BUSINESS ALOA’s 2020 Financial Audit – Statement of Financial Position steady improvement in Net Assets over the 11-year period from 2010 through 2020, until the pandemic arrived. As we covered in the real estate discussion, many of these book value numbers do not necessarily reflect actual real-world market value. Moreover, anything sold under fire-sale conditions tends to yield a price that may be significantly below book value, whereas real estate will tend to fetch a price that will likely be higher than book value. Without Donor Restrictions – Undesignated means that this amount has no re- strictions or limitations. ALOA is free to spend such funds for any lawful and au- thorized business purpose. Board Designated – Legislative Fund is the antithesis of Undesignated. In other words, this amount must be spent in a manner directly related to some legitimate legislative effort or endeavor. The idea here is that companies are required to disclose what, if any, portion of their Net Assets have “strings attached.” This situation is usu- ally associated with a nonprofit’s donor funds that the donor has specified for only a particular use or purpose. More Financial Information For Members Members can access the complete audited financials for fiscal year 2020 on ALOA’s website at aloa.org. After reading this article, if your hunger for financial data has now reached an insatiable level, there’s even more information available to not only members, but the public at large. As mentioned in our previous article, nonprofit companies (including ALOA SPAI) are typically required to file what’s known as an IRS Form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax) report each year. Conclusion Hopefully, reading this and the previous article have provided a window into ALOA’s financial information for fiscal year 2020. We hope our explanations have provided some perspective and helped members understand what’s behind the numbers in the financial audit. Although the nonprofit financial statements format is somewhat unique, the presentation is conceptually similar to that of for-profit businesses. Per- haps this will also help members become more familiar with the financial statements of their own companies. I’ll close by repeating what I said in our previous article: “But, of course, it’s each member’s responsibility to read and digest the information provided.” If you have questions, don’t hesitate to ask staff or your elected board members. Contrary to what some industry malcontents have alleged, your ALOA staff and board embrace transparency! More informed members make our organization healthier. Noel Flynn is a degreed business management consultant with global senior leadership experience, including more than 20 years in manu- facturing, wholesale distribution and consulting sectors of the security industry. Noel has been a senior executive, officer, board director and adviser to not-for-profit and for-profit companies in numerous industries worldwide. This includes being an ALOA SPAI board mem- ber since 2011, and he is also an ACE instructor, developing and teaching business management. Contact him at [email protected]. 16 KEYNOTES OCTOBER 2021 ADVERTORIAL AUTOMOTIVE LOCKSMITHING BROUGHT TO YOU BY What to Consider When Buying Your Next Key Programmer or considering replacing your immobiliz- er and key programming tool with a new one, there are several features to decide upon before placing an order. First, are you currently or do you plan W on servicing all vehicle brands, including those of the more security-enabled Eu- ropean vehicles such as Mercedes Benz and BMW? Second, do you want a key/FOB programmer that works with a Windows- based computer, or would you rather have a comprehensive kit that includes a programmer and a wireless tablet with extensive vehicle coverage soſtware? If the latter, ensure that the soſtware applies to the vehicles you already or want to service, compare the frequency of soſtware updates so your tool has the latest vehicle coverage, and research the costs and manner of subscriptions. Do you plan on doing more advanced work, including EEPROM and MCU read and write? Finally, do you want a tool that can also perform a vehicle scan to ensure that existing faults might prevent the success of new key generation? WWW.ALOA.ORG hether you are looking to expand your services into au- tomotive locksmithing
