Profit Account for September 2011

Evekill statistics for September 2011:

• Kills: 40
• ISK destroyed: 1.6 billion
• Losses: 8
• ISK lost: 0.16 billion
• Efficiency: 91.01%
• Kill/Death ratio: 5/1

Battleclinic Rank: 26,610

Although I don't have nearly as many kills this month as some fellow Tuskers, September has been particularly busy for me; only July had more kills, and my efficiency was far worse. This is particularly surprising when I consider how little time I have actually been able to devote to Eve - there were a couple of week long periods where I was not able to log on at all. Despite the high kill count, though, there has been a shortage of treasure ships; those big kills that make you rich for a short while. Instead, it has been a bit of a grinder, with my losses eating away at what little profit I have been able to scrape together.

I have also made some changes to the way losses are valued. Until recently, I was using Battleclinic cost listings, but Tsubutai suggested that Evekill has more accurate valuations. When I compared the values attributed to my faction repair system (Battleclinic - 12 million ISK; Evekill - 5.45 million ISK) to what I actually paid for it (4.25 million ISK), I decided it was worth making the switch. This will mean a slight inconsistency between loss values when compared to the last few months.

For those interested in a comparison, last month's figures can be found here.

Schedule of Income

Solo Income

Dropped modules and other loot

ISK 106,414,402 

Ransoms

ISK 30,800,000

Bounty on Stoakes (ISK 800,000)

"Ransom" from toothslayer (ISK 30,000,000)

Total Solo Income

ISK 137,214,402

Group Income

Dropped modules and other loot

ISK 14,515,880

Vengeance et alia v Falcon et alia (ISK 8,515,880)

Vengeance & Rifter v Cyclone (ISK 6,000,000)

Ransoms

ISK 10,000,000

Dariaz Taron (ISK 10,000,000)

Total Group Income

ISK 24,515,880

Total Income

ISK 161,730,282

Schedule of Expenses

Solo Expenses

Reasonable losses (see note 1)

ISK 79,589,357

Vengeance (ISK 17,077,984) - Vengeance v Sabre.
Vengeance (ISK 17,510,527) - Vengeance v Gate Camp.
Vengeance (ISK 17,304,505) - Vengeance v FW Gang.
Capsule with four +2 implants (ISK 12,930,000)
Malediction (ISK 14,766,341) - Malediction v Thrasher.

Avoidable losses (see note 2)

Nil

Other expenses

ISK 1,842,018

Repairs (ISK 790,218)

Ransom CSPA (ISK 11,800)

Contract fees (ISK 40,000)

Donation to Joshua Baker (ISK 1,000,000)

Total Solo Expenses

ISK 81,431,375

Group Expenses

Reasonable losses (see note 1)

ISK 17,696,556

Vengeance (ISK 17,696,556) - Vengeance et alia v Cyclone et alia; a gang action.

Avoidable losses (see note 2)

ISK 39,860,493

Malediction (ISK 16,718,436) - Malediction et alia v Vagabond; I was fast tackle, and I tried to hold on too long while the rest of the gang caught up. Should have bailed.
Vengeance (ISK 23,142,057) - Vengeance et alia v Ashimmu; what the hell was I thinking?

Total Group Expenses

ISK 57,557,049

Total Expenses

ISK 138,988,424

Schedule of Profit (Loss)

Total Income

ISK 161,730,282

Less

Total Expenses

ISK 138,988,424

Net Profit (Loss) (see note 3)

ISK 22,741,858

Appendix 1: Estimated Income Pending

Unsold solo roam loot

ISK 5,000,000

Total Income Pending

ISK 5,000,000

Appendix 2: Explanatory Notes

Accounting basis

This profit account has been prepared on the basis of income received and expenses incurred. That is, income is only recorded when the ISK has actually been deposited in my wallet and the expense of purchasing a ship is recorded only when the ship has been destroyed.

All accounts have to make decisions about when, and how, to record income, and each method has it's own advantages and disadvantages. I prefer the income received basis because it takes the guesswork out of preparation, but I recognize that this means that there will be cases where a profitable month may show a loss, simply because the bulk of the faction loot is still on contract in Jita. The reverse is also true.

However, as long as the accounts are consistent, long term trends in profitability can be reliably monitored, especially if we remain alert to the possible biases. Additionally, estimates of carried over income will appear in appendix 1.

All figures are rounded to the nearest ISK, and are derived from character and alt wallets unless otherwise stated.

Capital & Liquidity

These accounts also do not address issues of liquidity or capital. Although I may be profitable, for example, I may have no ISK in my wallet because I have converted those funds into ships and modules.

I have chosen not to address capital or liquidity for two reasons. First, this adds a great deal of additional work to the accounts, for very little additional gain. Capital and liquidity matter in the real world, where a corporation's ability to offer security for debt (capital) and meet the interest payments on that debt (liquidity) are critical issues. New Eden, mercifully, does not work like that.

ISK, how much money I have!

Notes

Note 1: "Reasonable losses" includes all losses where it was reasonable for me to engage the target and no fundamental play error occurred during the fight. Evekill costs, net of insurance, are used for simplicity, and dropped modules count as destroyed for the purpose calculating these costs, unless those modules were recovered after the fight. Loot from previous fights, if any, are excluded from the total costs - no ISK was spent on obtaining these items, so no ISK is lost when they are destroyed.

Note 2: "Avoidable losses" includes all losses where it was unreasonable for me to engage the enemy or a fundamental play error occurred during combat. Evekill costs, net of insurance, are used for simplicity, and dropped modules count as destroyed for the purpose calculating these costs, unless those modules were recovered after the fight. Loot from previous fights, if any, are excluded from the total costs - no ISK was spent on obtaining these items, so no ISK is lost when they are destroyed.

Note 3: In this line, a figure in brackets indicates a loss rather than a profit.

 

Appendix 3: Comments & Criticism

Somehow, I actually managed to turn a profit again this month. Of course, that profit gets me about one T2 frigate, but I'll take what I can get.

Income

Solo roaming was again my primary source of income for this month, despite the fact that my killboard says I engaged in a fair amount of gang activity. The truth is, some of this activity was pure overkill, with a number of nearby Tuskers getting together to take on a target we could have dealt with solo or in a smaller group. Groups are only profitable when directed at high end kills, and these were not high end kills.

Expenses

My expenses shot up this month, with 8 losses. While my efficiency is over 90%, that's cold comfort to my wallet.

In addition to my usual Vengeance builds, I also lost some experimental Malediction fits, but I have to accept that testing new ships is going to come with some element of expense.

Improving Performance

As I mentioned in this post, a significant number of my recent losses occurred when I was unable to escape a no-win situation; gate camps and the like. I can improve my profitability simply by improving my situational awareness and avoiding those kinds of situations.

I would also like to improve my kills/death ration; my goal would be a 10/1 ratio, and I will be keeping that in mind when I am selecting targets.