2007 YEAR-END BUDGET PROJECTION AS OF MAY 31, 2007
The 2007 budget is on track to net close to $80,000 by year’s end, $15,000 more than the budgeted $63,839 net, bringing TDNA’s fund balance to $160,000 by year’s end.
Income will bring in more than the amount budgeted as TDNA’s growing fund balance earns greater interest, and there will be substantial savings in expenses for the second consecutive year.
Budget Highlights:
Total income of $416,225 is projected compared to $412,603 budgeted, bringing in an extra $3,621.
Expenses are projected to total $336,639 compared to $348,764 budgeted, underspent by $12,125.
This will produce a net balance of $79,585, at least $15,000 more than the
$63,839 net balance budgeted.
Income: The Annual Meeting is the only income category projected to bring in less than the amount budgeted for 2007 – probably less than $100 rather than the
$1,000 net budgeted.
Regular Dues will be as budgeted, Associate Dues will bring in an extra $1,000 with the gain of one new member, Interest Earned will total $5,000 or more compared to
$1,500 budgeted, Sale of Materials should bring in the amount budgeted, and no Special Assessment or Miscellaneous Income was budgeted.
Expenses: Of this year’s 22 expense categories, 11 are underspent, 5 are as budgeted, and 6 will be overspent.
Savings will be the greatest in Travel & Meetings which will be underspent by around $4,000. Insurance is also underspent by $3,000.
Other underspent line items are Auditing/Accounting, Automobiles, Dues &
Subscriptions, Miscellaneous, Payroll Taxes, Pension, Printing, Supplies and Telephones.
The greatest overspending will be in Office Equipment & Repairs and in
Legal/Legislative. Both categories will go over budget by around $600. Overspending will also occur in each of the following categories: Awards, Bank Fees, Postage, and Taxes-Other.
Board Meetings, Murphy Award, Office Rent, Promotion/Sales and Salaries are expected to be as budgeted.
Cash Balance:
The accumulated cash balance at the end of 2006 was $81,146, and with this year’s projected budget net of $79,585, that balance will become $160,732 by the end of 2007.
Details on individual 2007 budget item details are as follows:
INCOME
Regular Dues...$390,623 budgeted, $231,222 to date...$390,623 projected (as budgeted) There were 71 newspaper members starting the year and there are still 71.
The Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune joined for 2007 late last year and was approved by the board at the December meeting.
[Dues adjustment breakout attached to budget sheet.]
Associate Dues...$15,480 budgeted, $10,160 to date...$16,480 projected ($1,000 over budget) There is one new associate member this year – TXU Power, which joined in March.
Konica Minolta Graphic Imaging USA and Landon Media Group are the only two associate firms late paying their dues so far this year.
[Dues adjustment breakout attached to budget sheet.]
Interest Earned...$1,500 budgeted, $1,907 to date...$5,087 projected ($3,587 over budget) TDNA’s growing cash fund is invested in a Frost Brokerage Services money market savings account and by the end of the year will earn more than twice the amount of interest budgeted.
Sale of Materials...$4,000 budgeted, $2,726 to date...$4,000 projected (as budgeted) Sales of the 2007 Directory of Texas Daily Newspapers should bring in close to the amount budgeted this year. Directory sales had been decreasing in past years but seem to be picking up again since the directory was restyled and expanded last year.
A few auto window “PRESS” decals are also sold each year, but online
information has eliminated the sale of reporters’ handbooks and media law handbooks.
Annual Meeting...$1,000 budgeted, $-8,240 net loss to date...$34 net profit projected ($966 under budget) Convention per-person rates are kept as low as possible, so one or two no-pays or billing adjustments can take away all or most of the budgeted $1,000 net. So far, one billing has been corrected/lowered and not all golfers who cancelled their games have paid the penalty that was added this year.
[Convention income and expense breakouts attached to budget sheet.]
Special Assessments...none budgeted for 2007
Miscellaneous Income…none budgeted for 2007
EXPENSES
Auditing & Accounting...$5,000 budgeted, $474 to date...$4,949 projected ($51 underspent) PayChex monthly fees are estimated to be under $1,200 for the year.
PayChex services include calculating payroll, issuing checks and making direct
deposits, depositing all payroll taxes and preparing quarterly 941 payroll tax reports and year-end W-2 forms. Additional accounting costs are incurred for the annual sales tax and income tax reports, both prepared by Threadgill, Ryan & Associates.
Automobiles...$13,000 budgeted, $4,862 to date...$12,857 projected ($143 underspent) The lease for the 2005 Toyota Tundra is $685.00 a month. Gasoline, repairs, tires and license are estimated to total around $4,600 for 2007.
[Automobile expense breakout attached to budget sheet.]
Awards...$1,800 budgeted, $1,527 to date...$1,827 projected ($27 over budget) This account covers production of plaques for all awards as well as gifts to judges. Cash awards to Hartman and Fentress winners are sponsored by Hartman Newspapers and Cox Newspapers. The Murphy Award cash prize has its own budget account. Awards expenses will be nearly as budgeted by year’s end.
Bank & Credit Card Fees...$1,000 budgeted, $537 to date...$1,117 projected ($117 over budget) This account includes bank fees, late payment fees, and charges for processing credit card payments by Innovative Merchant Solutions. The costs for accepting credit card payments depend upon the volume of money processed per month, amount of credit card data provided for each transaction, and whether or not there are any charge-backs or credit checks. As more newspaper accounting offices use credit cards to pay dues and convention billings, TDNA’s processing fees increase.
