[Foundation-l] Fundraising and site notice

Thu Jan 11 22:30:26 UTC 2007

rfrangi at libero.it wrote:

>>>Anthony wrote:
>>>7 months ago, we had a "cash at the end of the year" of 500 000 dollars.
>>>      
>>>
>>Plus $78,415 in Google stock.  Plus $50,000 in accounts receivable.
>>Plus $400,000 in computer equipment and software.
>>    
>>
>$400.000 in HW/SW? I would not count them, because it's something you can't spend. And that value decreases every day (If you don't buy new hw/sw)
>
That's a peculiar view of accounting.  I agree that fixed assets are not 
particularly liquid, but then selling them would severely hinder our 
ability to maintain a website.  These are already depreciated values, 
and are converted to expenses over the useful life of the hardware.  
This is a much more realistic way to handle hardware costs since it 
reflects the fact that servers can remain operational for several 
years.  This is much more useful for medium to long range planning for 
replacement strategies.

There is nothing alarming about accounts receivable.  A balance sheet is 
a snapshot of the organization's finances at a given time.  Receivables 
accrue as services are rendered, and invoices are often issued when 
predetermined accrual periods are over.  If a good client has accrued a 
liability at the end of the fiscal year it should appear on the 
financial statements as it has.  An invoice can be issued in the 
following week, and payment received in the week after that.  That will 
not change the published balance sheet, but those funds are very soon 
spendable.

Google stacks are actively traded on the stock exchange, and there is no 
indication that these are restricted assets.  Without commenting on the 
wisdom of such a move, the Foundation could submit them to a broker for 
sale and have its cash within a week.  In my mind that's highly spendable.

It was good to see that official financial statements were finally 
produced.  That certainly satisfies my own previous complaints, and I 
prefer not to make my satisfaction an excuse for further complaints.  I 
can read financial statements, and see no cause for alarm.  Regular 
quarterly statements would be nice, and there would be no need to have 
these interim statements audited, but that's more a suggestion than a 
complaint.

Ec