Things to be aware of:

• If you keep money in the unit for an individual girl it must be used for that girl or refunded to the parent at the end of the year
• If a girl cancels from an event after all expenses have been paid you do not have to refund money, however, if the reason was valid (illness, family emergency) and the Unit or event has funds you should refund the money or as much as you can afford to do.
• If you do not refund money to a girl not attending an event you should ensure that she receive the craft supplies, crests, etc. that were bought for her
• If you have any questions about how to do the entries for refunds and donations talk to your Council treasurer.

Reimbursing Excess Funds

• There could be occasions when you have charged for a camp or an event and the expenses
  are less than you originally anticipated.
• If the amount is small (1 or 2 dollars per girl) it could stay with the Unit in the proper category
  that it was collected for but if the amount is larger the parents should be informed and given
  options.
  • refund
  • donate the funds to the Unit’s general revenue
  • the funds remain with the Unit and be used to offset costs for the next camp or activity
    for that girl.
• You do not have to give them all the options – if you keep the funds in the account to offset
  further expenses you have to keep track of who has funds for future expenses and you may not wish to take this on. If that is the case you will simply offer them a refund or the option of
  leaving the funds in the Unit's general revenue.
• Each parent could make a different decision but for the examples we will assume
  that all parents make the same decision.

Entries for a situation where the expenses are very close to the revenue collected:

1. Enter the amount of the money collected for the camp in the revenue column, and the camp category revenue column.
2. Enter the various cheques for the camp expenses in the expense column and the camp expense category expense column.

In this case the total difference is only 25.00 and the money can simply be left in the camp category giving you a balance of $25.00 for future camp expenses. The money would be applied to the next camp. Note that you should not continue to build on this balance but adjust your budget and charges to the girls for the next camp to use up this balance.

Entries required when making refunds to parents:

If circumstances were such that the costs were lower, you could end up with a larger excess. This could happen if the craft supplies were donated; if you had hat badges left over from another year; or if you decided to have the girls provide their own food for the camp. If the difference was large and you decided to refund the parents, you can make one cash withdrawal and refund the parents but make sure you have receipts that each parent signs as they collect their refund; this receipt will be attached to the cheque as backup as to what the money was used for. Or you could issue a cheque for each refund. The book entry would be the same for each cheque issued for a refund.

1. Enter the amount of money collected for the camp in the revenue column, and the camp category revenue column.
2. Enter the various cheques for the camp expenses in the Bank Cheques column and the camp category expense column.
3. Reverse out $125.00 from the revenue column and from the camp revenue category column.

By reversing it out you are not showing a revenue and expense of $300.00 but a revenue and expense of $175.00 for the camp – which is correct since you are returning $125.00.

If the parents wish to leave it for the next camp, you could do the same entries minus the reversal but keep a record of who has a credit and make sure that it is applied to the next camp. To be certain that the correct amount is being credited to each girl, write in a line of explanation listing the girls that have a credit, the size of the credit and why there is one.

If it comes to year end and the credit has not been used, the recommended procedure would be to refund the monies to ensure that the books are balanced, and that the parents are receiving all that they have paid for. The same entry as the reversal shown would be made in this case.

Entries to make when transferring the balance to a donation to the Unit:

If one or more parents wanted to leave their credit balance for the Unit to spend as they wish, it becomes a donation. Note that you cannot issue a receipt for tax purposes for a donation – this has to be done by a Council with authority to issue a receipt (in most cases this would be Area Council). However, donations can be accepted without a receipt for tax purposes being issued and the entries would be as follows:

1. Enter the amount of the money collected for the camp in the bank deposit column, and the camp category revenue column.
2. Enter the various cheques for the camp expenses in the bank cheques column and the camp category expense column.
3. Reverse out $125.00 from the camp fees revenue column and deposit it into the donation revenue column. This is now funds that can be used for whatever the Unit decides is best for the Unit.

This entry will leave the camp revenue balance at $175.00 which balances with the camp expenses of $175.00 and a donation revenue balance of $125.00. It is necessary to transfer the money to the donation column so that you are showing a true picture of the money collected for camps during the year. If the money remains in the camp revenue column and is spent for other purposes the bank reconciliation will appear to be correct but the camp figures will not be correct.