Notes to the Balance Sheet

in Euros

1 Tangible Fixed Assets

Tangible fixed assets acquired during the year comprise mainly vehicles in our program countries. At head office our tangible assets comprise equipment and furniture for our office. Tangible assets that we hold for our programmes are mainly office equipment, vehicles and generators.

2 Financial Fixed Assets

Financial fixed assets relate to the value of the 100% participation in War Child Deutschland gemeinnützige gGmbH, Hamburg. The organization was officially registered and launched in the first quarter of 2019 as a German fundraising foundation.

3 Receivables

All accounts receivable originated in 2023, except for receivables relating to eight legacies totalling € 268,059 originating from 2022 and before. All receivables are expected to be received within one year and relate to our day-to-day operations. Sometimes legacies may take longer to be settled, especially when the sale of property is involved. Our best estimate is to classify all receivables as short-term.

No provision for doubtful receivables has been deemed necessary.

Legacies receivable consist of 26 legacies, of which the largest legacy amounts to € 188,200.

Prepayments to partners are amounts paid to implementing partner organisations, for which War Child has not received their liquidation reports. The prepayments to partners increased by € 1.9m (175 per cent) compared to 2022, mainly due to prepayments to partners under a large grant from the Netherlands government for Palestine.

Other accounts receivable comprise mainly prepaid expenses, unrestricted donations to be received, deposits and project advances.

Specification of receivables from donors

Receivables from donors relate to projects that have been implemented by War Child, for which the funds from donors are committed in a grant contract but had not yet been received on the balance sheet date. The funds are expected to be received within one year. The amount receivable from donors at the balance sheet date can be broken down as per the table below. The amount relating to the Dutch National Postcode Lottery, was received in March 2024.

4 Cash and cash equivalents

War Child’s cash and cash equivalents balance is at € 15.4 million, compared to € 15.4 million in the previous year.

Availability of cash and cash equivalents

The balance of cash and cash equivalents is readily available to War Child, except for a bank guarantee related to the rental agreements for War Child's office in The Netherlands, released at the end of the rental contract in 2028. The balance of the savings account with Rabobank is available to War Child without limitation.

Balances in foreign currencies

War Child aims to hold its cash positions as much as possible in Euros and in the Netherlands. For expenses in programme countries, foreign currency accounts are held. War Child head office and some country offices have a US Dollar bank account when contracts with donors and expenses are in US Dollars. Country offices request funds to be transferred by head office on a monthly basis, based on forecasted expenses. War Child aims to minimise funds held abroad, but due to the nature of War Child's work, each country needs to hold a buffer amount for operational expenses and unforeseen events. At the balance sheet date, 88 per cent of balances was kept in bank accounts in The Netherlands. The largest bank balance outside the Netherlands is held in the bank of Palestine in Jerusalem (€ 0.58 million). See also our notes about credit risk for the highest balance at a single bank.

5 Reserves and Funds

Continuity reserve

War Child does not keep more reserves than reasonably necessary to realise the organizational goals and to be able to continue its operations in situations of sudden lack of funding or of unexpected expenses. War Child’s Supervisory Board determines the desired size of its continuity reserve based on risks perceived, taking into account a number of adverse incidents that might happen. In 2023 the minimum desired level of the continuity reserve, equalling the calculations from the risk based approach, was left unadjusted at €5.0M. The desired level of the continuity reserve is also the actual size of the continuity reserve as per the balance date.

General reserve

The general reserve is formed from the surplus of reserves above the target level for the continuity reserve. War Child will spend its general reserve to the benefit of children affected by war in accordance with its objectives. The general reserve holds a €2.8M surplus which is not necessary for War Child’s continuity.

Earmarked funds

The earmarked funds are designated by the donor and must be spent on a specific purpose. The earmarked funds that existed end of 2022 were spent, except for an amount of € 78,375 for Research and Development. Additional earmarked funds were added in 2023 for the amount of € 1,150,199. Earmarked funds are spent on the objective and usually utilized within one year after receipt.

6 Provisions

All provisions are short term.

Provision for end-of-service benefits

A provision for end-of-service benefits is established when War Child has the obligation by local labour law to pay an amount of benefits to each of its employees at the end of their service, no matter how and by whom the employment contract was ended. The provision represents the cumulative amount of benefits built up by each employee up to the balance sheet date. The calculation is in accordance with the local law and is usually a formula such as: numbers of years in service x gross monthly salary x fixed percentage. The amount of obligation up to the balance sheet date can therefore be determined with a high degree of certainty. The amount is, however, payable at an uncertain date, namely at the end of service of the employee.
The provision for end-of-service benefits also comprises the amounts due to employees as a result of the transition to the network organization. The transition provision has been calculated on an individual staff basis, as per the payments due under the social plan.

