Pack Master

[brenda kourpias]

How does Pack Master work with crediting the boy's with the Academic Letter? I looked on line, and there is no guidelines for when it is credited. I usually wait for the program to tell me.

[Tim Musson-2]

Hello bkourpias,

Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 6:39:07 AM, you wrote:

> How does Pack Master work with crediting the boy's with the Academic
> Letter? I looked on line, and there is no guidelines for when it is
> credited. I usually wait for the program to tell me.

If you can award a pin to go on it, they can have a letter...

From: http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/CubScouts/Awards/Boys/sanda,-d-,b.aspx
,-----
| Academics and Sports Letter and Pins
|
| Once you have earned the belt loop, you can stop. But if you want to
| do more with the activity, you may complete extra requirements to earn
| a pin.
|
| A good place to display Academics and Sports pins is on the Academics
| and Sports letter. You can wear the letter on a sweater or a jacket,
| or display or frame it. The letter does not go on the Cub Scout
| uniform. There are no special requirements for earning the letter,
| because it's just for displaying the pins.
`-----

--
Tim Musson,
Chief Okemos Council, Ojibwas District
Pack 180 Co-Webelos Leader, Assistant Cubmaster, webmaster
Troop 2 Advancement Chair, Webelos Transition, webmaster

Pack 180 Web Site: www.troop2el.org/pack/180
Troop 2 Web Site:  www.troop2el.org

 (\___/)
 (o\ /o)
/|  V  |\
\\     //
 `"" ""`
 C-53-09

[Steven Francis]

Under the academic and sports section for crediting dates for each belt loop
or pin, the bottom right hand corner has a spot for presenting the letter.
The moment they earn a pin, your able to give this to them.

 

From: TMTUG@... [mailto:TMTUG@...] On Behalf Of
bkourpias
Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2009 5:39 AM
To: TMTUG@...
Subject: [TMTUG] Pack Master

 

 

How does Pack Master work with crediting the boy's with the Academic Letter?
I looked on line, and there is no guidelines for when it is credited. I
usually wait for the program to tell me.

[Laszlo Acs]

Anybody here use TroopLedger?  Can you give me a quick opinion on how
effective it is?  Last night, our Committee's Treasurer complained about
the 'spreadsheet methods' used by the last couple of previous treasurers
and was wanting to know of a more effective method of tracking funds
associated with individual Scouts in what we call their "Camp Cash"
account.  I brought up a suggestion that there were software "out there"
that is specifically aimed at funds management for Scouting organizations.

Thanks in Advance,

Laszlo Acs, Scoutmaster
Troop 3, Springfield, IL

[jdewald]

I've been using TroopLedger to track our troop's finances since 1996.   It
does well on general finances and does have a facility for tracking  
individual scout acounts (they call them "Passbooks").
 
It has many features (reserving, equipment inventory, etc.) that we do not  
use, but the core program works rather easily.
 
I would recommend it over a spreadsheet approach.
 
 
 
In a message dated 11/10/2009 11:42:37 A.M. Central Standard Time,  
laszlo@... writes:

 
 
 
Anybody here use TroopLedger? Can you give me a quick opinion on how  
effective it is? Last night, our Committee's Treasurer complained about  
the 'spreadsheet methods' used by the last couple of previous treasurers  
and was wanting to know of a more effective method of tracking funds  
associated with individual Scouts in what we call their "Camp Cash"  
account. I brought up a suggestion that there were software "out there"  
that is specifically aimed at funds management for Scouting  organizations.

Thanks in Advance,

Laszlo Acs,  Scoutmaster
Troop 3, Springfield, IL

[David Wildschuetz]

It's been a while since I have personally worked with it, but I'll chime in.  It deals with weekly dues quite well.  That's the biggest part of what we currently use it for.  But, it's the individual "Camp Cash" accounts where we have difficulty. 

Setting up payment schedules works quite well, and it tracks the payments in easily enough.  The problem is getting the "prepayments" over to the actual "payment" that I never learned. 

But,  I have not worked with it in a few years as the Treasurer handles it.  But, as far as I can tell all we really use it for is to handle the Dues and to balance the checkbook, which so far it has been doing.

You'll have to play around with the Scout Accounts to learn how that works, and there may be more knowledgeable folks online here that could help out more.

