Minutes | Board Finance Committee (BFC) 18 April 2014

BFC Attendees: Sebastien Bachollet, Cherine Chalaby – Chair, Chris Disspain, and George Sadowsky, and Mike Silber

Apologies: Bruno Lanvin

Other Board member Attendee: Steve Crocker

Executive and Staff Attendees: Susanna Bennett (Chief Operating Officer), Megan Bishop (Board Support Coordinator), Xavier Calvez (Chief Financial Officer), John Jeffrey (General Counsel and Secretary), Taryn Presley (Sr. Manager, FP&A) and Amy Stathos (Deputy General Counsel)

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The following is a summary of discussions and actions identified:

FY15 Budget: Staff presented various issues related to the FY15 budget. Staff reported on the process and timeline overview for the entire budgeting process, including the timeline and process for SO and AC additional budget request process, as well as the minor deviations from the process that was posted in November 2013. Staff noted that the intent this year is to minimize growth in most departments to help stabilize the organization and to optimize staff efficiency. The BFC also talked about the assumptions that have to be made in terms of revenue from transactional fees, in particular from new gTLDs, and how revenue might increase or decrease over time, depending on its source. The committee then discussed the assumptions about operating expenses for FY15, which include exceptional items from FY14 that will not be repeated, the number of Public Meetings per year goes from four to three, staffing costs, priority projects, and accounting for a higher contingency amount due to higher operating expenses. The committee also talked about the statements of activities both for FY15, and as it is compared to FY14. The committee also discussed resource utilization areas and compared the FY14 budget and the FY14 statement at activities.

• Action:
  • Staff to schedule a further meeting to discuss the SO/AC additional budget requests, and revenue sensitivity analysis.

Published on 22 June 2014