I had the honor of being elected WSO Treasurer at the 2013 ABC in Denmark. At the same time, a Treasury Committee was formed to help broaden the perspective of the Treasurer role.

Committee Members:

  • Allen C., WSO Trustee elected at the 2013 ABC, from Oklahoma City
  • Martin C., ACA Member from the UK
  • Luke J., ACA Member from New York, was added in May 2013 and participated through early September

We meet via Skype and with few exceptions, we’ve met twice per month since June 2013.

Mission Statement:

The mission of the Treasury Committee is to inventory the financial state of the WSO on an ongoing basis while maintaining transparency. In doing so, all financially-related processes are examined and suggestions are made to the WSO Board. All tasks are done with the primary purpose of keeping the fellowship financially stable and healthy so that the message continues to be carried to ACAs throughout the world.

We have built on work of previous Treasurer’s, most recently Scott R. and Phyllis R. from Prescott, AZ, and Jeneane S. from Atlanta. We have continued their tradition of transparency to help the fellowship and the Board understand WSO’s financial better.

I am presenting two typical financial statements that Corporations publish at their Annual Meetings - the Balance Sheet and the Profit and Loss (P&L) Statement. They show the state of WSO finances at year end (2013) as compared to the previous year (2012).

Balance Sheet

WSO Assets and Liabilities.

Page 1, last line: WSO Total Assets increased by almost $90,000 during 2013, an approximate 50% increase over 2012. By comparison, the change from 2011 to 2012 was 5.7%.  

Checking and Savings now show designation of funds into several categories.

  • This shows how the Board is planning ahead for future needs of our growing global fellowship.
  • We continue to maintain a Prudent Reserve: now set at $45,000, based on current operations.

We have few fixed assets (furniture, fixtures and equipment). Most of the furniture we currently have was donated early on.

Profit and Loss Statement

Before we did anything else last summer, we began to separate the costs and expenses of the physical process of selling literature from other WSO incoming and outgoing funds. The two cost centers are the Distribution Center (DC) and the WSO (for lack of a better name.) The main purposes of this separation were to

  • Help determine at a glance if the DC is self-supporting or not, and by how much.
  • Help the Board make more informed decisions about Distribution and other WSO needs.

The Distribution Center

Income: Sales are broken out by category of item. Where Cost of Goods (CGS) sold used to be a separate section, the Committee moved those CGS figures into their corresponding categories to have a clearer picture of sales for each type of item. Note that California sales are listed separately because of sales tax charged for California sales.

An improvement in the inventory process in 2013 had a seemingly negative impact the following two categories because some errors were discovered. This should not be repeated in future years.

  • “Other Literature” looks like there was a far larger CGS in 2013
  • “Inventory Shrinkage” was about $1,400 but $0 in 2012

Income also includes funds collected for shipping and handling as we carry it on the books until the shipping is actually paid to the carriers.

Expenses: this section shows what shipping costs were paid. The current website doesn’t reflect the actual costs, which is why many purchasers are issued refunds to bring them more in line with what WSO is charged. The new shopping cart will fix this.

DC Net Income on the last line of page 2 compares the Gross Profit for the DC to the direct Expenses. This then tells us how profitable the DC is by itself. In 2012 the DC would have shown a loss of $24,000. We stayed in business because it was subsidized by 7th Tradition Contributions and eBook sales. However, that was the expectation of how it would be in the beginning. It was like any start-up business.

We turned the corner in 2013. The DC showed a profit of just over $54,000. Along with increased sales, expenses were decreased because of improved processes and some personnel changes. In 2012 we had a full-time manager and seven part-time people who worked anywhere from 10 to 30 hours per week. Now there are four part-time people who average from 15 to 32 hours per week. We will be hiring a manager again, although that person may be part-time at first. In the meantime, Larry, our Chair, and I have filled in.  

WSO Cost Center

7th Tradition contributions increased in 2013 along with a large increase in eBook sales. But the eBook didn’t debut until August of 2012.

As I mentioned, this cost center is for anything that isn’t directly related to the physical selling of Books from the DC.

ABC to ABC Reports

Because the fellowship is used to getting reports that account for the time of April 1 of the previous year through March 31 of the current year, those documents (an abbreviated Balance Sheet and P&L Statement) are also included for comparison. Of note is the much larger bottom line that is directly attributable to the sale of the Meditation Book.

Other Committee Changes/Accomplishments/Discussions:

  • Created the first WSO Budget     
  • Established a Purchase Order System for the Office and the Board
  • Strongly suggested that the Shopping Cart be replaced as soon as possible
  • Recommended process improvements in the Office
  • Recommended Staff raises
  • Discussed Product pricing
  • Worked with Accountant to prepare a proper set of Year-End corporate financials
  • Discussed wholesale discounts
  • Began to benchmark salary information for new hires

Also included in this section is a list of 7th Tradition donations for 2013.

As I move into my second year in this role and the Committee begins its second year together, Allen, Martin and I look forward to further improving the financial systems and transparency of ACA WSO.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Jo L., ACA WSO Treasurer