The breakdown of this item in the accompanying statement of profit or loss is as follows:
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
| IT and systems | (444) | (435) | (373) |
| Advertising and publicity * | (168) | (190) | (174) |
| Property and fixtures | (113) | (114) | (115) |
| Rent ** | (37) | (44) | (185) |
| Communications | (72) | (71) | (70) |
| Outsourced administrative services | (57) | (86) | (109) |
| Tax contributions | (38) | (38) | (40) |
| Surveillance and security carriage services | (31) | (34) | (33) |
| Representation and travel expenses | (24) | (55) | (57) |
| Printing and office materials | (20) | (16) | (12) |
| Technical reports | (58) | (58) | (56) |
| Legal and judicial | (15) | (16) | (15) |
| Governing and control bodies | (10) | (10) | (10) |
| Other expenses | (111) | (81) | (47) |
| TOTAL | (1,198) | (1,248) | (1,296) |
* Includes advertising in media, sponsorships, promotions and other commercial expenses.
** The short-term amount of rental expenses in which IFRS 16 has not been applied is immaterial.
"Technical reports" relates to fees and expenses, excluding the related VAT, paid to the auditor, broken down as follows:
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |||
| Auditor of the Group (PwC **) | 5,865 | 4,974 | 4,862 | ||
| Audit | 4,745 | 3,817 | 3,762 | ||
| Audit | 3,581 | 3,285 | 2,817 | ||
| Limited review | 671 | 532 | 945 | ||
| Other audit services | 493 | ||||
| Other services | 1,120 | 1,157 | 1,100 | ||
| Comfort letters for issues | 277 | 350 | 179 | ||
| Agreed procedural reports | 840 | 804 | 707 | ||
| Other work | 3 | 3 | 214 | ||
| Other auditors | 40 | ||||
| Audit | 40 | ||||
| TOTAL | 5,865 | 4,974 | 4,902 | ||
(*) The services contracted with our auditors comply with the Spanish Auditing Act's requirements of independence, and none of the work performed is incompatible with auditing duties.
PricewaterhouseCoopers Auditores, S.L., with registered office at Paseo de la Castellana 259 B, Torre PWC, 28046 Madrid. A resolution was carried at the Annual General Meeting held on 6 April 2017 to ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers Auditores, S.L. as financial auditor of CaixaBank Group for 2018 through to 2020, following the reasoned recommendation and preference issued by the Audit and Control Committee, after completing the selection process carried out in accordance with the criteria set out in Regulation (EU) 537/2014 of 16 April on specific requirements regarding statutory audit of public-interest entities. PricewaterhouseCoopers Auditors, S.L. did not resign nor was it removed from its duties as auditor of CAIXABANK during 2018, 2019 or 2020. On 22 May 2021 the AGM approved the extension of the current auditor's appointment to 2021.
The following tables provide a breakdown of the required information relating to payments made and pending at the balance sheet date:
| 2020 | |
| Total payments made | 2,775 |
| Total payments pending | 44 |
| TOTAL PAYMENTS IN THE YEAR | 2,819 |
| 2020 | |
| Average payment period to suppliers | 21.69 |
| Ratio of transactions paid | 19.27 |
| Ratio of transactions pending payment | 21.65 |
In accordance with the Second Transitional Provision of Act 15/2010 of 5 July, covering measures to combat non-performing assets in the trading operations, generally, the maximum statutory period for payments between companies is 60 days.
