St Andrew’s Parish Church, Coatbridge

Commentary on 2003 Accounts and 2004 Budget

This document should be read in conjunction with the Financial Statements for St Andrew’s Parish Church, Coatbridge for the year to 31 December 2003.

General Fund - Income

Freewill Offering	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Freewill Offering	£ 61,232	£ 62,000	£ 63,099	£ 64,000
In 2003 we saw an increase of 3% in freewill offering giving, our main source of income. This increase was greater than the rate of inflation. We hope to increase givings further in 2004 and have set the budget at a 1.4% increase to £64,000.

Tax Recovered	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Tax Recovered	£ 9,057	£ 9,000	£ 8,907	£ 9,000
Due to the timing of some givings we saw a decrease of 1.7% in our tax reclaim in 2003. This will be reversed in 2004 when we expect to get back to £9,000. We will only see a significant increase in this source of income if more members sign up.

Ordinary Offerings	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Ordinary Offerings	£ 3,164	£ 3,250	£ 2,944	£ 2,750
The ordinary offerings received through the open plate surprised us by declining in 2003 by 7%. As a result we have set a more conservative budget for 2004.

Donations	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Donations	£ 2,411	£ 2,000	£ 1,253	£ 2,000
We see large fluctuations from year to year in donations due to occasionally receiving large single donations. In 2003 we saw a reduction of nearly a half in donations but we have maintained the 2004 budget at the same level as the 2003 budget of £2,000.

Collection Boxes	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Collection Boxes	£ 1,550	£ 1,500	£ 1,057	£ 1,100
In 2002 we saw a substantial increase in the income from collection boxes however in 2003 we saw a reduction of nearly one-third. This is an important source of income for us and we hope to do better in 2004. We have reduced the budget however to try to avoid overestimating.

Sunday Teas	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Sunday Teas	£ 900	£ 800	£ 900	£ 800
Once again in 2003 we received a donation of £900 from the Sunday Teas, a great result. We have maintained the budget for 2004 at £800.

Fund Raising	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Fund Raising	£ 264	£ 2,000	£ 0	£ 2,000
In 2003 we did not have any fund raising in the General Fund. We did however raise nearly £5,000 for the Fabric Fund through the Christmas Fayre and the Auction.

Organisations	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Organisations	£ 1,650	£ 1,750	£ 1,650	£ 1,750
Many of our organisations once again made donations in 2003 and we hope that all organisations will contribute in 2004. We have maintained the same budget for 2004.

Other Income	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Other Income	£ 1,917	£ 0	£ 1,771	£ 0
Once again in 2003 we received a range of other income. We do not budget for this income but instead accept it as windfall if it arises. In 2003 the largest item in this category was the combined donations of more than £700 from the various Alcoholics Anonymous groups which use our halls.

General Fund - Expenditure

Local Ministry	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Local Ministry	£ 36,852	£ 38,694	£ 38,147	£ 41,210
Expenditure in this category was below budget by approximately £500 due to the stipend, travelling expenses and telephone falling below budget. The 2004 budget appears to be an 8% increase on 2003 actual but this is as a result of a change in procedure by the Church of Scotland. They have reclassified part of the Mission and Aid amount into this category under the new National Stipend Fund which has apparently inflated the increase in this category.

Mission and Wider Work	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Mission and Wider Work	£ 18,774	£ 17,990	£ 18,170	£ 16,943
We exceeded budget expenditure for 2003 as a result of an increase of a quarter in our payment to Hamilton Presbytery. Although there is apparently a decrease expected in 2004 it is due to the reclassification mentioned in the category above. Combining these two categories we expect an increase of 3.3% from 2003 to 2004.

Local Congregational

2002 Actual

2003 Budget

2003 Actual

2004 Budget

£ 18,932

£ 25,470

£ 21,453

£ 25,168

We have little influence over the two previous categories of expenditure but we have full control over this area. The areas where we were significantly adrift of budget in 2003 were

stationery – over budget by £226
repairs and maintenance – under budget by £3,461
rates and insurance – under budget by £584

The significant changes in 2004 budget from 2003 budget are

repairs and maintenance – a decrease from £6,500 to £5,750
heating and lighting – an increase from £3,500 to £3,750

General Fund – Consolidated Position

Surplus	2002 Actual	2003 Budget	2003 Actual	2004 Budget
Surplus	£ 7,587	£ 146	£ 3,811	£ 79
In 2003 we started the year with a small budget surplus of £146. In fact we had a substantial surplus of £3,811. Although income was £700 below budget our expenditure was £4,400 below budget. The main contributing element to this was the repairs and maintenance item which was nearly £3,500 below budget.

Fabric Fund

Opening balance	Income	Expenditure	Closing Balance
£ 81,615	£ 9,982	£ 2,109	£ 89,488
In 2003 we once again boosted our Fabric Fund through strong fundraising, income from deposits and investments and transfer from the General Fund. We had only one item of expenditure. In 2004 we will have substantial expenditure from the Fabric Fund as a result of the replacement/repair of the railings.

Hugh McKee - Finance Convener - 11 February 2004