IUCr 1997 Report - Finances

The audited accounts of the year 1997 are given at the end of this Report. For comparison, the figures for 1996 are provided in italics. The accounts are presented in 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 1997 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 IUCr, in terms of the CHF, amounting to CHF 737989. 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 1997. 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 1997. The total of CHF 296902 with the banks at the end of the year was represented by USD 97658 with Merrill Lynch, GBP 53493 with National Westminster Bank and CHF 39160 with the Union Bank of Switzerland.

The balance sheet shows that the assets of the IUCr, including the gain of CHF 737989 resulting from fluctuations in rates of exchange, have increased during the year, from CHF 6089600 to CHF 7151105.

A transfer of CHF 50000 was made to the Publication and Journals Development Fund from the Acta Crystallographica Fund. Transfers of CHF 50000 and CHF 50000 were made to the Research and Education Fund from the General Fund and the Journal of Applied Crystallography Fund. A transfer of CHF 50000 was made to the Ewald Fund from the Journal of Applied Crystallography Fund. A transfer of CHF 75000 was made to the Newsletter Fund from the Acta Crystallographica Fund. A transfer of CHF 50000 was made to the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation Fund from the Journal of Applied Crystallography 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 surplus of CHF 39834 before the transfers totalling CHF 50000 to the Research and Education Fund, as compared with a deficit in 1996 of CHF 68921 before transfers totalling CHF 150000 to the Publication and Journals Development Fund and the Ewald Fund. The administrative expenses were CHF 313338 in 1997 as compared with CHF 220091 in 1996. Of this amount, CHF 81619 was charged to the publications of the IUCr. The administrative expenses are incurred in GBP and the significant increase in 1997 can be attributed to exchange-rate fluctuations.

CHF 27705 was spent on the Eighteenth General Assembly and Congress and CHF 2945 in assisting the work of the non-publishing Commissions. The expenses of the IUCr Representatives on other bodies were CHF 1958. The cost of the Finance Committee meetings held in 1997 was CHF 22763, while the Executive Committee meeting cost CHF 38219. The income from the IUCr/Fachinformationszentrum Agreement (to provide low-cost copies of the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database) was CHF 4569. The IUCr received CHF 23200 from the UNESCO subvention to ICSU. The subscriptions from Adhering Bodies were CHF 151562. Interest on bank accounts and investments credited to the General Fund was CHF 212865.

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 2210. Grants totalling CHF 7558 were paid from the fund.

The Acta Crystallographica account for 1997 shows a surplus of CHF 269302 before the transfer of CHF 125000 to other fund accounts, as compared with a surplus of CHF 77363 in 1996 before transfers of CHF 250000.

The subscription rates were increased for 1997. In 1997, the number of paid subscriptions to Sections A+B+C+D of Acta, including 54 (63) personal subscriptions, was 638 (687) (values for 1996 are given in parentheses). The number of paid subscriptions to Sections A+B+C, including 15 (12) personal subscriptions, was 137 (133). The number of paid subscriptions to the separate sections of the journal were: Section A 258 (255 for 1996), Section B 204 (202), Section C 151 (147) and Section D 186 (174). 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 878571 (for 4733 published pages) as compared with CHF 756672 in 1996 (6596 pages published). The technical editing costs are incurred in GBP and the significant increase in 1997 can be attributed to exchange-rate fluctuations. 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 deficit of CHF 15583 before transfers of CHF 150000 to other fund accounts, as compared with a surplus of CHF 79664 in 1996 before transfers of CHF 50000. The deficit in 1997 can be attributed to the publication of a Special Issue. In 1997, the number of paid subscriptions, including 102 (108 in 1996) personal subscriptions, was 820 (868 in 1996).

The Journal of Synchrotron Radiation account shows a deficit of CHF 142541 before receiving a transfer of CHF 50000 from the Journal of Applied Crystallography Fund, as compared with a deficit of CHF 33600 in 1996 before receiving a transfer of CHF 90000. In 1997, the number of paid subscriptions, including 120 (129 in 1996) personal subscriptions, was 269 (253 in 1996).

The International Tables account shows a surplus of CHF 8095, as compared with a surplus of CHF 78172 in 1996 before transfers of CHF 60000 to the Research and Education Fund and CHF 90000 to the Publications and Journals Development Fund. The net sales income was CHF 146020 in 1997 as compared with CHF 120666 in 1996.

The Book Fund is credited with the sales of the remaining publications of the IUCr.

The Newsletter Fund Account received transfers of CHF 75000 from the Acta Crystallographica Fund in both 1997 and 1996. The cost to the IUCr of producing the Newsletter in 1997 was CHF 84574 (CHF 66950 in 1996).

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 256908 for computer expenses, including the purchase of computing equipment for the Chester office, relate to the technical editing of the journals and software. The programming and development costs are now divided between the General Fund, the Acta Crystallographica Fund, the Journal of Applied Crystallography Fund, the Journal of Synchrotron Radiation Fund and the International Tables Fund in percentages based on the total expenditure in those Funds. Expenses of a project to develop an SGML implementation for the IUCr's journals, promotional costs and web input costs are also charged to the Publication and Journals Development account. CHF 91816 for financial support to young scientists, to enable them to attend scientific meetings sponsored by the IUCr, and CHF 16661 for the Visiting Professorship Programme were charged to the Research and Education Fund. Part of the costs of these activities is met by funds received under the ICSU/UNESCO grants programme.

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