Good Luck

David



________________________________
From: Laszlo Acs <laszlo@...>
To: TMTUG@...
Sent: Tue, November 10, 2009 11:40:49 AM
Subject: [TMTUG] TroopLedger Reviews

 
Anybody here use TroopLedger? Can you give me a quick opinion on how
effective it is? Last night, our Committee's Treasurer complained about
the 'spreadsheet methods' used by the last couple of previous treasurers
and was wanting to know of a more effective method of tracking funds
associated with individual Scouts in what we call their "Camp Cash"
account. I brought up a suggestion that there were software "out there"
that is specifically aimed at funds management for Scouting organizations.

Thanks in Advance,

Laszlo Acs, Scoutmaster
Troop 3, Springfield, IL

[Laszlo Acs]

I'm confused with "prepayment" and "payment" when thinking in accounting
terms (not that I do this kind of thing; but I did take accounting classes
in college a few decades ago and I regularly do my own taxes).  Are you
referring to crediting the Scouts' accounts being the "prepayment" - where
this would be collecting dues and all other forms of placing "credits"
within a specific account?  And, "payment" would be the actual debits to
the account like, for instance, we're going through rechartering and we're
taking $16 out of each scout's account (or making phone calls asking for
funds where there's not a positive balance)?

And how about things like a general fund, a uniform fund, or endowments
that have stipulations on how funds can be expensed?  Would TroopLedger
handle some complex things like that?

--  Laszlo Acs, Scoutmaster
Troop 3, Springfield, IL


At 12:10 PM 11/10/2009 -0800, David wrote:

>
>
>It's been a while since I have personally worked with it, but I'll chime
>in.  It deals with weekly dues quite well.  That's the biggest part of
>what we currently use it for.  But, it's the individual "Camp Cash"
>accounts where we have difficulty.
>
>Setting up payment schedules works quite well, and it tracks the payments
>in easily enough.  The problem is getting the "prepayments" over to the
>actual "payment" that I never learned.
>
>But,  I have not worked with it in a few years as the Treasurer handles
>it.  But, as far as I can tell all we really use it for is to handle the
>Dues and to balance the checkbook, which so far it has been doing.
>
>You'll have to play around with the Scout Accounts to learn how that
>works, and there may be more knowledgeable folks online here that could
>help out more.
>Good Luck
>
>David
>
>
>From: Laszlo Acs <laszlo@...>
>To: TMTUG@...
>Sent: Tue, November 10, 2009 11:40:49 AM
>Subject: [TMTUG] TroopLedger Reviews
>
>
>
>Anybody here use TroopLedger? Can you give me a quick opinion on how
>effective it is? Last night, our Committee's Treasurer complained about
>the 'spreadsheet methods' used by the last couple of previous treasurers
>and was wanting to know of a more effective method of tracking funds
>associated with individual Scouts in what we call their "Camp Cash"
>account. I brought up a suggestion that there were software "out there"
>that is specifically aimed at funds management for Scouting organizations.
>
>Thanks in Advance,
>
>Laszlo Acs, Scoutmaster
>Troop 3, Springfield, IL
>
>

 
 

[David Wildschuetz]

The "prepayments" I speak of deal with actual payments a Scout would make for items like Scout Camp, campouts, High Adventure trips etc.  In TroopLedger you set up an account, say for Scout Camp.  You can create a schedule to expect payments on a given date.  This can be either a set amount weekly to help stretch it out, or as in our case three different amounts ( a deposit in October, a first half of the balance in February and the balance in April).  This can then be printed on the same form with the Dues on a worksheet that goes to the patrol.  After the patrol meeting portion of our Monday night meeting has concluded, the form is turned in with the payments.  The payment is applied to the camp account as a "prepayment".  It is kept in that account until each payment is made at the council office.  Similarly, Campout payments go into a pre-payment account and is transferred over after the campout occurs, in case the Scout can not make it to
 the campout after paying (certain rules apply) and is refunded.  Like I said, I don't know how it all works, but I never quite learned it all.  There is probably a better way to do it, I just never played around with it to find out.

The problem we have, is that when an Scout "leaves" the troop (either quits or ages out), his account shows a balance. 

While I think it is a useable product, I don't know how easy it is for a non-accountant type person to understand it.

