November Financial Report
Now this is interesting.... Have a look at the November Financial Report on the CDS website: https://cdsdemocracy.org/cds-treasurer/reports/
We had a spike downward in November in terms of profitability; we lost about L$17,000, making the loss for the term about L$27,000, something less than US$100, which is really not bad, but still a loss.
But then go look at the chart on page 5! This is the chart that shows ... hmmm... how to explain this easily? The chart shows a colored line for each sim, with the purple line showing all 6 sims combined. The line shows a PERCENT. If it's right at 100%, that means that the OCCUPIED tier boxes on that sim yield income exactly equal to the COST (the monthly amount we pay Linden Lab) of that sim. If its below 100%, the OCCUPIED tier boxes don't add up to the COST of the sim, and if it's over 100%, it means that the boxes yield more than the COST.
Last month, we were down. All the lines were sloping down, which was a bit disheartening. But look at them now! They are ALL sloping up. While Friedsee and Colonia Nova are still less than 100%, every sim is sloping up, meaning that more of its tier boxes are occupied than they had been. That's a GREAT sign... let's hope that it keeps up.
Now one small caveat. Some of that improvement is caused by a slight improvement in the exchange rate. You'll notice on Page 4 (and also on the Balance Sheet on Page 2) that the exchange rate is 251, the rate we get when we exchange L$s for US$s in order to pay Linden Lab (actually the real rate is more like 261-265 to include the fee we pay LL for the privilege of converting the currency). That rate last month was 253, so its very slightly improved, and that has caused our profitability to improve too. But the rate has more typically been 251, so let's hope that it stays that way.
Now, you COULD ask why, if more tier boxes are occupied, why we still lost money? Well, the Income page showing the loss, Page 3 of the report, is the real deal... we DID lose money. People no longer pay their tier for exactly one month, all on the same day of the month, so that the amount which the sum of all the tierboxes yield doesn't all show up in one month. Page 3 shows what we actually collected and what we actually spent.
But over the long run, assuming that we don't lose a lot of money to people who are in arrears and who then abandon without paying (which we typically don't), the occupancy of the tierboxes is the underpinning of our financial stability. If more of them are occupied, that's good news for the CDS. Let's work hard to keep that happening!
Sudane.........................