Today, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced its unaudited financial results for the financial year ending 30 June 2021. Additionally, Public Technical Identifiers (PTI) published its unaudited financial results for the financial year ending 30 June 2021.
Highlights from ICANN's Year-end Financials
ICANN's financial health remains strong and has improved throughout the year. Funding remains consistent with previous years' trends, and expenses have decreased versus previous years' trends primarily due to the absence of travel and meetings during the entire fiscal year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding was $142 million, which was $12 million higher than the budget.
- The funding budget assumed an 8% decline in funding (compared to the prior year) as a result of a preemptive and cautious approach of anticipating the potential economic effects of the global pandemic. During this period, funding remained stable compared with previous years, demonstrating the domain name market's resilience in a context where the entire world relied primarily on digital communication.
ICANN Operations expenses were $116 million, which was $13 million lower than budget.
- Expenses were $10 million lower than the budget due to holding all three ICANN meetings virtually instead of in person. In addition, ICANN org had budgeted for other travel to resume early in the fiscal year, which did not happen, leading to further savings including lower administrative expenses from the regional offices.
New gTLD 2012 Program expenses were $8 million.
- ICANN incurred $8 million in operating expenses to process the remaining 2012 New gTLD applications in FY21. These expenses consisted of risk costs, evaluation processing, and program administration expenses (including ICANN staff support). ICANN is currently evaluating the application of new accounting pronouncements for FY21 that may impact the financial reporting of this program.
Funds under management, which include all cash on hand and in investments, totaled $521 million by the end of the fiscal year, an increase of $40 million since the beginning of the fiscal year.
- The balance increased primarily due to the excess of funding over expenses, as well as net investment gains in a market made very volatile by the effects of the global pandemic on the world economy.
- Significant progress has been made with the Reserve Fund. ICANN's year-end balance is US$154 million, increasing as a result of a $10 million board-approved additional allocation from the Operating Fund, and investment gains of $11 million over the period. The Reserve Fund is a pillar of ICANN's financial long-term sustainability, which has now been replenished above its minimum level.
- The FY21 year-end balance of 2012 New gTLD application funds is $77 million. ICANN continues to incur evaluation costs to process the remaining applications and risk-related expenses, for which these funds will be used.
FY21 Reports Published
ICANN publishes several quarterly and annual financial reports as part of maintaining financial accountability and transparency. The following reports are now available:
- ICANN FY21 Q4 Unaudited Financials: These reports are posted every quarter as a summarized update of ICANN's year-to-date financials. The FY21 Q4 report reflects ICANN's unaudited financials for the full fiscal year. ICANN expects to publish the audited FY21 financial statements as soon as the independent auditor has completed the review.
- PTI FY21 Q4 Unaudited Financials: These reports are posted every quarter as a summarized update of PTI's year-to-date financials. The FY21 Q4 report reflects PTI's unaudited financials for the full fiscal year. PTI expects to publish the audited FY21 financial statements as soon as the independent auditor has completed the review.
- Country code top-level domain (ccTLD) Contributions: This report summarizes voluntary contributions paid to ICANN from ccTLD registries, which are listed by the ICANN fiscal year and reflect the fiscal year for which the contribution was intended, regardless of the date the contribution was issued.
- Funding by Source: This report includes annual funding by the customer and the customer class.
- Board Expenses Report: This report includes annual reimbursements and the compensation paid to (or paid on behalf of) the ICANN Board of Directors.