Issue - meetings

Financial Position Update

Meeting: 19/10/2017 - Cobtree Manor Estate Charity Committee (Item 34)

34 Financial Position Update pdf icon PDF 61 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Senior Finance Manager updated the Committee on the financial position of the trust. It was noted that:

 

·  The Llama house required urgent repairs to a hole in the wall which costed around £5,000, but this cost had been offset by additional car parking revenue.

·  Planning Solutions – the operator for Kent Life – were due to pay their fee to the trust at the end of the year as the contract stipulated that fees must be paid yearly in arears.

·  Overall, the trust was progressing well against pessimistic financial projections due to the café performing well. The trust was projected to break even or return a small surplus at the end of the financial year.

The Senior Finance Manager explained that following an audit, a recommendation had been made that the trust implemented its own financial management system, separate from the Council’s. Two systems had been evaluated – Sage and Aggresso.

 

In response to a question from a member of the Committee, the Senior Finance Manager confirmed that Aggresso was the system that was used by the council and was widely used across local government.

 

The Committee raised concerns about making the decision on the choice of financial management system before further information about recharges, firmer quotes from the software providers and the impact of outsourcing the operation of the café was available. The Committee noted that even with this information available, it may be beneficial to take this decision in 2018 once the outcome of the planned governance review was available.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1)  That the current financial position is noted.

2)  That final approval to progress with a stand alone financial management system is delayed pending reports on re-charges and Service Level Agreements are received at the next meeting.

 

Voting: Unanimous