nolesrule

Just as an aside, I'm currently doing some computer work at my dad's office (killing time waiting for diagnostics to run). He's a CPA and a former ASM of about 10 years. I described the situation regarding your books and how individuals are being charged for group expneses and he just shook his head.

Trailer repair is a general troop expense, the kind of thing that should be paid for out of the general fund. You guys are making the accounting overly complicated. And again, nothing should be debited out of a scout account without direction from the scout or his parents (even if you are billing individually for advancement). The way you are running the accounting, it sounds to me like you are running a co-op, not a scouting unit. As we have said, you need to reassess how you fill the general fund, not how you redestribute the expenses to members. You start losing scouts and the expenses charged to the families will get out of hand fast.

oops.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

My units love me. I get invited to everything. From campouts to Eagle COHs. Yeah, I do keep track of them on the Health reports, but it's basically an assessment to find out how the units are doing implementing the methods, and to have a way to track whether they are improving or declining in those areas over time. But when I'm at a meeting, I'm there for them 100%.

Why do you feel the boys should have paid for the purchase of inventory for fundraising? That's a troop operating expense. This time it was only $360, but what if the troop did , as an example, Christmas tree sales. You might have to lay out $1200 to get those trees on the lot. You'd think it would be appropriate for the boys to have to pay $150 each? Perhaps you need to focus on fundraisers that don't require an investment and inventory to get started until your general fund has enough padding for such things. Things that only require preorders and commissions on sales. Popcorn preorder sales is one of them, but there are other programs out there as well. Finally, it is in your best interest that a scout account never ever ever go negative. Zero is fine, but not negative. And never borrow from their balances. It's fiscally irresponsible. What happens when all the scouts, expecting to have positive balances, all decide that they want to use the balances in their accounts to pay for the next activity and you don't have enough money in the bank to actually follow through?

Very true about the BMI. My ideal weight is above 25, the maximum for "normal", on the BMI calculator. It's only a decent guide if you have an average body type. When you're on the short side and a bit broad for your height (like me), you'll be hard pressed to reach a "normal" BMI unless you are actually underweight.

The $300 book is priced on par with similar items on the market. I have no idea with the other items.

First off, yeah we did get a bit off topic there. I think you distracted us with some of the other things going on. Still, I think the issue of threatening a scout to call the police because he couldn't sleep needs to be addressed. I think I said it earlier. After summer camp is always going to be the most expensive trip to the scout shop for advancement purchases. The trick is to either charge your annual dues just after summer camp (many units have a program year that starts when school restarts) or make sure you have enough in your general fund to cover the expense so you can amortize the large advancement purchase through monthly dues over the course of the program year. That list above was pretty comprehensive. In addition to adding tents so you have enough for every boy in the unit (and a good tent treated well will last long after your crop of first year scouts has aged out), as the troop gets bigger (like when you hit 11 scouts) and you have multiple patrols, in order to truly implement the patrol method you will need a full set of cooking gear for each patrol (and if you do an adult patrol, rather than having the patrols host the adults for meals, the adults will need their own set of cooking gear as well). But the cooking gear, like tents, is a capital expenditure that will stay with the troop long after the boys are gone when properly treated. So you can't expect to just bill the new incoming scouts for that gear. It's an overall troop expense that should be paid out of the troop general fund. Eventually, that stuff will need to be replaced due to wear and tear. It's best to set a fundraising (I keep coming back that word) goal for making those purchases and making sure you have the money before you need to spend it. But you're also going to have the consumables that aren't included in the camping food budget, such as aluminum foil, plastic wrap, plastic bags, trash bags, dishwashing soap, sponges, scrub pads, paper towels, fuel, etc., which won't need to be replaced monthly, but will be in need of replacement on a regular basis. And it's also probably a good idea to maintain a minimum balance in the general fund at all times in case of unexpected or emergency expenses. I wish I still had a copy of the actual financial numbers that a troop I visited had at their year end committee meeting in July that I could show you. Yeah, it included going to summer camp out of state (the major expense for the year), but their total actuals were in the $14000 range. But was more interesting was the way they broke down their expenses into categories and had monthly numbers for both income and expenses. If I had a copy I'd send it to you so you could see the cash flow over the course of a program year. Interestingly, in the 23 years of that troop, this year is the first time they are charging families a program fee because the fundraisers came up a bit short. Activity-wise, they are a pay-as-you go troop, but everything else comes out of the general fund. And it turns out their shortfall was solely due to the unexpectedly low gas mileage they got towing their troop trailer from Seminole, FL to Georgia and back for summer camp. Starting up (and to an extent expansion) is always going to be the most expensive time as you acquire the necessary gear. But that's why it's important to organize successful fundraisers. Teaching the boys to earn the money for the troop and for their own scout accounts through fundraisers will teach them more fiscal responsibility than billing families as expenses (expected or otherwise) come up. Families have enough to worry about. Think long-term. Make the troop financially sustainable on its own without cash infusions beyond dues and zero net activity fees. It's like what I said about not being a co-op. The families don't own a share in the troop. They don't own a share of the equipment that they can cash in on when they leave. Make the boys pay for it through working fundraisers...and keep the percentage going into scout accounts on the lower side.

