1 / 19

CS Conference Administration Fee

CS Conference Administration Fee. John Walz VP for Technical & Conference Activities New Brunswick, NJ 15-Nov-2010. Agenda. History Problem statements Analysis and resolution Conclusion. 2. History.

kibo-petersen
Download Presentation

CS Conference Administration Fee

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. CS Conference Administration Fee John Walz VP for Technical & Conference Activities New Brunswick, NJ 15-Nov-2010

  2. Agenda • History • Problem statements • Analysis and resolution • Conclusion 2

  3. History • In 2006, CS financials were in poor shape and the President appointed an ad hoc, chaired by Kasturi • Ad hoc recommendations to the CS BOG were revisions in the CS Conferences administration fee (Admin Fee) to start July 2007 3

  4. Admin Fee details • Previous 14% admin fee requirement on operating expenses (not applied to social functions costs), along with a 10% surplus requirement • Reduced surplus requirement to 0% • Increased admin fee requirement to 20%, where • 10% direct Conference Operations expenses • 3.5% for TC Budget allocations • 6.5% for other CS cost centers • assessing all conference expenses including social function expenses • minimum $5K as IEEE conferences are defined having $25K or more expenses 4 4

  5. TC Budget allocations from sponsored conference surpluses • TC Budget allocations A + B • A. Admin Fee portion (3.5% of expenses) • B. step percent of conference surplus • 50% when conference closes within 6 months1 • 35% when conference closes within 9 months • 20% when conference closes within 12 months • 0% when conference closes after 12 months2 • 1. IRS rule for six months • 2. External Accounting rule for 12 months • Barriers to close: • late expense receipts to treasurer • missing conference documents for audits 5 5

  6. Background • Admin Fee has been controversial • Many conferences postponed the transition from old to new by filing early requests for sponsorships prior to July 2007 deadline • June 2010 Denver BoG meeting • CS Project 31 TC Leadership showed many TC Chairs voiced concerns specific to the Admin Fee • This minority of Chairs would be happier for CS to return to the old “Surplus Requirement” 6 6

  7. Summary of Admin Fee concerns • Conferences have to support other CS operations and services • Much higher than other IEEE Societies • Co-sponsors don’t charge as much • Unintended side effect could result in less funds from conferences • Minimum fee is too high for small workshops • Very large conferences give back too much; more than ACM • Don’t tax the VAT tax • 20% Admin Fee + 10% Contingency makes our Registrations fees uncompetitive • Large conferences can't close fast enough for the TC to get budget credit for their conference surplus 7 7

  8. Analysis (1) • Concern: Conferences have to support other CS operations and services • Analysis: Correct as intended as publications in CS and worldwide have declining margins, mainly due to less ads • Resolution: Conference net funds will continue to support CS cost centers: Standards, Education, Certifications, Awards, & new initiatives 8

  9. Analysis (2) • Concern: Much higher than other IEEE Societies • Analysis: • IEEE Conference policies request 20% surplus • ACM charges 16% “Overhead Fee” in addition to sponsoring SIGs surplus needs • ACM offer “full support” services where volunteers don’t handle any finances • Resolution: CS Admin Fee is on target 9

  10. Analysis (3) • Concern: Co-sponsors feel CS gets too much of the surplus • Analysis: If Co-sponsors increased their Admin Fee to CS level, then disbursement before or after are equal • Resolution: T&C Board approved Oct 2010 Admin Fee disbursement after surplus is split between co-sponsors 10

  11. Analysis (4) • Concern: Unintended side effect could result in less funds from conferences • Analysis: • accounting analysis of selected Conferences shows positive improvement during economic recession • more of the surplus goes into the Admin fee while resulting surplus was reduced (see backup) • Resolution: No unintended side effect 11

  12. Analysis (5) • Concern: Minimum fee is too high for small workshops • Analysis: • Almost all small workshops start co-located with existing sustainable conference and whose budget includes the workshop; later spin off workshop as it becomes sustainable • Some TC “invest” in “remote” small workshops by paying the Admin Fee • “remote” small workshops could be sponsored by local IEEE Chapter / Section • Resolution: no change is needed 12

  13. Analysis (6) • Concern: Very large conferences give back too much; more than ACM • Analysis: • ACM does have a sliding scale to cut Overhead Fee from 16% to 5.35% at top end • Larger conferences have larger risks where CS is the banker for all liabilities • Resolution: T&C Board and staff will review a slide scale reduction in 2011 13

  14. Analysis (7) • Concern: “Don’t tax the VAT tax” • Analysis: European conferences require 19% (+/-) VAT, which becomes an expense item that drives higher registration fees • European conferences are more expensive • IEEE European conferences have lower margins than other Regions • Some VAT is returned to most conferences and should be factored into registration fees • Note: Conferences also taxed in North America • Resolution: IEEE LLC can help with administering and reclaiming VAT. • T&C Board and staff will review exempting the VAT from Admin Fee in 2011 14 14

  15. Analysis (8) • Concern: 20% Admin Fee + 10% Contingency makes our high Registrations fees uncompetitive • Analysis: • IEEE Marketing data show IEEE fees trend low • IEEE conference registrations trail inflation chgs. • CS Project 24 Conference Competition has survey to collect the facts for 2011 analysis • Valid students concerns has resulted in reductions and financial support • Resolution: T&C Board and staff will review CS Project 24 survey facts in 2011 15

  16. Analysis (9) • Concern: Large conferences can't close fast enough for the TC to get budget credit for their conference surplus • Analysis: • Common IEEE conference problem as Conference organizers must submit up to 20 documents for closing • IEEE Conference Finance sends out alert reminders after 6, 10, and 12 months after conference end date to show due diligence to external auditors. • CS doesn’t get surplus until Treasurer closes account, update CIMA financial report, and transfer out the Admin fee and surplus • TMH 5.2.4 Surplus • Conference organizers may request a grace period of up to 3 months under extenuating circumstances, which will be reviewed and decided upon by the T&C Board VP • No grace periods have been requested in 2009 or 2010 • Resolution: • New Technical Meeting Database will show both TC & Conference organizers which closing documents have been received • no change is needed 16

  17. Conclusion • CS Admin Fee is working as intended • Some changes are needed for fairness • Larger problem is Conference organizers’ optimistic financial planning and “casual” execution has resulted in overall CS financial loss for 3Q2010. • New Tier 1 processes include lessons learned, detailed budgeting, & dropping CS financial sponsorship • A major conference has been dropped from financial sponsorship due to repeated losses 17 17

  18. Background 18

  19. Selected Conferences shows positive improvement during economic recession 19 19

More Related