Board Meetings...$600 budgeted, nothing spent so far...$600 projected (as budgeted) This item covers the approximate cost of a meeting room, continental breakfast, and lunch for two board meetings at the Headliners Club in Austin.
Dues & Subscriptions...$3,300 budgeted, $584 to date...$2,768 projected (532 underspent) Includes memberships to Headliners Club, Nebraska Press Association (for disability insurance), and Newspaper Association Managers (NAM). Subscriptions include Austin American-Statesman, Editor & Publisher, American Journalism Review and Quorum Report.
Insurance...$43,900 budgeted, $20,591 to date...$40,603 projected, ($3,297 underspent Insurance costs were budgeted for a possible 20% increase in health and dental rates for 2007. By changing to a Flexible Spending Account health plan, TDNA
incurred only a 9% rate increase for health insurance. Dental insurance rates went up 4%. Rate changes begin with April 1 each year.
Other insurance costs include workers comp, commercial and liability coverage, auto insurance (all already paid for the year and nearly as budgeted) as well as disability and AD&D policies and partial payment of an AARP policy for John Murphy.
Legal/Legislative...$10,000 budgeted, $6,082 to date...$10,582 projected ($582 overspent) This category includes lobbyist registrations for Ken Whalen and for the Legislative Advisory Committee chairman, half of all LAC meeting costs (shared with TPA), cell phone for Ken, travel and meals related to legislative work, and any attorney fees. Total legislative expenses are expected to go slightly over budget for the year.
[Legal/Legislative expense breakout attached to budget sheet.]
Miscellaneous...$2,500 budgeted, $456 to date...$1,006 projected ($1,494 underspent) Usual expenses include flowers and memorials, staff seminars and
contract labor (clerical assistance) when needed. Pension plan administration costs for the old Jefferson-Pilot plan were expensed to this budget category, but fees to
administer the new 401(k) plan are now expensed to the Pension budget. Monthly bank fees and credit card late fees have also been removed from Miscellaneous and are now charged to their own expense account along with credit card processing costs.
Murphy Award...$1,000 budgeted, $1,000 to date...$1,000 projected (as budgeted) This year’s winner was Dan Purschwitz of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Office Equipment & Repairs...$8,000 budgeted, $3,740 to date...$8,671 projected ($671 overspent) Usual costs for this budget category include the postage machine lease, copier maintenance agreement and quarterly charges (which includes copier toner), website hosting, computer software, and onsite technical assistance when there are problems with the TDNA office computers. No new equipment purchases are anticipated for 2007.
Office Rent...$29,880 budgeted, $12,450 to date...$29,880 projected (as
budgeted) TDNA’s monthly $2,940 lease payment to TPA includes telephone and cable TV service.
Payroll Taxes...$13,700 budgeted, $5,128 to date...$13,368 projected ($332 under budget) This expense category will be nearly as budgeted. It covers Social Security, Medicare, Federal Unemployment and Texas Workforce Compensation payroll taxes for staff salaries, hourly wages and bonuses.
Pension Trust...$12,000 budgeted, $425 to date...$10,882 projected ($1,118 underspent) During August and September of 2006, the former Jefferson-Pilot target benefit pension plan was closed and a new Merrill-Lynch 401(k) plan was begun.
Rollovers of Jefferson-Pilot employee accounts, final TDNA contributions to the old
Jefferson-Pilot plan, set-up costs for the new 401(k) plan, and TDNA’s matching contribution to the 2006 401(k) plan year were all posted to the 2006 budget.
Administrative costs for the Jefferson-Pilot plan were posted to Miscellaneous expenses in previous years, but administrative fees for the 401(k) are now posted to Pension.
Monthly 401(k) contributions are made by employees to their own accounts through payroll deductions and are not tracked here. Since employer matching
contributions made by TDNA happen only at the end of each year, monthly activity for the Pension expense account for the first five months of this year shows only the
$85/month administrative fees.
Postage/Freight/Mailing...$7,500 budgeted, $7,212 to date...$7,512 projected ($12 overspent) Costs for metered mailings, bulk mailings and overnight mail should be almost as budgeted this year.
Printing...$7,300 budgeted, $6,376 to date...$6,626 projected ($674 under budget) Nearly as budgeted. Includes annual Directory of Texas Daily Newspapers, directory order form flyers, intern posters, and all other miscellaneous printing.
Promotion/Sales...1,000 budgeted, nothing to date...$1,000 projected (as budgeted) This account fluctuates with special projects and sometimes includes donations or gifts.
Salaries...$170,784 budgeted, $64,142 to date...$170,784 projected (as
budgeted) Includes salaries and bonuses for two full-time employees and hourly wages for one part-time employee.
Supplies...$6,000 budgeted, $1,880 to date...$4,880 projected ($1,120 under budget) Usual expenses include all paper, printer ink and toner, bottled drinking water, coffee, soft drinks, computer supplies, and other office supplies.
[Supplies expense breakout attached to budget sheet.]
Taxes-Other...$500 budgeted, nothing to date...$675 projected ($175 overspent) This budget category covers property taxes on the auto lease and on the leased postage machine.
Telephone...$1,000 budgeted, $87 to date...$257 projected ($743 under budget
TPA provides local, long distance and DSL service as part of TDNA’s rent. This account includes Darla’s cell phone costs and conference calls.
Travel & Meetings...$9,000 budgeted, $1,296 to date...$4,796 projected ($4,204 underspent) This category includes expenses for miscellaneous meals and travel, costs for Ken to visit publishers around the state, special meetings and
[Travel & Meetings expense breakout attached to budget sheet.]