The Financial Report on the 2024 Operational Budget

Good Afternoon, everyone. This is a financial report presentation on our 2024 Operational Budget. Today, I will be showing you the summary highlights of operational income and expenses based on the Financial Statements compiled by our Bookkeeper. So, join me as we take a look into the details of this report..

I will start this presentation with the index of this report to guide us on the topics we will cover. The first is the scope of the report, followed by the 2024 budget summary, then the income and expenses – budget against actual, then some chart presentations and lastly, some financial updates..

First is the scope of the coverage of this report. This report is based primarily on the Financial Statements we have distributed to you last Sunday as compiled by our Bookkeeper. This report will present the summary of the comparative extracts of the 2024 projected income and expenses versus the actual income we received and the actual expenses we incurred, and other related financial matters..

In order to get a proper perspective on our income and expenses, we will briefly revisit our approved 2024 budget. Our income target for 2024 was 289 thousand 600 hundred comprising of the tithes and offerings at 238thousand and the rental income of 51 thousand six hundred. Our estimate for various expenses raging from administrative to salaries, wages and benefits was two hundred eighty eight thousand nine hundred twenty five. And out of these projections, we hoped to achieve a positive net balance of six hundred seventy five..

Now we go to the comparative summary of our budgeted income versus actual income that we received. The data presentation shows a shortfall of our tithes and offerings in the amount of thirty nine thousand plus. However, we achieved a surplus of fourteen thousand plus in our rental income and, ten thousand plus in our other income. Overall, our income was short by fourteen thousand due to the lower tithes and offerings we received last year..

Now, let us take a look at the budget versus actual expense summaries. We spent two thousand more in our projected expenses for admin. Our actual mortgage expenses is the total of the principal and interest payments as shown in Note No. 2. We have a slight overage due to the increase in monthly payment starting October of last year. For the purpose of budget comparison, the actual building and occupancy expense do not include the non cash depreciation expense of forty six thousand one hundred seventy two as indicated in note number one. We actually spent lesser in our support for C-M-A and the general ministry items. Actual ministry expenses is lesser than what we provided for with a surplus of $21244.21. The excess in our Salaries & wages is due to the salary adjustments of our 2 pastors. Overall, out of the projected expense budget of two hundred eighty eight thousand nine hundred twenty five, we spent nine thousand seventy five less..

Now, to give us a visual perspective of these financial numbers, let us take a look at some chart presentations..

We begin with a pie chart of our actual expenses. Looking at this chart, we get to see the percentage allocation of our actual expenses. The Salaries, Wages and Benefits in dark blue color and our mortgage payments in orange color, have the two largest portions of the expense pie. These expenses are more or less fixed in contrast to the others which are variables. Together both expenses represents 69% of the total expenses incurred. North American Churches generally allot from 35 to 45 percent of their budget to salaries, wages and benefits. Our mortgage expense was more or less covered by the rental income we received last year. Although we have allocated a budget of thirty seven thousand plus for our ministries, we only expended sixteen thousand. The reason for this could be over budget over provision or under utilization of the budgeted amount. This is something our pastors and ministry coordinators will have to look into when they will meet in the coming days..

This 3 year comparative chart shows the ebb and flow of our income from twenty twenty two to twenty twenty four. From two hundred sixty nine thousand plus in twenty twenty two, our income dipped a bit to two hundred sixty one thousand but rose to two hundred seventy five thousand plus last year. We are hoping that last year’s upward trend will continue this year..

A cause for concern is the downward trend of our tithes and offerings we received in the past 3 years. As shown in the previous income slide, we have not met our targets for our tithes and offering for last year, which had caused an overall income shortfall of fourteen thousand. Last year, our tithes and offerings was below the two hundred thousand level. Brothers and sisters, we need to work more on our giving especially with the looming tariff war with the united states..

In contrast, our rental income has gone up these past 3 years. The primary cause is the rental we receive from the Cloudberries Daycare which rented an additional room in our church starting in April of last year. The rental income we have last year almost enough to cover our mortgage expense of seventy two thousand. Our projected rental income for this year is seventy one thousand six hundred fifty eight in order to meet our mortgage commitment of seventy one thousand eight hundred ninety one. We are currently negotiating for an increase in the rental of the Chinese Baptist Church. Any amount they can offer is indeed welcome..

Our expenses has risen in the past 3 years. This is understandable as the Consumer Price Index has also steady risen due to inflationary pressures on our economy. It will be more so this year with the recent tariff imposed by the U-S on our country’s exports and the negative impact it will cause to our national and provincial economies..

We have 2 financial updates here all regarding our loan mortgage with the District..

This update is based on the email we received from the District in October of last year containing updates on our outstanding loan with them. Current balance indicated is five hundred twenty seven thousand four hundred sixty five and ninety two cents. The final payment is due in March of 2034. Take note of the monthly payment of 5990 and the interest rate of five point eight percent quoted..

Last month, we received a letter from the District’s Interim Finance Director Dean Cooper with a new information on the interest rate and monthly payment on our mortgage. It is a combination of good news and bad news. Our interest rate has gone down from five point eight percent to five point twenty five percent which is the good news. But our monthly payment increased from five thousand nine hundred ninety to seven thousand one hundred ninety one, which is bad. We have only budgeted for a monthly payment of 5990. The monthly increase will be a great burden and will throw our budget out of whack. We are hoping the District will look kindly to our request for the 5990 monthly payment. As of December 31, 2024, our loan balance is five hundred seventeen thousand eight hundred ninety six..

The newly elected president of our southern neighbor has threatened a tariff war starting 25% tariff increase early this month. Although the imposition of the tariff has been postponed 2 times, the threat has made many people on both sides of the boarder scared for their jobs and economic well being. Let us call on the Lord for help during these uncertain times..

And lastly, the Board wishes to express our heartfelt appreciation and thanks to the following persons and all our faithful members. May He continue to pour His blessings on us all!.

End of the Presentation.