Provision for local taxation

A provision for local taxation is established when local laws and regulations contain a tax obligation for non-governmental organisations, although the authorities have not (yet) imposed those taxes on War Child. The provision represents the best estimate of the amount of tax expected to be imposed on War Child in relation to the period up to the balance sheet date. However, since in many such cases the authorities have to date not imposed these taxes, the calculation method might be uncertain. For example, income tax might be applicable to all residents, but it is unclear which benefits shall be included in the taxable amount. In some countries, NGOs are jointly lobbying for a tax exemption. The amount, likelihood and timing of the future payment obligation are therefore often quite uncertain and the provision reflects War Child's best estimate.

Provision for local social security

The provision for local social security is similar in nature to the provision for taxation. In some countries a law exists for employers to provide social security to its staff. As long as the governments have not yet set up an authority in charge of collecting those payments, War Child keeps a provision for its best estimate of the amount to be paid.

Provision for ineligible grant expenses

This provision is related to expenses that might need to be paid back to institutional donors because some of their requirements were not met. Some of War Child’s programmes are implemented in particularly difficult, unsafe and unstable contexts where it is not always possible to guarantee that the strictest of donor requirements are followed in each of its (partner’s) transactions. War Child still implements those projects because especially those children need its support. War Child is continuously striving to improve its procedures to ensure compliance with increasingly strict donor requirements, in order to decrease the risk of ineligible expenses.

7 Long term liabilities

All long term liabilities are due after one year and within five years. The amount as per the balance sheet date relates to rental discounts of War Child’s Amsterdam office that were already received, but that are spread over the total length of the rental contract in accordance with the accounting principles. This amount is the part that will be recognized as a deduction of rental expenses in the financial years from 2025 onwards.

During the year 2023 the long term liabilities increased with € 130,988 (2022: decreased with €6,303) due to the renewal of the rental agreement until the year 2028. An amount of € 14,490 (2022: 8,404) is recognized as a deduction of the rental expenses.

8 Short term liabilities

All short term liabilities are due within one year.

The short term liabilities increased mainly due to the 34 per cent increase of 'Grants Received in Advance', as further detailed in the next table. It consists of restricted funding that was received by War Child in the financial year, while the related project expenses have not yet been incurred. Due to the nature of the grant contract, income is not accounted for in the period that the funds are received, but in the period in which the related expenses are recognized. The expenses related to grants received in advance are expected to be realised within one year.

The accounts payable to implementing partners increased by 25 per cent, mainly because of alignment between partner reporting and grant closure dates surrounding year-end.

Other liabilities are expected invoices relating to the financial year, which were not yet received at the balance sheet date. Personnel liabilities are part of other liabilities and relate to the 8 per cent holiday allowance built up for head office personnel during the year, which is due to be paid out in May, as well as to holiday leave days pending at the balance sheet date.

The three institutional donors with the largest instalments received in advance are the Netherlands Government, European Commission and UN organisations. The Netherlands government advanced a grant for Palestine shared between War Child as lead, and several implementing partners. The three largest donor balances account for 75  % (2022: 70%) of the grants received in advance.

Financial Risks and Financial Instruments

During its normal operations, War Child is exposed to currency, interest, cash flow, credit and liquidity risks. To control these risks, War Child has instituted policies and procedures that are intended to limit the risks of unpredictable adverse developments in the financial markets and thus for the ability of War Child to fulfil its objectives.

War Child does not apply nor trade in financial derivatives, such as interest rate swaps, forward exchange contracts or options to control its risks. Its main risk mitigation measures are described below.

Credit risk - banks

Credit risk arises principally from War Child's substantial cash position. It holds large bank balances and the main risk is that of a bank defaulting. The maximum amount of credit risk with one bank that War Child incurs is € 11.6 million, which is its balance with Rabobank at the balance sheet date. The second largest balance is with ING (€ 1.6 million). Furthermore, it has balances with foreign banks in the countries where we have branch offices. Bank balances abroad are maximized at the amount required to finance one month of expense. The largest bank balance abroad is with the Bank of Palestine in Jerusalem (€ 0.6 million).

