Treasurer

At the date of this writing, we are using GnuCash as our bookkeeping software. GnuCash is a free program available for both Windows and Macintosh computers, which means that any interested leader can use it at no cost. That makes it easy to share copies of the data file among leaders.

IMPORTANT! The treasurer's copy of the data file is the only official copy unless the treasurer has explicitly asked another leader to make changes to the file. This is important in order to avoid confusion and possible loss of data.

Assets

Assets include bank accounts, accounts receivable, cash and property.

Our bank accounts include checking, savings and our account at the council office. All accounts should be reconciled monthly (checking, council) or quarterly (savings). Checking and savings account statements are currently mailed to the committee chair. The treasurer should contact the council store (Barb Madore) via e-mail to request a statement of our council account activity.

When money is owed to the troop, an accounts receivable account may be used as a reminder of the debt. Whether it's worth doing so is a judgment call, but when in doubt, use it.

The only property we currently track are troop caps and t-shirts. The stated value of those items will have to be adjusted periodically to be meaningful.

The only cash account currently defined is the Transfer account, which is used solely as a bookkeeping convenience. Its balance should normally be zero. Use this account when you have a transaction that involves splits on both ends. For example, if you receive money from a troop meeting that includes dues, camping fees and perhaps other funds, the checking account deposit will require a split to track the different categories of cash. At the same time, the camping fees need to be tracked per scout under the activity account. In such a case, you can use the Transfer account to simplify things.

Liabilities

Liability accounts include accounts payable, activities and scout accounts.

Accounts payable, like accounts receivable, should be created and used when you need to note some debt for future reference. Food King is one frequently used payable account.

You should create a liability account for any activity that requires payments by participating scouts. This includes virtually all camping activities and possibly others. Within the account, create a single transaction that captures each individual scout payment. If the payment comes from a check or cash, record it as coming from the Transfer account. If the payment comes from his scout account, record it accordingly. When completed, the transaction will show every scout who paid, whether cash/check or account. That list should then be reconciled against the activity report (from Troopmaster) to make sure that all participating scouts paid their share. The activity report will show outgoing payments to Food King, camp site fees and other expenses. Once all activity transactions are recorded, any surplus or deficit should be charged to the appropriate expense category, such as Camping Expenses, so that the activity account winds up with a zero balance. At that point, the account may be retired (see below).

The troop maintains an account for each scout. Scout accounts earn money via certain troop fundraisers, primarily the popcorn sale and the car wash. Scouts may deposit additional funds in their accounts at any time, and the treasurer may choose to record scout payments in those accounts for tracking purposes. Scout accounts may be used to pay for troop activities and for certain other scouting-related purchases at the approval of the Scoutmaster. The treasurer should send quarterly reminders to all scouts as to their current balance. If any scout account falls into the red, the scout's family should be notified immediately so that they can bring the account back into balance or surplus. Any scout who leaves the troop forfeits any balance in their account. Once a scout leaves the troop, his account may be retired (see below).

Retired Accounts

Accounts no longer in use may be moved to the Retired Accounts area in order to get them out of your way. Be sure they have been properly zeroed out first. By default, retired accounts are hidden. You can change that setting under View > Filter By > Other > Show Hidden Accounts.

Income and Expenses

The income and expense accounts represent categories that make up the troop budget. Most are self-evident, but some deserve some explanation (below).

Note that an income category may involve some expenses, and an expense category may involve some income. The important thing is to be able to associate all related transactions.

Income

• Bottle Drive is our annual June fundraiser held in conjunction with the Girl Scouts.
• Bottle Drop is for income from the drop box located at the Waterville Car Wash.
• Car Wash is the other half of our June fundraiser. Not to be confused with the bottle drop located at the Waterville Car Wash...
• Charter Support represents whatever annual support we get from our chartered organization, the American Legion.
• Forfeits is for any funds left over in a scout account after the scout leaves the troop.
• Member Support is for the end-of-year charge imposed on each scout after the popcorn sale. Once all popcorn sale accounting is complete, you should enter a single transaction that debits each scout account the amount agreed upon at the September committee meeting.
• Popcorn Sale represents the fall fundraiser. This account will include gross receipts (all sales), expenses (payment to Council for the cost of the popcorn) and bonus receipts from council. Once those items are accounted for, the net receipts for each scout are transferred to the scout's personal account. The amount remaining is the troop's total income from popcorn.

Expenses

• Ceremony Expenses include Court of Honor expenses, including up to $200 per Eagle CoH.
• Charter Fee is currently $20 per year and is paid at rechartering time (January).
• Leadership Training covers training for both adult and youth leaders.
• Merit Badge Blitz is used solely for any troop blitz. Council and district blitzes should incur no troop costs.
• Registrations include per-person registration fees incurred at rechartering time or when a new scout or leader joins the troop.