Year Net Assets 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 ALOA's Net Assets ($) - 11 Years 2010 - 2020 1,000,000 1,200,000 1,400,000 200,000 400,000 600,000 800,000 0 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 Figure 1. ALOA enjoyed a steady improvement in Net Assets over the 11 year-period from 2010 through 2020, until the pandemic arrived. actually payments for next year’s membership period. ALOA members’ annual dues are typically invoiced in the last quarter (Q4) of the current year but are for payment of the following year’s membership. Thus, the year-end financial statements re- flect dues monies that have, from an accounting perspective, been paid in advance. ALOA has other dues (SAVTA) that are paid on anniversary dates and continue to dribble in through- out the year. Dues paid in advance represent a liability because they are outstanding and unfulfilled obligations. Deferred Exhibit Fees are conceptually very similar to the Deferred Dues that we just discussed and are handled (from an accounting perspective) the same way, for the same reasons. Specifically, at this year’s conventions and trade shows, exhibi- tors typically select preferred space for next year’s event on a first come, first served basis. Such reservations are sealed with a deposit, which is usually about 50%. Because such funds are collected this year for next year’s event, they are also a liability because they are ALOA’s unfulfilled obligations. You’ll notice that if you combine Deferred Dues and Deferred Exhibit Fees, these two categories account for a huge portion of ALOA’s Cash that has been reflected up in the Assets section. Double entry accounting conventions require that this Cash (theoretically not yet ALOA’s money) be listed as an Asset, whereas the corresponding obligation is booked as a Liability. WWW.ALOA.ORG Of course, to function, ALOA must go on the hook far in ad- vance to book space for conventions, classes and tradeshows. Total Current Liabilities are just the mathematical sum of the Current Liabilities. You’ll notice that the YOY layout for the Liabili- ties section is somewhat different for F/Y 2019. That’s essentially because: 1) all liabilities were of the “Current” variety, and 2) we did not have the Payroll Protection Program loan, as we did in 2020. Paycheck Protection Loan was a government-funded stimu- lus effort intended to encourage companies to keep their em- ployees on the payroll during the pandemic. When received and throughout fiscal year 2020, this was an interest-bearing loan obligation that ultimately “might” be forgiven. Although not reflected in the year-end 2020 financials, this loan was fortunately forgiven in Q1 of F/Y 2021 and will accordingly be reflected as Income on ALOA’s 2021 financials. A second stimulus loan was received later in 2021 (and hopefully will also be forgiven). Total Liabilities is a category representing the mathematical sum of all the liabilities. Net Assets appear aſter the Liabilities section and is essentially the difference between assets and liabilities. Let’s do the math for F/Y 2020: Assets = 2,048,157 less 1,136,935 in Liabilities = Net Assets = 911,222. In other words, what ALOA has/owns, less what we owe. As you can see in Figure 1, ALOA enjoyed a OCTOBER 2021 KEYNOTES 15 2020 2018 2019 2020 139,622 176,980 459,745 375,647 529,724 726,634 839,913 983,358 1,050,378 1,172,102 911,222
