IUCr 1996 Report - Finances

The audited accounts for the year 1996 are given at the end of this Report. For comparison, the figures for 1995 are provided in italics. The accounts are presented in Swiss Francs (CHF).

The UNESCO rates of exchange, as issued by the ICSU Secretariat, have been used in the preparation of these accounts. As a consequence of the many fluctuations in exchange rates during the year, the following procedure has been adopted for the accounts. Assets and liabilities in currencies other than CHF at 31 December 1996 have been translated into CHF in the balance sheet at the rate operative at that date. For the income and expenditure accounts, transactions have been translated into CHF by applying the rates appropriate to the individual dates of these transactions. As a consequence of the fluctuation in exchange rates, an apparent gain has arisen on the assets of the Union, in terms of the CHF, amounting to CHF 815 641. The gain attributable to investment activities has been assigned to the General Fund and the gain attributable to trading activities has been divided amongst the fund accounts in direct proportion to the balances on these accounts at 31 December 1996. It should be noted that this gain in CHF is not a real gain of money, but rather a gain on paper resulting from the accounts being expressed in CHF.

Investments are noted in the balance sheet at their market value at 31 December 1996. The total of CHF 349 173 with the banks at the end of the year was represented by USD 114 816 with Merrill Lynch, GBP 78 563 with National Westminster Bank and CHF 36 351 with the Union Bank of Switzerland.

The balance sheet shows that the assets of the Union, including the gain of CHF 815 641 resulting from fluctuations in rates of exchange, have increased during the year, from CHF 5 224 690 to CHF 6 089 600.

Transfers of CHF 175 000, CHF 85 979 and CHF 100 000 were made to the Publication and Journals Development Fund from the Acta Crystallographica Fund, the Structure Reports Fund and the General Fund, respectively. Transfers of CHF 50 000 and CHF 60 000 were made to the Research and Education Fund from the Journal of Applied Crystallography Fund and the International Tables Fund, respectively. Transfers of CHF 619 and CHF 50 000 were made to the Ewald Fund from the Book Fund and the General Fund, respectively. A transfer of CHF 75 000 was made to the Newsletter Fund from the General Fund. A transfer of CHF 90 000 was made to the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation Fund from the International Tables Fund.

Beneath the detailed figures of the expenditure and income for each fund account, the balance at 1 January, transfers to and from other funds, the difference between income and expenditure for the year and the fluctuations in rates of exchange during the year are given, showing how the balance at 31 December is obtained. Note that for the General Fund there is an additional entry for `Movement in market value of investments in the year'.

The General Fund account shows a deficit of CHF 68 291 before the transfers totalling CHF 150 000 to the Ewald Fund and the Publication and Journals Development Fund, as compared with a profit of CHF 139 839 before transfers totalling CHF 200 000 to the Newsletter Fund, the President's Fund, the Ewald fund and the Publication and Journals Development Fund in 1995. The administrative expenses were CHF 220 091 in 1996 as compared with CHF 218 220 in 1995. Of this amount, CHF 77 032 was charged to the publications of the Union.

CHF 40 169 was given for general support of scientific meetings, in addition to CHF 64 409 for financial support to young scientists attending meetings, which appears in the expenses of the Research and Education Fund, and CHF 7125 in special grants from the President's Fund. CHF 63 028 was spent on the Seventeenth General Assembly and Congress and CHF 28 842 in assisting the work of the non-publishing Commissions. The expenses of the Union Representatives on other bodies were CHF 3784. The cost of the Finance Committee meetings held in 1996 was CHF 16 508, while the Executive Committee meeting cost CHF 75 374. The cost of the IUCr/Fachinformationszentrum agreement (to provide low-cost copies of the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database) was CHF 16 225. The Union received CHF 22 359 from the UNESCO subvention to ICSU. The subscriptions from Adhering Bodies were CHF 148 822. Interest on bank accounts and investments credited to the General Fund was CHF 172 973.

The President's Fund, the Publication and Journals Development Fund, the Research and Education Fund and the Ewald Fund received interest, at a nominal rate of 6% per annum, on the balances in the funds. The President's Fund therefore received interest of CHF 2476. Grants totalling CHF 7125 were paid from the Fund.

The Acta Crystallographica account for 1996 shows a surplus of CHF 77 363 before the transfer of CHF 250 000 to other fund accounts, as compared with a surplus of CHF 181 465 in 1995 before transfers of CHF 360 000.

The subscription rates were increased for 1996. In 1996, the number of paid subscriptions to Sections A+B+C+D of Acta, including 63 (67) personal subscriptions, was 687 (719) (values for 1995 are given in parentheses). The number of paid subscriptions to Sections A+B+C, including 12 (11) personal subscriptions, was 133 (133). The number of paid subscriptions to the separate sections of the journal were: Section A 255 (285 for 1995), Section B 202 (217), Section C 147 (144) and Section D 174 (162). The cost of the technical editing office has been divided between the Acta Crystallographica, the Journal of Applied Crystallography and the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation accounts in percentages based on the number of text pages published during the year. The technical editing costs for Acta Crystallographica were CHF 756 672 (for 6596 published pages) as compared with CHF 637 345 in 1995 (5888 pages published). The journal's accounts have also been charged with administration expenses as in previous years as shown in the General Fund.

The Journal of Applied Crystallography account shows a surplus of CHF 79 664 before transfers of CHF 50 000 to other fund accounts, as compared with a surplus of CHF 77 743 in 1995 before transfers of CHF 100 000. In 1996, the number of paid subscriptions, including 108 (107 in 1995) personal subscriptions, was 868 (907 in 1995).

The Journal of Synchrotron Radiation account shows a deficit of CHF 33 600 before receiving a transfer of CHF 90 000 from the International Tables Fund. The number of paid subscribers, including 129 personal subscriptions, was 253. [The Journal of Synchrotron Radiation Fund was started in 1995 and received a transfer of CHF 200 000 from the Acta Crystallographica Fund. In 1995, It was distributed free of charge to existing subscribers to Journal of Applied Crystallography and Section D of Acta Crystallographica.]

The Structure Reports series ended in 1993. The Structure Reports Fund was closed in 1996 and the balance of CHF 85 979 transferred to the Publication and Journals Development Fund. Sales of Structure Reports are now recorded in the Book Fund.

The International Tables account shows a surplus of CHF 78 172 before transfers of CHF 60 000 to the Research and Education Fund and CHF 90 000 to the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation Fund, as compared with a surplus of CHF 156 576 in 1995 before a transfer of CHF 50 000 to the Publications and Journals Development Fund. The net sales income was CHF 120 666 in 1996 as compared with CHF 245 749 in 1995. Volume A was out of print for most of 1996 and Volume B for part of 1996.

The Book Fund is credited with the sales of the remaining publications of the Union. Sales of Structure Reports are now included in this fund.

The Newsletter Fund Account received transfers of CHF 75 000 from the General Fund in both 1996 and 1995. The cost to the Union of producing the Newsletter in 1996 was CHF 66 950 (CHF 69 489 in 1995).

As mentioned earlier, the income for the President's Fund account, the Publications and Journals Development Fund account, the Research and Education Fund Account and the Ewald Fund Account includes interest as well as transfers from other fund accounts. In the Publications and Journals Development Fund account, the expenses of CHF 196 202 for computer expenses, including the purchase of computing equipment for the Chester office, relate to the technical editing of the journals, software development and the provision of on-line services. Expenses of a project to develop an SGML implementation for the Union's journals are charged to this account. CHF 64 409 for financial support to young scientists, to enable them to attend scientific meetings sponsored by the Union, was charged to the Research and Education Fund.

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