I would suggest you take the Scoutmaster training offered in your council before you take over as scoutmaster, if possible. It'll help give you a frame of reference, and you'll be able to better put into context the feedback you have gotten and will get before you're on the job. Beyond that, you picked a good place to ask your questions. Welcome!

What's with all the echoes in this thread?

No one said the boys or their parents shouldn't pay for the advancements. What was said is that advancement purchases are part of the operating budget for the troop and should be accounted for in the budget plan. Ultimately, the boys should be paying for everything either directly or indirectly, whether it's through dues, activity fee payments or time put in during fundraising. But having dues, not doing enough fundraising, then billing boys and families for budget shortfalls on a recurring basis is only going to result in losing families either to better managed troops or they'll drop out entirely. When the treasurer's report says you only have $60 in the general fund and all dues have been paid for the year, you need to be concerned. But the answer is still to do fundraising and possibly reconsider how you handle dues. And while it is not unheard of for the individual families to pay for their specific advancement expenses, it creates more work and confusion trying to track the "billing" for each individual. Personally, I've never seen a pack or troop actually do that. I've seen all expenses covered through annual/monthly dues, fundraising and then pay-to-go fees for all outings, as each of those will have an individual budget based on where you go, what you do and how many are attending. Keep it simple.

Seems to me that the problems run a little deeper than just the finances. Begs the question if the members of the committee, the COR and the SM/ASMS are all trained in their positions and know what their responsibilities are (and aren't). In addition, the situation of threatening the non-sleeping child with calling the police should have been addressed, possibly through the chartering organization, regardless of whether this person is the CC or not. If, as you say, all the adults have a problem with the CC except the COR, youmay have a serious long-term problem if you can't learn to get along and do your respective responsibilities without stepping on toes. Because only the chartering organization can force out a CC.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

There is no specified order for merit badges on the merit badge sash. I've seen the following... order earned required in the middle column I've never seen alphabetical, and don't think I've ever seen required-non required. Personally, I think order earned is the simplest.

What's the joke? "I'll have a Big Mac, Super-sized Fries, Sundae with chocolate sauce....and a Diet Coke." Diet drinks are a good start, but it takes more than that to reduce calorie consumption for weight loss. Fasting makes a difference short term, but long term it's actually worse because it slows your metabolism so that when you go back to eating, you burn less and store more calories. The best solution to being hungry all the time is something my doctor suggested...grazing. Rather than the three meals a day axiom we're all used to, cut down on what you eat at meal time and have small snacks in between meals. By having something to digest all day, you won't get as hungry and it will take less food to feel satisfied when you do. And it prevents the negative effects of part-time fasting from kicking in. Eventually your body will adjust and you will actually start to feel full on less food. The hard part is those large holiday meals with tons of side dishes and desserts. The trick there is just to have a taste of everything, not a huge scoop. The other key is a balanced diet, somewhere in the 30% fat, 40% carbs, 30% protein range. Those numbers vary by nutritionist, but I'd say that's average. The balance also should be changed based on a more active lifestyle. When I first started to lose weight, I spent about two weeks counting calories, just to get an idea of calorie consumption limits and what would or wouldn't work. Apples and peanut butter, crackers and cheese make great in-between meal snacks.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

This thread is full of WIN. I was talking to the adult leaders of one of the troops in my district. They were telling me that even with the high calorie diets supplied at Philmont, a couple people in their trail crew lost about 15 lbs on the trip. One thing is for certain, if you are living a sedentary life style, you probably need less than the caloric intake values listed on the side of the box. For those of you who are serious, I found this nifty caloric intake calculator which bases its estimate on age, gender, height, weight, and physical lifestyle. It even lists intakes based on need for maintenance or weight loss. http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm Of course, each person is different, so these are just guidelines. I'm short, and I sit in front of the computer most of the day. So for me, I need about 1800 calories to maintain my weight, 1500 to lose about a half a pound a week.

There are some good resources online for setting a boy scout troop budget and then realizing the revenue side of them through dues and fundraising. They all include within the budget planning process some room for petty expenses incurred as well as setting aside a contingency fund as well as dealing with capital expenditures (which should be fundraised, not billed to the scouts). And it's all done through a combination of dues and fundraising. Do you have a member of your committee who is dedicated to finding, researching and planning the fundraising endeavors? It's a big responsibility and a large enough job so that it shouldn't be multi-tasked. As for scout accounts, if you are touching that money to pay general troop expenditures, then it isn't a scout account. What you are doing is like a bank saying, well, we didn't have enough money to pay our expenses this month, so we're just going to debit every account $10 to make up for it. A scout account is a holding account for the scout, and the troop should not be touching the funds except as directed by the scout or his parents. Again, you're not running a co-op, and financially, it's setting a poor example for the scouts. I'm pretty sure that by now you've learned that there are always going to be unexpected expenses with the troop (just like in real life). But even those need to be reasonably budgeted for. Are you really going to bill everyone in the troop $15 when the trailer needs a new tire? What happens when it has a blowout, tears the side off the trailer, half the equipment falls out and gets run over by trailing cars? Are you going to bill everyone in the troop a few hundred dollars? Do you think they'll stick around for more than 5 minutes after they receive the bill? If you want the treasurer to stop harping about the troop only having $60, the best way to fix that is to raise some money. Yesterday. Sitting around feeling sorry for yourselves isn't going to make the budget shortfall go away.

