WORLD JERSEY CATTLE BUREAU

TREASURER’S REPORT FOR THE 2006 COUNCIL MEETING IN SWITZERLAND

by Steve Le Feuvre (Jersey Island)

 Having taken over the position of Treasurer in July 2005, due to logistics and work commitments of both myself and the out-going Treasurer, I took possession of all the accounts material in September 2005.

Accountant/Auditors
My first task was to have a meeting with the accountants and auditors, Alex Picot (Chartered Accountants). I had been alarmed by some of the wording in the “Independent auditor’s report to the members of the World Jersey Cattle Bureau”, and wished to work towards a more satisfactory position from an auditing perspective. During the meeting it was suggested that the WJCB accounts might be better kept on a day-to-day basis in a traditional manual ledger system, due to the fact that there were relatively few entries on a year-to-year basis.

Following this I carried out an investigation into alternative firms with a view to attempting to reduce the costs of producing annual accounts and audit. It soon became apparent that we were being served very well by our present auditors, and were being charged a figure well below the actual cost of the work entailed. Total number of hours taken to produce the accounts and audit are in the region of twenty, and for this one would expect to receive a bill for at least £1,200 whereas we are currently being charged £650 for this service. David Picot, senior partner of Alex Picot (Chartered Accountants) has since indicated that he is happy to keep his fee at £650.

Income
The collection of member country annual fees has clearly been a huge problem in the past, and I would urge all countries who owe back fees to settle their accounts as soon as possible, and to pay fees in the future as soon as they can in the year they are due.

The 2005 accounts were “saved” by the fantastic amount contributed by Jersey Canada in the form of the 5% of delegate fees from the World Conference held in June, totalling £12,162. However, as this amount was not actually received during the financial year, it is displayed in the accounts as part of sundry debtors

The proceeds of the La Ferme Open Day are now paid directly in to the Lord Jersey Research Trust, and there was an adjustment in the 2005 accounts to backdate this to be effective from 2004 (see £1,863 donation in the first line of Expenses), as per the wishes of the Perchard family who kindly run the open day at their farm in St. Martin, Jersey.

Expenses
The “running expenses” were kept under control and it is very important that this continues into the future. I would therefore urge Council to ensure that any decisions made are done so very much with consequential cost in mind.

The World Jersey Research News was prepared as usual by the Scientific Advisor, but was not printed in 2005, and this is reflected in savings of around £2,500. Decisions will be made in Switzerland as to the future of this publication. The 2005 and 2006 editions are ready for publication once the format to be used is decided on.

The “Youth Scholarship Fund” is comprised of two programmes of the WJCB – namely the WJCB Youth Travel Scholarship (re-named from the International Youth Exchange Programme) and the International Young Jersey Breeder Educational Travel Award (JETA). Members must be conscious that the two programmes cost a net £5,998 for 2005. JETA will only take place every three years at the time of World Conferences but, for the future, a figure of around £7,500 must be budgeted for this, effectively adding around £2,500 per year to costs of  running the Bureau.

Fund Raising
In conclusion, I make a plea to all member countries to react to the challenge I made during the World Conference in Canada in June 2005. The Bureau needs additional funds if it is to run all the programmes currently in place. I would like to see all WJCB member countries raising funds for the WJCB on an annual basis, and there are so many ways that this can be achieved. Farm open days (as is done in Jersey Island every year in August) are a very good way of spreading the word about the WJCB; obtaining donations of heifers in sales where the proceeds are earmarked to go to the WJCB, or even just pledging a small proportion of the whole sale proceeds; running a raffle (with donated prizes) at national or area meetings; etc. In Canada I set a target figure for 2006 of £400 per year for each national member, and I very much hope that this can be achieved by most countries.

Conclusion
Whilst the financial position of the World Jersey Cattle Bureau is fairly healthy at present, all Life Members and country members must be aware that any decisions made regarding future activities or involvement of the Bureau, are bound to have financial implications. The more money that members can raise for the Bureau and/or the Lord Jersey Research Trust, the greater will be the flexibility open to the organisation to decide upon future projects and programmes.