Boy / Cub Scout Accounts... If you use GCash, how do you do it?

[Michael Hendry]

On 26 Feb 2013, at 18:27, Chip Wachob <wachobc at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi there,
> 
> I've been searching high and low for some examples of how to handle Scout
> Accounts for individual Scouts.  We have a rather large Pack and I've been
> trying to apply GCash to our situation without much luck.
> 
> Boys can have money put into their accounts several different ways,
> fundraisers, straight deposits, etc.  Then they can use those funds for
> Scouting activities.
> 
> Our Pack likes to be able to track the amount of money spent on various
> activities, especially the larger ones, and I also need to keep track of
> the Scout balances through the year.  Transfers between different Scout
> Accounts to dues, baseball game, camp, supplies, etc, occur frequently.
> 
> I'd like to be able to easily generate statements for each Scout on a
> quarterly basis so that we can keep their accounts in the black.
> 
> As far as reports go: I also have to report monthly on income and
> expenditures for the Pack.  Generating a report would be great.  Currently,
> reporting seems to have a bug (at least for me and I see some others too)
> where it will not display in the GCash GUI.  I actually have to 'print' it
> or save to HTML to view.  Sort of frustrating when you're trying to
> determine how to make things look right.  But I digress...
> 
> We have around 50 Scouts, so that would be 50 sub-accounts in our Checking
> account, which seems a bit unhandy to me.  I've read about setting up the
> Scouts as Customers.  But it seems like they are both a Customer and a
> Vendor depending upon what account activity needs to take place.  The other
> problem I have is if I issue an Invoice to a Customer, I don't see those
> debits and/or credits show up in my Assets, Expenditures or Liabilities.
> 
> I'd sure appreciate some input from anyone out there who has done this with
> GCash and could offer up, maybe a template and how things should be
> recorded.
> 
> I have a really basic understanding of accounting principles, and had no
> problem with the 'personal' examples given in the tutorial.  But, I seem to
> be beyond the accounting principles that are covered in the tutorial as I
> attempt to setup the 'books' for our Pack.
> 
> Thank you in advance for your time and feedback.
> 
> Chip
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First - I am not an accountant!

I think your are running one set of accounts for the pack - running a bank account (or maybe more than one) and incurring expenses. So far, so ordinary.

But you are also looking after money for individual scouts (mostly - although it looks as if you allow them to overdraw).

I would regard the scouts as liabilities (you owe them money), and treat them in the same way as you would any other creditor.

A purchase by the pack on behalf (let's say) of a particular scout would be posted as a cash payment against an expense account, and a separate transaction would charge the individual scout's account for the item. 

You could nest all the individual scouts' accounts under one heading in the same way as you group all Expenses under one heading, and only open up individuals' accounts when you need to see the detail.

This way each scout's affairs would be recorded in his own account, but a close watch could be kept on general expenditure.

Michael