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Treasurer's Report
Financial year ending 31 July 2011
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\noindent
Expenditure during the year was roughly in line with that of previous years.
The membership fee of \pounds 10 was sufficient to ensure that income matched
the expenditure; there was a shortfall of some \pounds 1300 in the previous
year. This year, there was a surplus of \pounds 134, leading to a theoretical
Corporation Tax liability of some \pounds 28, as shown in the accounts. As this
is still well below the limit that would cause HMRC to change UK-TUG's status
from a \enquote{dormant} to an \enquote{active} voluntary association, no
action needs to be taken at present. The accumulated funds (assets less all
liabilities) amounted at the year end to just over \pounds 10,000, or about
three years' expenditure at the current rate.

As explained in the Notes to the Accounts, UK-TUG is a voluntary association
whose purposes are charitable (educational and scientific). It cannot register
as a charity, because its annual gross income is less than the minimum \pounds
5000 threshold required. Nevertheless, the accounting principles adopted are
those applicable to charities, as set out in the Statement of Recommended
Practice of the Charities Act.

UK-TUG's constitution requires independent examination of its accounts. Since
2007, there is no requirement for annual scrutiny of the accounts of charities
whose annual income is less than \pounds 10,000. Indeed, if an independent
examiner has been appointed and finds that the income is less than this figure,
the examiner is required to refer back to the committee of Trustees for
explicit confirmation that the examination should proceed. This is no doubt
because other changes introduced since 2006 greatly increase the requirements,
and hence the cost, of independent examination for charities that do require
it. A professional firm of accountants with the necessary qualifications (which
many small firms no longer have) would charge in the region of \pounds
750-\pounds 1000.

For these reasons, I have recommended to the committee that the Constitution be
changed so that a formal independent examination is no longer required, as the
financial implications would be severe if we were obliged to appoint a
professionally qualified independent examiner and pay normal professional fees
at the current level. The committee will bring forward proposals to ensure that
a satisfactory level of scrutiny takes place, for the protection of the
Treasurer and the committee as well as for members at large.

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John Peters\\
UK-TUG Treasurer
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