The probability and impact of financial loss to War Child due to a bank going bankrupt is mitigated by spreading the balances over a number of banks, by limiting the outstanding balances abroad and by strict bank assessment procedures when opening a bank account.  Given the precarious situation, there still are concerns about the fragile banking situation in Lebanon. Lebanese banks restricted transfers abroad and dollar withdrawals from deposit accounts since 2019. At year end an amount of USD 0.2 million is held in an account in Lebanon in so-called Lollar, US Dollars that are both withdrawal and transfer restricted. Based on the limited progress in getting these funds released at USD equivalent value, the balance has been valued at the going Lollar rate.

Credit risk - receivables

Credit risk arises from War Child's receivables totalling € 12.8 million. The credit risk is concentrated at counterparties from outstanding amounts with donors for a total amount of € 6.5 million. These are large donors and governments with whom War Child has a long standing relationship and that have always in time satisfied their obligations to pay. The highest receivables amount to € 2.4 million from the National Postcode Lottery.

In addition, €3.0 million receivables relate to prepayments to partners. The prepayments to partners are spread over more than 30 partners, the largest balance being € 0.8 million with SOS Kinderdorpen.

Foreign exchange rate risk

War Child is primarily exposed to currency risk on project obligations that are denominated in a currency other than the contractual currency of the grant contract that relates to such a project. The currencies in which these project transactions primarily are denominated are EUR and USD, whereas a minority of transactions take place in amongst others COP, UGX and SSP. The currencies in which War Child’s donor grant contracts are denominated are primarily EUR and USD, whereas a minority of grants are denominated in amongst others CHF, CAD, GBP, BIF and SSP. War Child's policy is to denominate its contractual obligations as much as possible in the same currency as the donor's currency and to hold bank balances in the donor currency, so that the real exchange rate is closest to the reporting exchange rate.
War Child is exposed to currency risk on all outstanding balances denominated in another currency than the reporting currency which is the euro. Main balances held in foreign currency relate to cash and bank balances, and receivables from, and payables to, donors and partners. The exposure as of December 31 of the three aforementioned components can be summarized as follows:

War Child does not hedge its forecasted foreign currency exposure with any derivative instruments. Derivatives bring their own risks and costs, while War Child's current practical risk mitigation measures, when assessed over a multiyear period, serve their purpose.

Interest and cash flow risk

War Child has no long-term payables and receivables. A substantial part of our income is received from donors at the start of the grant agreements mitigating the cash flow risk on grant expenses.
War Child has no interest bearing loans. The interest risk is mitigated to the interest received and paid on outstanding bank balances.

Liquidity risk

The management monitors War Child's cash position and ensures that it is sufficient to meet the financial obligations towards creditors, employees and partners. The liquidity position ensured by War Child's level of the reserves to cover financial obligations are adequate. Working capital is primarily monitored by paying close attention to the net payable and receivable balances with both donors and partners.

Fair value

The fair value of the financial instruments stated on the balance sheet, including receivables, cash and cash equivalents and current liabilities, is approximately equal to their carrying amount.

Off-balance sheet obligations and rights

War Child's global off-balance sheet obligations and rights are as follows and are further explained in the text below the table.

Operational obligations

The main operational obligation is the office rental obligation in The Netherlands for the period until 30 September 2028. Total remaining rental obligation including service and utilities charges is € 1.5 million. The remaining obligations of € 0.4 million mainly consist of rental obligations in programme countries.

The most important operational lease objects are Office rent in Amsterdam, NL. The principal provisions from these operational lease agreements are:

Amsterdam Office, with Alliantie, 5 years from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2028. Tacit extension with 5 years after end of period, cancellation 12 months before end of term.

Amsterdam Office, with Merin, tacitly extended until September 30, 2028. Tacit extension with 5 years after end of period, cancellation 12 months before end of term.

Implementing Partners

War Child works with many implementing partners globally. War Child enters into agreements with partner organisations to execute projects related to War Child's objectives. The contributions in these contracts are disbursed to partners in several instalments. All contributions are conditional. War Child has off balance sheet obligations to its partners totalling € 10.3 million. War Child’s largest expected future payment is to Save the Children under a conditional funding agreement running until July 2024 with a remaining commitment of € 1.3 million.

Off balance sheet rights

Grants from donors are recognized as income when the related expenses are recognized. Instalments received from donors are recognized on the balance sheet under Grants received in advance, for the part that is not yet spent. The remaining instalments due in accordance with contracts signed with donors are, insofar they exceed the receivable based on expenditure, reported as off-balance sheet rights. The total amount of instalments to be received by War Child as off-balance sheet rights under existing donor contracts is € 20.3 million. The largest amount to be received in the coming 5 years form a single donor is  € 7.0 million from the LEGO Foundation.