David




________________________________
From: Laszlo Acs <laszlo@...>
To: TMTUG@...
Sent: Tue, November 10, 2009 2:28:46 PM
Subject: Re: [TMTUG] TroopLedger Reviews

 
I'm confused with "prepayment" and "payment" when thinking in accounting terms (not that I do this kind of thing; but I did take accounting classes in college a few decades ago and I regularly do my own taxes).  Are you referring to crediting the Scouts' accounts being the "prepayment" - where this would be collecting dues and all other forms of placing "credits" within a specific account?  And, "payment" would be the actual debits to the account like, for instance, we're going through rechartering and we're taking $16 out of each scout's account (or making phone calls asking for funds where there's not a positive balance)?

And how about things like a general fund, a uniform fund, or endowments that have stipulations on how funds can be expensed?  Would TroopLedger handle some complex things like that?

--  Laszlo Acs, Scoutmaster
Troop 3, Springfield, IL


At 12:10 PM 11/10/2009 -0800, David wrote:

 

>
>It's been a while since I have personally worked with it, but I'll chime in.  It deals with weekly dues quite well.  That's the biggest part of what we currently use it for.  But, it's the individual "Camp Cash" accounts where we have difficulty. 
> 
>Setting up payment schedules works quite well, and it tracks the payments in easily enough.  The problem is getting the "prepayments" over to the actual "payment" that I never learned. 
> 
>But,  I have not worked with it in a few years as the Treasurer handles it.  But, as far as I can tell all we really use it for is to handle the Dues and to balance the checkbook, which so far it has been doing.
> 
>You'll have to play around with the Scout Accounts to learn how that works, and there may be more knowledgeable folks online here that could help out more.
>Good Luck
> 
>David
>
>
>From: Laszlo Acs <laszlo@lanscape. net>
>To: TMTUG@yahoogroups. com
>Sent: Tue, November 10, 2009 11:40:49 AM
>Subject: [TMTUG] TroopLedger Reviews
>
> 
>
>Anybody here use TroopLedger? Can you give me a quick opinion on how
>effective it is? Last night, our Committee's Treasurer complained about
>the 'spreadsheet methods' used by the last couple of previous treasurers
>and was wanting to know of a more effective method of tracking funds
>associated with individual Scouts in what we call their "Camp Cash"
>account. I brought up a suggestion that there were software "out there"
>that is specifically aimed at funds management for Scouting organizations.
>
>Thanks in Advance,
>
>Laszlo Acs, Scoutmaster
>Troop 3, Springfield, IL
>
>

[scouting1957]

We have used TroopLedger for about the last 8 or 10 years and love it!

While we don't collect weekly dues, and therefore don't use the 'dues' feature, we track all Troop finances and know where all the money is at any time.  As others have said, you can set up payment schedules for whatever use you desire.  The way we do it is that all moneys turned in (or earned as part of fundraisers) is deposited into the checking account with each Scout's portion placed in his Camp Account.  If you want to track the deposits they make for specific functions such as summer camp, you can create a 'reserve' fund (700 series).  When you deposit a Scout's funds for that activity you deposit it in his camp account and pull up the reserve account in the next box.  When you post the transaction the funds will be earmarked for the activity reserve fund.  When you write the check to pay for that activity you go into the camp account screen (it's called passbook accounts in TroopLedger) and put in the amount to charge each Scout, pull up the reserve account for that activity, and post the transaction.  The program deducts the amount from the Scout's reserved amount in that account.  You can print a 'passbook balance' report, which shows how much each Scout has in his camp (passbook) account along with how much is reserved in the various accounts, and a column showing how much he has 'available' in his camp account that is not reserved for specific uses.

Our Troop has reserve accounts set up for several uses such as fundraising for projects we undertake at our local camp, funds raised for a 'Troop Trek' (an all-expense paid trip for anyone registered with the Troop, usually to a 'vacation destination' we normally wouldn't go to on a campout), and one that tracks personal items ordered through the Council Service Center or scouting retailer and charged to the Troop account.  The last one comes in handy, as our council includes all of North Dakota and several counties in Minnesota, Montana, and South Dakota, and only has 4 Service Centers, necessitating each order to be charged out and shipped.  When we pay for the items we charge the amount to the reserve account, then deduct the amount from the Camp Accounts and credit it to the reserve account, so the balance is always up to date.

There are many more uses for TroopLedger, but my post is already long enough! And in case you're wondering, I do not have an accounting background.  The entries are made on a screen similar to Quicken or Microsoft Money, so if you have used either of those it should be an easy transition.  There is also an option to make the entries on a spreadsheet screen, but I personally like the 'checkbook ledger' entry screen.

