## **THE SCOTTISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY**
## **TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS**
## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024**
**SCOTTISH CHARITY NUMBER: SC021757**
## **Henderson Black & Co**
CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS, ST ANDREWS
## **THE SCOTTISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY**
## **Report and Financial Statements**
## _**for the year ended 31 December 2024**_
|**Contents**|**Page**|
|---|---|
|Trustees’ Annual Report|1 – 4|
|Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees|5|
|Statement of Financial Activities|6|
|Balance Sheet|7|
|Statement of Cash Flows|8|
|Notes forming part of the Financial Statements|9 - 10|
**THE SCOTTISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY**
## **Trustees’ Annual Report**
## _**for the year ended 31 December 2024**_
The trustees present their annual report and financial statements of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2024. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity’s constitution, the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland effective from 1 January 2019 (FRS 102).
## **Objectives and activities for the public benefit**
The charitable purposes of the Society are:
- a) to advance the study and teaching of economics on the widest basis, in accordance with the Scottish tradition of political economy inspired by Adam Smith.
- b) to provide a forum for the discussion of Scottish economic problems and their relationship to the political and social life of Scotland.
And in pursuit of the foregoing objects the Society will undertake:
- a) to publish the Scottish Journal of Political Economy on terms consistent with the objects of the Society and at intervals to be agreed by the Council of the Society and a commercial publishing company selected by Council for the purpose.
- b) to arrange the publication of reprints of Scottish economic classics and such other works as may appear to the Council of the Society to be appropriate.
- c) to promote the understanding of economic issues in general, and of Scottish economic issues in particular, by means such as conferences, support for research or other study of economics, or other activities deemed proper by the Council of the Society.
The Society furthers its purposes for the public benefit through its events and grant-making policy which seek to provide as much benefit as possible across the foregoing purposes.
## **Monitoring achievement**
The trustees have procedures for monitoring the success of the activities which result from their events, publications and the grants they award.
The Society supported the following activities during the year:
- The Editors’ Fund to support the Scottish Journal of Political Economy;
- The 2024 Annual Conference of the Society;
- The Student-Teachers’ Event in collaboration with the Economics Network;
- Small grants for Research and Conference Travel;
- Ongoing financial support to the Economics Network;
- Representation of the Society within the Academy of Social Sciences and the International Economic Association;
- Representation of the Society vis-à-vis other learned bodies including the Royal Economic Society and the Scottish Graduate Programme Group Economics Heads of Departments
The membership of the Society at 31 December 2024 was 228 (2023 - 379).
The Society continued its main activities in 2024. The Society held its annual academic conference in Spring 2024 in-person hosted by the University of Glasgow. The Student-Teachers’ Event (Autumn 2024) was held as a virtual event through a series of short online video resources, following continued feedback from participants. The Society will review these, and other past activities, over the course of 2025 to ensure that they provide the most effective means of fulfilling the charitable objects of the Society as described above.
The Society continued to be members of the Academy of Social Sciences and the International Economic Association in 2024.
1
**THE SCOTTISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY**
## **Trustees’ Annual Report**
## _**for the year ended 31 December 2024**_
## **Financial review**
In the year ended 31 December 2024 there was a net increase in funds of £15,441 (2023 - £33,306). Total funds carried forward amounted to £248,279 (2023 - £232,838).
## **Investment policy and performance**
Throughout the year any cash balances not immediately required were held on bank deposit and the trustees are satisfied with the interest earned compared with their expectations.
## **Reserves Policy**
The trustees aim to maintain a level of reserves appropriate to cover commitments and projected expenses for a year ahead and to provide for any unexpected expenditure. Reserves at the year end amounted to £248,279 (of which £155,685 was in cash) which the trustees consider to be satisfactory for these purposes and to address the risk described below. All reserves are unrestricted.
## **Risk Management**
The potential threat to the Society’s revenue stream from the Open Access policy for scientific publication continues to be subject of regular review in consultation with Wiley as the Society’s publisher, with reduced potential for any immediate threat to subscription revenue streams into the future. Nevertheless, the trustees will continue to monitor the situation closely.
## **Structure, Governance and Management**
The charity is an unincorporated society governed by its constitution agreed on 19 March 1968 and revised on 9 April 1996 and 14 October 1998.
