Please describe your proposed solution.
More bout the problem:
In Fund 6 (2021), together with other team members, we got 2 proposals funded, I also got rewards being a CA at that fund.
This situation was a simple use case of an initial relatively small amount of founding. Yet reporting it was quite complex. Here are some of the questions that came when discussing with the accountant:
- What is Blockchain/Cardano/Catalyst
- They obviously heard about blockchain and have some clients that are trading crypto but not earning money in Crypto
- Where the money is coming from? Who is the entity that should be on the invoice?
- Who owns the wallet? The team working on the project? Me as a person? Or my company?
- Is it a personal income or a company income?
- How do we deal with ADA price volatility? Do we calculate also financial gains and losses?
- The laws are different for students?
- How do get funds to our bank account? What will be the process for it?
Each answer above has a different path to follow and also brings more questions such as:
- How do we manage the wallets?
- If needed, how do we convert ADA to Euro? The exchange account needs to be a private one or a company one, or do we need both?
- If the project is done with other companies, and I am a project lead/or not how the accounting is done between the companies. In each case how to report the projects revenue?
- How do we deal with staking income?
- Should I report a wallet address as any bank account I need to officially report?
- How do we report payments in ADA for services provided by other community members and who prefers to receive ADA?
For 2021 reporting the accountet suggested a temporary path which is not very beneficial for me over time and we are aiming to work in Q4 on the path for the reporting of 2022. One major complication of the reporting is the volatility of the market which is obliged to keep track of the exchange rate for reporting while transferring funds between different platforms. I.e. project is $ but we receive ADA, transfer to an exchange, convert ADA to Euro, and send to the bank account.
If 2021 reporting was challenging with initial revenue, 2022 is going to be extremely challenging. As part of the team is working full time on Catalyst, we are grateful to be involved in many exciting funded projects, but this will be very challenging for the 2022 reporting and tax payments.
Here are some examples:
- Geneva Business development hub: <https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/384221> where I am a lead proposer
- C4C hub operation: <https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/404971> where I am part of a community
- Traveler ID: <https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/399697> and the project was done with 2 companies eRevMax.com and Proofspace.io
These different proposals provide different scenarios that need to be evaluated.
The Solution:
In France, there are two main types of financial reporting. 1. Reporting as a company, in case you have one 2. Reporting as an individual - is obligatory for every French residence.
The solution will be to work together with my accountant and as needed also engage a lawyer and define the various pathways for the revenue and expenses declaration both as an individual with resilience in France as well as a company registered in France
The solution will include building tools and processes that could apply also for other countries. For example, a process to send funds to a bank account.
We will also reach out to teams working in other countries as well as with IOG and Cardano foundation teams to coordinate best practices. For example, around invoicing.
Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.
How can we build effective solutions to explore and provide legal & financial services and support to funded Proposers.
The process I am going through now will be relevant for individuals and companies in France both from an accounting perspective as well as legal. It will also be helpful information for other countries as a basic model that can be adjusted per country.
Providing funded proposals with solutions and services to operate legally in their residing country will open new possibilities and provide peace of mind to the project owners. Many projects will broaden their horizons and increase their impact on the Ecosystem once legal and financial frameworks are explored and established. This will in turn promote adoption and improve product ownership. There is a need to get accountants and lawyers into the Cardano & Catalyst Ecosystem.
The above is defined in the challenge setting, and this is exactly my status and the solution we wish to provide to others.
What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?
Risk 1: French regulation regarding crypto - having crypto trading and revenue from work at the same regulation. To mitigate this issue, we will try to work together with the accountant on a pathway and terminology that meet possible processes that are already in practice.
Risk 2: The source of funds is not clear and therefore will make it more complicated to define the process or will categorize the revenue is not an advantageous tax situation. To mitigate it, we will coordinate with CF and IO as well as with other proposals for other countries that are working on the same issue
Risk 3: The French system is complex and we might not cover all the use cases. What we will do is define the status and pathways for the various scenarios so it will be possible to track in case any scenario was not covered.