I hope this helps, and I haven't bored you,

Darryl Wehner
Assistant SM
Treasurer
Troop 32
Dickinson, ND

--- In TMTUG@..., David Wildschuetz <shamanlsn@...> wrote:

>
> The "prepayments" I speak of deal with actual payments a Scout would make for items like Scout Camp, campouts, High Adventure trips etc.  In TroopLedger you set up an account, say for Scout Camp.  You can create a schedule to expect payments on a given date.  This can be either a set amount weekly to help stretch it out, or as in our case three different amounts ( a deposit in October, a first half of the balance in February and the balance in April).  This can then be printed on the same form with the Dues on a worksheet that goes to the patrol.  After the patrol meeting portion of our Monday night meeting has concluded, the form is turned in with the payments.  The payment is applied to the camp account as a "prepayment".  It is kept in that account until each payment is made at the council office.  Similarly, Campout payments go into a pre-payment account and is transferred over after the campout occurs, in case the Scout can not make it to
>  the campout after paying (certain rules apply) and is refunded.  Like I said, I don't know how it all works, but I never quite learned it all.  There is probably a better way to do it, I just never played around with it to find out.
>
> The problem we have, is that when an Scout "leaves" the troop (either quits or ages out), his account shows a balance. 
>
> While I think it is a useable product, I don't know how easy it is for a non-accountant type person to understand it.
>
> David
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Laszlo Acs <laszlo@...>
> To: TMTUG@...
> Sent: Tue, November 10, 2009 2:28:46 PM
> Subject: Re: [TMTUG] TroopLedger Reviews
>
>  
> I'm confused with "prepayment" and "payment" when thinking in accounting terms (not that I do this kind of thing; but I did take accounting classes in college a few decades ago and I regularly do my own taxes).  Are you referring to crediting the Scouts' accounts being the "prepayment" - where this would be collecting dues and all other forms of placing "credits" within a specific account?  And, "payment" would be the actual debits to the account like, for instance, we're going through rechartering and we're taking $16 out of each scout's account (or making phone calls asking for funds where there's not a positive balance)?
>
> And how about things like a general fund, a uniform fund, or endowments that have stipulations on how funds can be expensed?  Would TroopLedger handle some complex things like that?
>
> --  Laszlo Acs, Scoutmaster
> Troop 3, Springfield, IL
>
>
> At 12:10 PM 11/10/2009 -0800, David wrote:
>
>  
> >
> >It's been a while since I have personally worked with it, but I'll chime in.  It deals with weekly dues quite well.  That's the biggest part of what we currently use it for.  But, it's the individual "Camp Cash" accounts where we have difficulty. 
> > 
> >Setting up payment schedules works quite well, and it tracks the payments in easily enough.  The problem is getting the "prepayments" over to the actual "payment" that I never learned. 
> > 
> >But,  I have not worked with it in a few years as the Treasurer handles it.  But, as far as I can tell all we really use it for is to handle the Dues and to balance the checkbook, which so far it has been doing.
> > 
> >You'll have to play around with the Scout Accounts to learn how that works, and there may be more knowledgeable folks online here that could help out more.
> >Good Luck
> > 
> >David
> >
> >
> >From: Laszlo Acs <laszlo@lanscape. net>
> >To: TMTUG@yahoogroups. com
> >Sent: Tue, November 10, 2009 11:40:49 AM
> >Subject: [TMTUG] TroopLedger Reviews
> >
> > 
> >
> >Anybody here use TroopLedger? Can you give me a quick opinion on how
> >effective it is? Last night, our Committee's Treasurer complained about
> >the 'spreadsheet methods' used by the last couple of previous treasurers
> >and was wanting to know of a more effective method of tracking funds
> >associated with individual Scouts in what we call their "Camp Cash"
> >account. I brought up a suggestion that there were software "out there"
> >that is specifically aimed at funds management for Scouting organizations.
> >
> >Thanks in Advance,
> >
> >Laszlo Acs, Scoutmaster
> >Troop 3, Springfield, IL
> >
> >
>

[M Derleth]

Laszlo:

Our troop has used TL since we started more than 10 years ago. I don't have much direct experience but the 3-4 treasurers we've had believe it works.

The one caveat is that a person must be familiar a bit with accounting concepts like debiting one account and crediting another (for instance, moving money from a kid's Scouting account to the account set up for summer camp payments. )
It sounds scarier than it is. If a person can handle Quicken, they should be able to follow TL.