The officers of the Society shall be a President, a President-Elect, an Editor or Editors of the Journal, a Secretary and a Treasurer who, ex officio with ten other members, shall form a Council, which, subject to any instructions given by a resolution passed at a General Meeting of the Society, shall be entitled to manage the affairs of the Society.
The Council, in association with the Editor or Editors of the Journal, may appoint from the membership of the Society an Editorial Advisory Board of such size and composition and for such period as may be deemed appropriate for the purpose of advising the Editor or editors on matters of Journal policy and editorial direction. Members of this Board need not be members of Council. Contracting with commercial managers, printers and publishers shall nonetheless remain matters for determination by Council on the recommendation of the Editor or Editors.
## **Recruitment of trustees**
The President shall hold office for a maximum period of three years and shall not be eligible for re-election as President, but shall automatically become an Honorary Member at the end of the term of office. The President-Elect shall likewise be elected for a maximum of three years and shall normally succeed to the Presidency, subject to the approval of the Council and a General Meeting, when that office falls vacant.
The Managing Editor shall remain a member of Council until demission of office or appointment or a replacement by Council. The Secretary and Treasurer shall normally hold office for three years but shall be eligible for re-election; the Council may subject to their agreement extend their terms of office should this be necessary to avoid an office falling vacant before an Annual General Meeting. Other members of Council shall normally retain membership for three years; they shall be eligible for re-election but may not retain membership continuously for more than six years.
2
**THE SCOTTISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY**
## **Trustees’ Annual Report**
## _**for the year ended 31 December 2024**_
Any casual vacancy on Council may be filled by co-option by the Council on receipt of a proposal from an Officer of the Society. Such co-option shall be subject to confirmation by the following Annual General Meeting. The Council may co-opt up to three persons to assist the Council in its management of the affairs of the Society but such persons shall not have the right to vote at meetings of the Council. The Council may appoint other members of the Society to serve in other capacities as it may from time to time direct, but such appointments shall not confer membership of the Council.
If any Officer of the Society or any other Council member is deemed by Council to be unfit to carry out their duties to the Society on good cause shown, the Council may propose to a General Meeting of the Society that the individual be removed from Office or Council membership. A simple majority vote shall be required regarding the Officer or other Council member concerned.
## **Reference and administrative information**
Scottish Charity number: SC021757 Secretary and address of , Business School, University of Aberdeen, Administrative Office: Kings’s College, Aberdeen, AB24 3QY Independent Examiner , Henderson Black & Co, Chestney House, 149 Market Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9PF Bankers Royal Bank of Scotland plc, 113 – 115 South Street, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9QB Publishers John Wiley & Son, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ
## **Trustees and Office Bearers**
The trustees serving throughout the year and since the year end were as follows:
President of the Society Secretary Treasurer Managing Editor
## **Other Members of the Council:**
(resigned April 2024)
(resigned April 2024)
(resigned April 2024) (appointed April 2024) (resigned April 2024)
(Co-opted Member) (Co-opted Member) (Co-opted Member)
3
THE SCOThISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY
Trustees, Annual Report
for the year ended 31 December 2024
Trustees. responsibilities in relation to the financial statements
The charity Iruslees are responsib lor preparing a trustees, annual Teport and financi slalemenls in
accordance with applicabb law and United lQ"rrfJdom AccountirrfJ Standards (United Kingdorn Generally
Aec8ptad Accounting Practicgl.
The law applicablo lo charilk8S in S¢olland requires tho ¢harity Iruslotrs lo prepare linancial slalemenls lor
each year which gwe a true and lair vithy ol the stale ol aflairs ol th8 charity and ol the income and
expenditure ol the chanty lor that pefiod. In preparirvJ Ihe linarrAal slatements, the trustees are required lo..
select suilabb accounting Pol¥ arvj then MPty thom consi$tentty;
observe methods and princip8 in the appIab Charit*s SOFIP;
make judpmenls and estimates that are rgasonabb and prudenl.,
stale whether appIab accounting slandards he followed, subject lo any material
d8parlures disclosed and explained in the finar1 statements,. arKI
prepare th8 linancial stalemenls on the Ing corIn basis unless il is inappropriate to presume
that the charity will continue in opgralion.
