Scout Troop Dues Structure

[jdunham]

First of all, the check receiving process seems very wrong. When you receive
a check and run to the bank with it, you should have a transaction that
debits the checking account and credits some other account like accounts
receivable. The fact that you expect a $24 balance in checking when you have
a check for $25 is very messed up.  Doesn't the bank account have $25 in it
now that you have deposited the check?  Your check register should exactly
match your bank's online register except for transactions which the bank has
not yet processed.

As an aside, I find it helpful to create an Asset account called
"Undeposited Checks". If a scout gives you a check it goes in there and can
be processed as a payment, against A/R or his liability account.  Then when
you go to the bank and deposit a pile of checks, you get a separate
transaction that matches what is on the bank statement and doesn't require a
lot of splits. But that has no direct affect on your problem at hand.

Okay so getting back to your particular transaction, normally a business
entity creates an invoice first. Of course order doesn't matter, but
thinking about it the right way may help you get back on track. I think that
starting with the payment rather than the invoice has helped get you mixed
up.

Your invoice should create income for the troop so your invoice transaction
between assets and the scout liability account is wrong. It should debit A/R
and credit Income:Dues.  I think it would be more helpful to debit your
scout liability account instead of A/R, but I'm pretty sure Gnucash's
invoicing won't allow you to use a non-a/r account for invoicing.
 
With your current system as-is, then a check you receive should credit the
scout family's liability account and debit the checking account. 

Then when you process the payment, you pay the invoice from the family
liability account, crediting accounts receivable.


Joshua Sanders wrote
> Adrien and others, 
>     Thanks for the replies and holding my hand in my sleep deprived state.
> Sorry for the confusion about the screen shots. Apparently 20 years
> working in IT has left me completely unable to post more than one picture
> to a user forum. I'll post just one image to this reply that shows my
> chart of accounts. I'll leave the rest to text.
>     I agree my net assets should show $24 but they don't currently show
> that in GNUcash 
> 
> My first transaction is the kid's parents turning in a check for $25 to
> the troop.
> Dr. Liabilities:Scout Account - Nick $25
>    Cr.  Revenue:4010 - Individual contributions $25
> (This first transaction should show that I have a negative Net Assets and
> yet at the bottom of the screen it says Net Assets: $25)
> 
> My second transaction is the posting of the invoice for the membership
> assessment of $24
> Dr. Asset:1100 - A/R $24
>    Cr.   Liabilities:Scout Account - Nick $24
> 
> My third transaction pays the invoice and generates the following after I
> pay through the invoicing system.
> Dr. Asset:1010 - Checking Account $24
>    Cr.  Asset:1100 - A/R $24
> 
> This leaves me with $24 in my Assets:1010 - checking account and $(1.00)
> in Liabilities:Scout Account - Nick. That means there is $25 in my bank
> account but my net assets should be $24 since I've got $1 in reserve for
> later dues, camps, whatever. GNUcash however is showing my Net Assets as
> $25.
<http://gnucash.1415818.n4.nabble.com/file/n4684101/Snap_2016-04-03_at_21.png> 




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