Your troop just started and you need equipment. Your budget doesn't seem to account for unexpected expenses. In addition, unless your troop is planning to be a merit badge/Eagle mill, after summer camp will always be the single biggest time for advancement expenses, so that needs to also be taken into account. Again, fundraising needs to be a major priority. You just can't expect the scouts or their parents to foot the bill for everything. Then Scouting becomes too expensive. That includes $25/month in dues. You really need to eliminate the activity expense portion from that figure, and then just charge individually for activities.

In all seriousness, good luck. Yeah, you did point fingers, but at least you remembered the rest of them pointing back at you. In my personal experience of trying to lose weight, the hardest part was all mental, breaking the bad eating habits (and getting off my but to go exercise, especially in the Florida summers).

Fundraising, and filling the general fund in particular, should be the priority. It seems you are over-thinking this. Equipment expenditures, such as tents, cooking gear, trailers, etc. are troop expenditures, and practically should be paid for with troop funds. These things are supposed to outlast the current crop of scouts, so it shouldn't be perceived as them having to pay for it. I guarantee you will start losing families over things like this. Just take a look at HOA and condo association assessments. Scouting is not a co-op. There will also be the perception of nickle and diming the families anytime an expense occurs, as well as arguments over how to divvy up the assessments (everyone vs. participation based). As for the revenue share, perhaps you need to rethink how much is going into the scout accounts. It seems to me you need to make the general fund a priority of the fundraisers so that you can ensure the unit is able to pay its operating expenses and maintain long-term viability without relying on assessments to the youth. Scout accounts, should you have them, should be used, on a scout's direction, to cover their individual expenses, such as dues, camping fees, summer camp, annual recharter fees, etc. Some units also charge individual's advancement expenses (requiring more finance tracking), but that sort of thing is a unit decision. Having a balance in the accounts should be optional, so long as everyone is paid in full on their individual expenses. And don't extend credit. In one case I saw, there were two boys that wanted to go to summer camp, but due to little league they might not be able to go and wouldn't know till after the camp's refund deadline. The parents were notified of this and said to put the kids on the list anyway, but they never paid, the boys didn't go to camp and the troop got stuck with the bill. They learned their lesson.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

Gotcha. Misunderstood what you meant.

You left off Eagle Scout medal. That counts towards the 5. And it's the only medal I ever wear (when I do wear it) on my uniform.

"So all else being static, if you stop drinking one can per day, you would lose 10 lbs per year. Now what is most common to overweight people in their diets? The ubiquitous soda in their hand. " There's 3 to not quite 4 cans of soda in one of those 44oz convenience store plastic cups, depending on ice level. Another major issue is portion control. Restaurant portions are getting larger all the time, mainly as a way to charge more for the meals than anything else (but that's another issue). I used to eat a footlong sub at Subway all the time. I still buy the footlong, but eat half now, half for another meal. If you willingly consume smaller portions, eventually you will be satisfied and feel full eating the smaller portions. I learned a lot of this stuff because my weight loss was informed and supervised by my doctor and his nutritionist wife.

It doesn't quite work that way. You can burn the fat without increasing muscle mass much. I lost nearly 50 lbs from cutting out calorie-filled beverages, cutting back a bit on my food portions, and walking around the block a few times a week. Even though I've gotten a bit lazy with the exercise, the improved eating habits have kept almost all of it off. It's amazing how many calories you can cut out of your diet by not drinking sugar-filled beverages (and that includes juices; my doctor says "don't drink your fruit").

Mr. Moyer Mr. Beauchamp Mr. Landress Although now that I am a UC for the ol' troop *15 years later) and Mr. Landress is on the unit committee, I call him by his first name.

"There's no such thing in da BSA literature or program as a "partial" merit badge, and while blue cards are offered as a record-keeping option for units they are not required, nor is a counselor obligated to sign off requirement by requirement on a blue, green, or purple card or computer program." I did find one mention of partials, but it is in conjunction with advancement at summer camp. In fact, it's the very last sentence of the section entitled "Advancement at Summer Camp" in the ACP&P (p. 34). "Partial completion of merit badges should be credited to a Scout on the Application for Merit Badge and given to the Scoutmaster at the end of the week." But there's no directive on how to subsequently proceed.