Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has recorded a surplus of over €30,000 in its most recent financial year, reversing last year’s shortfall of more than €70,000 according to its most recent accounts.
TCDSU’s accounts, released this afternoon, show that it recorded a surplus of €32,522 in the year ending June 30th, 2019, a dramatic improvement for the union after a large shortfall last year. It’s the first surplus the union has run since 2014/15.
TCDSU Administrative Officer Simon Evans – who compiled the accounts as co-treasurer of the union alongside the president – said in his report that the accounts show a “welcome return to a surplus and a stabilising of the SU’s finances”.
“The Union’s successes in the past decade have been built on achieving a surplus and then spending this on student services”, he said.
“This represents a huge effort across all parts of the SU and this return to financial discipline must be maintained in the long run”, he added.
TCDSU’s House Six shop recorded a surplus of €23,891, an improvement on last year’s deficit of €8,419. Similarly, the shortfall recorded by the Hamilton shop is just €3,647, much less than last year’s overrun of €23,688.
The income brought in by Ents increased by around €10,000 to €238,174. Staff salaries remained relatively steady, at just over €200,000.
The SU Cafe, located in Goldsmith Hall, returned to a slight surplus of €979 after recording a deficit of €3,836 last year. Evans wrote that the “café is popular and reflects well on the students who run it”.
Printing expenses, which include the The University Times as well as the costs of running the union’s website and publishing the union’s diaries, fell by over 20 per cent, from €41,986 to €33,132.
Evans said that the “key” to the union’s successes in the last decade “was simple and remains the same now – the Students Union must run at a reasonable surplus every year and 75% of this surplus becomes available to be spent in the following year”.
