AASP Newsletter - August 2016

Financial Report from AASP Executive Board

As summer winds down, plans for this year’s conference are in full swing. In this report, the AASP Executive Board presents the current financial health of the association based on April 2016 financial numbers. Specifically, the 2016 approved budget, current 2016 YTD spending, and a comparison of AASP financial performance over the past three years are highlighted.

Since the last newsletter, the budget has been revised and shows a projected loss of ($11,325) for 2016. This result is mainly due to the fact the E-Board elected to spend $25,000 to hire a consulting firm to assist with questionnaire development for our certification (CC-AASP) initiative. While this figure is a significant amount of money, the current AASP Executive Board (as well as past E-Boards) recognize the importance of revamping certification procedures to both enhance our credibility and grow our bottom line as an organization. Also, keep in mind that AASP uses very conservative budgeting strategies, and at the end of many years, projected income exceeds anticipated amounts previously planned.

AASP has an established policy in which a minimum of one-year of operating expenses (not total budget) is held in reserve to ensure the association can survive if an unforeseen event were to limit income generation for a period of time. As illustrated, the association currently holds assets greater than this threshold.

In the last financial report (Spring 2016), the Executive Board discussed drawing on a portion of the reserve funds to complete objectives from the three-year strategic plan. However, also recognizing the importance of income generation from our reserves, at the Spring 2016 Executive Board Meeting, it was discussed as to how AASP can be more strategic with this portion of the balance sheet. In particular, most reserve funds earn less than 1% interest at this point in time, so the Executive Board will be seeking expert opinion as to whether investing a small portion of reserve monies in exchange traded funds (i.e., a market security that tracks a broad index, such as the S&P 500) would be advantageous for AASP.

Thank you for the continued opportunity to serve AASP. Should you have questions, concerns, or suggestions related to the financial activity of AASP, please contact Todd Gilson, AASP Secretary-Treasurer, at tgilson@niu.edu.