. In 2023-24, the Society made £4200 profit, 92% emerging from Legally Blonde. 9 to 5 made a loss of £1471.48. To put this into perspective at a £17.50 ticket cost, we would have needed to sell an additional 85 tickets, averaging just over 20 per show to break even. Again, we would like to re-iterate that this was anticipated in last year's audit and by the production team, and for the Society to still make an overall yearly profit is commendable.
In our last audit report, we expressed concerns that the level of fundraising had decreased. It is clear from this year's accounts that a great effort has been made to increase fundraising. We recommended last year that the Society invest in a card machine. This recommendation was implemented and has been successful. More members are contributing to the bonus ball / weekly raffles / cupcake sales / musical theatre squares by paying on the card machine, rather than solely relying on those who carry cash. While much of the money given to fundraising is still from members, designated raffles to Halloween, Christmas and Valentines sold well within the local community. This year, Fundraising, Hoodies and DVDs combined, made the Society £1832.99. We’d like to take this moment to thank everyone who organised and contributed to these fundraising drives.
Financial Audit:
This was the second audit for the current Auditors and the third for our Treasurer. We were once again impressed by the Treasurer’s impeccable organisation and bookkeeping of the account. The documents were once again presented in a clear and concise way making it easy to cross reference income and expenditure and ensure the accounts matched payments on the bank statements and invoices.
The treasurer answered any questions raised by us on specific queries regarding expenditure and we were satisfied with responses. We confirmed the money in the bank at the end of the audit period matched that on the accounts. We are pleased to report a clean financial audit for 2024-25 and would like to thank our Treasurer Rob Huxton for making this process run smoothly.
Recommendatons:
Recommendation 1: Our first recommendation in last year’s report was clear guidance and support for any members taking over new roles within the Society. At the time of writing, we as auditors have no knowledge that this recommendation has been implemented.
We again recommend that all committee roles have clear job descriptions and guidance published to the society well in advance of an AGM to encourage more members to feel confident to seek nomination of roles on the committee, giving broader representation.
Recommendation 2: It was encouraging to see Selsig asked to perform in the ‘Concert of Remembrance’ in the Park and Dare and the ‘Rhondda Arts Festival’ (RAFT), and we were also pleased to note that the cost of membership was reduced following last year's recommendations. We are concerned however, that performing members are not receiving the full benefit of their membership, when it comes to all opportunities in performing for Selsig.
Although we recognise that in some cases, short notice can sometimes impose limitations, we are concerned about how the Remembrance Concert was communicated. Members were informed at only one rehearsal and asked to join in a few group numbers, while individual performers—who appeared to have been seemingly asked in advance—provided the majority of the programme with solos and duets.
For many performing members, the first awareness of the RAFT concert came not from the Society, but from RAFT’s own publicity. The lack of communication meant that members were denied the opportunity to participate. While we understand the challenges of scheduling and organisation, we are concerned that this may reflect a recurring pattern. From a financial perspective, it also raises questions about whether all performing members are receiving equal opportunities and benefits in return for their membership fees.
We therefore recommend that, whenever the Society is performing at an external event beyond the usual productions, all members are notified as early as possible. This will ensure fairer participation and a wider range of opportunities for everyone.
Recommendation 3: As highlighted by the fundraising drives mentioned earlier in this report, the local community has continued to show strong support for the Society. We recommend that future fundraising initiatives seek to engage the wider community more actively, rather than relying predominantly on members. We firmly believe that additional income generated in this way would not only strengthen the Society’s financial position, but also deepen our connection with the public and encourage new membership.
We support the continuation of public raffles and further recommend the establishment of an annual fundraising concert. Such an event would allow members to gain greater value from their performing membership, showcase the full breadth of the Society’s talent to the community, and generate additional income for the Society.
Audit Conclusion:
The current Society account is in a healthy position, with funds currently standing at just under £56,500 with the average cost of a production falling between £30,000-£35,000, the Society has a healthy reserve in the bank.
Looking forward to the next production, we should be optimistic that ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ could be another big seller, following in the footsteps of ‘Grease’ and ‘Legally Blonde’. We will also welcome new performers by staging a show featuring roles played by children. This not only provides them with valuable experience but also encourages them to become future members of the society once they are old enough to participate in adult productions. However, careful consideration should be given to the presence of young performers on stage, including the need for appropriate chaperones and licensing.
In preparation for this report, we reviewed our previous Audit report. We request that members have an update on the 2023-24 audit report recommendations.
We have another exciting year ahead and want to thank all members for continued support and dedication to the society. We look forward to what will hopefully be another successful production and a successful financial year for the Society.