Feature-wise I've never heard our treasurers carp about missing stuff. You can set up budgets and track expense to budget categories, do individual Scout accounts as well as troop-wide accounts.

I believe TM offers a trial or money-back guarantee that would let your treasurer 'kick the tires'.  And there's probably some linkages to TM (like maybe not having to duplicate-enter names and personal data for Scout Accounts) that could save time. You might try a copy and see how it works for you

Michael Derleth
ASM T14 / Oregon / Eagle Scout



----- Original Message ----
From: Laszlo Acs <laszlo@...>
To: TMTUG@...
Sent: Tue, November 10, 2009 9:40:49 AM
Subject: [TMTUG] TroopLedger Reviews

Anybody here use TroopLedger?  Can you give me a quick opinion on how
effective it is?  Last night, our Committee's Treasurer complained about
the 'spreadsheet methods' used by the last couple of previous treasurers
and was wanting to know of a more effective method of tracking funds
associated with individual Scouts in what we call their "Camp Cash"
account.  I brought up a suggestion that there were software "out there"
that is specifically aimed at funds management for Scouting organizations.

Thanks in Advance,

Laszlo Acs, Scoutmaster
Troop 3, Springfield, IL



------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links




     

[brenda kourpias]

When will Pack Master update the new belt loops???

---  





 







     

[Kenneth-44]

WHOA...Nellie...I mean Brenda,

Kinda puttin' the cart before the horse there aren't ya?

They probably won't be doing that until the new Academic and Sports Belt Loops and Pins are OFFICIALLY released and readily available to the public.

As it stands right now, I'm not aware of any Council that even has the Official Documentation or New Books with the requirements for the New ones yet.

I'd say, when that happens, then TSI will update to accomodate.

Ken
SM-Troop 57
MC-Pack 57

--- In TMTUG@..., brenda kourpias <bkourpias@...> wrote:

>
> When will Pack Master update the new belt loops???
>
> ---  
>
>
>
>
>
>  
>

[brenda kourpias]

Ok, thanks, just heard it thru the grapevine, Thanks,
 Nellie, AKA  Brenda

--- On Thu, 11/12/09, Ken <khartman@...> wrote:


From: Ken <khartman@...>
Subject: [TMTUG] Re: Pack Master
To: TMTUG@...
Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009, 9:32 AM


 



WHOA...Nellie. ..I mean Brenda,

Kinda puttin' the cart before the horse there aren't ya?

They probably won't be doing that until the new Academic and Sports Belt Loops and Pins are OFFICIALLY released and readily available to the public.

As it stands right now, I'm not aware of any Council that even has the Official Documentation or New Books with the requirements for the New ones yet.

I'd say, when that happens, then TSI will update to accomodate.

Ken
SM-Troop 57
MC-Pack 57

--- In TMTUG@yahoogroups. com, brenda kourpias <bkourpias@. ..> wrote:

>
> When will Pack Master update the new belt loops???
>
> ---  
>
>
>
>
>
>  
>

     

[mr.duignan]

Hi,
I use Quicken for our troop finances. I can set up scout cash accounts  
as well. I've tried TroopLedger, but I found it too tedious to enter  
check information and it doesn't seem as user friendly compared to  
Quicken.



Quoting jdewald@...:

> I've been using TroopLedger to track our troop's finances since 1996.   It
> does well on general finances and does have a facility for tracking
> individual scout acounts (they call them "Passbooks").
>
> It has many features (reserving, equipment inventory, etc.) that we do not
> use, but the core program works rather easily.
>
> I would recommend it over a spreadsheet approach.
>
>
>
> In a message dated 11/10/2009 11:42:37 A.M. Central Standard Time,
> laszlo@... writes:
>
>
>
>
> Anybody here use TroopLedger? Can you give me a quick opinion on how
> effective it is? Last night, our Committee's Treasurer complained about
> the 'spreadsheet methods' used by the last couple of previous treasurers
> and was wanting to know of a more effective method of tracking funds
> associated with individual Scouts in what we call their "Camp Cash"
> account. I brought up a suggestion that there were software "out there"
> that is specifically aimed at funds management for Scouting  organizations.
>
> Thanks in Advance,
>
> Laszlo Acs,  Scoutmaster
> Troop 3, Springfield, IL
>
>
>
>
>
>