The Iruslees are responSie lor keeping prowr accounliTrJ records which dis¢bse with roasonable
accuracy al ary lirne financial position ol charity and lo enable I1rn lo ensure that financial
slaternents comply with the Charitk?s and Truslee Investment Iscotlandl Acl 2005 and Charities
Accounts (Scollandl Regulations 26 las amendedl and Ihe provisions ol the charity Conslitulion. They
are also reSponsie lor safeguarding the assels ol Ihe charty and taking reasonable steps lor the
prevgntion and delgc*'on ol fraud an¢J olhor irrggularrt*&
The Irusle65 are responsibb lof Ihtr maintenanc* and integrity ol the charty the financial inlormalitsn
included on the charity's website. LegislalKJn in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and
dissemination ol financral stalements may dilfer Irorn g¢slatIon in other jurisdictions.
Approved ty tho Iruslges on 9 April 2025 and Sydnod on Ihoir behalt by..
reasurer
**THE SCOTTISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY**
## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of The Scottish Economic Society**
I report on the accounts of the charity for the year ended 31 December 2024 which are set out on pages 6 to 10.
## **Respective Responsibilities of the Trustees and Examiner**
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). The charity trustees consider that the audit requirement of Regulation 10(1)(a) to (c) of the Accounts Regulations does not apply. It is my responsibility to examine the accounts as required under section 44(1)(c) of the Act and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
This report is made to the trustees, as a body, in accordance with the terms of my engagement. My work has been undertaken so that I might state to the trustees those matters I am required to state to them in an independent examiner’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, I do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the trustees for my work or for this report.
## **Basis of Independent Examiner’s Statement**
My examination is carried out in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended). 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 seeks 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 I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts.
## **Independent Examiner’s Statement**
In the course of my examination no matter has come to my attention:
1. which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: • to keep accounting records in accordance with Section 44 (1)(a) of the 2005 Act and Regulation 4 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations, and
- to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with Regulation 8 of the 2006 Accounts Regulations have not been met, or
2. to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
**Partner Henderson Black & Co Chartered Accountants 11 April 2025**
**Chestney House 149 Market Street St Andrews Fife KY16 9PF**
5
## **THE SCOTTISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY**
## **Statement of Financial Activities**
## _**for the year ended 31 December 2024**_
|**Notes**
**Income:**
_Income from charitable activities:_
Royalties - Wiley
Conference income
_Investment income:_
Interest on deposits
**Total income**
**Expenditure**
_Expenditure on charitable activities:_
Grants and operating expenses
**3**
**Total expenditure**
**Net income and net movement**
**in funds for the year**
**Reconciliation of funds**
Total funds brought forward
**Total funds carried forward**|**2024**
**£**
91,302
52,325
2,518
146,145
130,704
130,704
15,441
232,838
248,279|**2023**
**£**
94,589
20,070
1,703|
|---|---|---|
|||116,362|
|||83,056|
|||83,056|
|||33,306
199,532|
|||232,838|
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derives from continuing activities.
All funds are unrestricted.
The notes on pages 9 to 10 form an integral part of these accounts.
6
THE scorrisH ECONOMIC SOCIETY
Balance Sheet
as at 31 December 2024
2024
2023
Not•s
Currnnt assets
Debtors
Cash al bank ard in hand
93,378
155,685
249.063
99,044
134.536
233,580
Llabilitie$
Crodltors: amounts falllng duo
wlthin on8 81
Creditors and accruals
Nel currenl assets
Total ngt as$gt$1g8$ ¢urront Ilablllllgs
742
248,279
248,279
232.838
232,838
Roprgs•nlod by tho lund8 of tho ¢harlty:
Unrèslricl8d funds
Rèvenue account
Total fundg
248.279
48.279
232,838
32,838
Apk¥oved by the trustees and aulhorised for issue 9 April 2025.
Thè notos cn pa$ g to 10 lomi an intègrd part of accounts.
