TroopWebHostCS can track the balances in four types of accounts:

• Group Accounts
• Member Acounts
• Events
• Funds (optional)

Group Accounts keep track of the total funds on hand in various locations, such as your group checking account, petty cash drawer, or PayPal™ account.

Many groups only need one Group Account, which represents the group checking account.   The balance in this account should always match the current balance in the checking account.

This balance may include funds that belong to those members who have positive balances in their accounts.  The portion that does not belong to individual members belongs to the group.

Member Accounts track the current balance for each member of the group.  The balance in a member account will reflect all of the payments received from that member, credits from fundraisers, and charges for participating in group activities.  A member account is automatically created for each person when you enter them into your roster.

Think of a Member Account as being like a credit card account.  You can charge the account for expenses like dues and camping trips.  You will credit the account when you receive money from that member.

With this system, expenses and payments are completely independent.  There is no explicit connection between the transaction that charges a member for an event and the payment they submit for that expense.

To return to the credit card analogy, when you pay your Visa bill you don't pay for a specific item on your bill; your payment is simply applied to your total balance.    TroopWebHostCS member accounts work the same way.

As an example, a member could deposit $1,000 to his account at the beginning of the year, and then let that balance be used for his expenses as the year goes by.

Another member might end up with a negative balance after attending several events, and then pay off that balance with one payment.

The system can also track income and expenses for each Event in your calendar, such as banquets and fundraisers.  Events can be used as sub-accounts to track a subset of the group's funds.

Funds are an optional way to track additional financial information.  Funds are not recommended for groups who simply wish to track their checking account and individual member account balances.

You can change the balance of one or more accounts by entering Transactions.

Each transaction has a Transaction Type which determines the types of accounts it affects.  For example, a Deposit To Member Account transaction will add to both the group checking account and the member account.

You will select a transaction type when you enter a transaction type.  You will then be prompted for the specific accounts to be affected by this transaction.