## **THE SCOTTISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY**
## **Statement of Cash Flows**
## _**for the year ended 31 December 2024**_
||**2024**|**2023**|
|---|---|---|
||**£**|**£**|
|**Cash provided by operating activities (see below)**|18,631|9,535|
|**Cash flows from investing activities:**|||
|Investment income|2,518|1,703|
|**Net cash provided by investing activities**|2,518|1,703|
|**Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year**|21,149|11,238|
|Cash and cash equivalents brought forward|134,536|123,298|
|**Cash and cash equivalents carried forward**|155,685|134,536|
|**Analysis of changes in net debt**|||
||**£**|**£**|
|Cash at 1 January|134,536|123,298|
|Cash flows in year|21,149|11,238|
|Cash at 31 December|155,685|134,536|
|**Reconciliation of net movement in funds to net cash flow**|**from operating activities**||
||**2024**|**2023**|
||**£**|**£**|
|Net movement in funds|15,441|33,306|
|Deduct investment income shown in investing activities|(2,518)|(1,703)|
|Decrease/(increase) in debtors|5,666|(22,150)|
|Increase in creditors|42|82|
|**Net cash provided by operating activities**|18,631|9,535|
8
## **THE SCOTTISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements** _**for the year ended 31 December 2024**_
## **1 Accounting Policies**
- The principal accounting policies adopted, judgements and key sources of estimation uncertainty in the preparation of the financial statements are as follows:
## **1.1 Basis of Accounting**
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019) - Charities SORP (FRS 102) and the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (as amended).
The Scottish Economic Society meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS 102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy note(s).
These accounts are presented in pounds sterling, the functional currency of the society. Rounding is to the nearest £.
The trustees consider that there are no material uncertainties about the Society's ability to continue as a going concern.
## **1.2 Taxation**
The charity is exempt from tax on income and gains falling to the extent that these are applied to its charitable objects.
## **1.3 Funds structure**
All of the charity's funds are unrestricted. Unrestricted income funds comprise those funds which the trustees are free to use for any purpose in furtherance of the charitable objects. Unrestricted funds include designated funds where the trustees, at their discretion, have created a fund for a specific purpose.
## **1.4 Income recognition**
Income is recognised when the charity has entitlement to the funds, any performance conditions attached to the item(s) of income have been met, it is probable the income will be received and the amount can be measured reliably.
## **1.5 Expenditure and irrecoverable VAT**
Expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation to make a payment to a third party, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Irrecoverable VAT is charged as a cost against the activity for which the expenditure was incurred.
## **1.6 Judgements in applying accounting policies and key sources of estimation**
In the application of the charity's accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily available from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees have made the following judgements: Accruals
Trustees estimate the requirements for accruals using post year end information. This identifies costs that are expected to be incurred for services provided by other parties. Accruals are only released when there is a reasonable expectation that these costs will not be invoiced in the future.
## **1.7 Tangible fixed assets and depreciation**
All tangible fixed assets, having a value to the charity greater than one year, other than those acquired for specific purposes, are capitalised. Depreciation is provided on a straight-line basis to write off the cost or initial value, less residual value, of tangible fixed assets as follows: Computer equipment - 3 years.
9
## **THE SCOTTISH ECONOMIC SOCIETY**
## **Notes to the Financial Statements** _**for the year ended 31 December 2024 (continued)**_
## **2 Employees and Trustees and their remuneration**
## **2.1 Employees**
There were no employees during the year (2023 - none).
## **2.2 Trustees**
The Managing Editor, who is a Trustee, was paid a stipend of £2,500 (2023 - £2,500).
. Expenses amounting to £212 (2023 - £1,931) were reimbursed to trustees and other Council Members on submission of valid receipts.
|**3**
**Expenditure on charitable activities**
Annual lecture and conference expenses
Grants and prizes (see below)
Journal - Secretarial and Editorial expenses
Office bearers' expenses
Cost of Journal for members
Merchandise
Computer running expenses
Subscriptions
Bank charges
Independent Examiner's fee
The Cairncross prize
Other grants and prizes
The Economics Network
**4**
**Debtors and prepayments**
Due from Wiley
Prepayments
**5**
**Creditors and accruals**
**Creditors**
Other creditors
**Accruals**
Independent Examiner's fee
_To institutions:_
_To individuals:_
_Grants and prizes:_|**2024**
**£**
67,215
16,571
40,748
212
1,360
-
2,470
1,326
40
762
130,704
1,000
8,571
9,571
7,000
16,571
**2024**
**£**
91,302
2,076
93,378
**2024**
**£**
28
756
784|**2023**
**£**
11,569
14,000
40,529
1,931
9,947
2,752
165
1,293
102
768|
|---|---|---|
|||83,056|
|||2,000
5,000|
|||7,000
7,000|
|||14,000|
|||**2023**
**£**
94,589
4,455|
|||99,044|
|||**2023**
**£**
28
714|
|||742|
10