Linked troops share bank account?

[karunamom3]

Do linked boy/girl troops share a bank account?

[T2Eagle]

Bank accounts are not a requirement for being a troop although most troops --- and packs --- end up having them, so there's probably not going to be any blanket guidance as to whether a set of linked troops would or would not have one bank account.  Like many aspects of linked troops it is going to be up to the COR for how they want to handle it.  If you are going to have one Troop Committee for the two linked troops it certainly could make sense, especially early on. 

[mashmaster]

IMHO, I think they should have separate accounts.  Each troop will eventually run their own program and need to control their own money.  If it is shared then the assumption is that they will always do the same thing.  The youth in each troop need to be able to run their own program and have their own PLC to define it.

[ParkMan]

My short answer would be yes - they are separate entities and probably should have separate bank accounts.

Longer answer is that it depends on how you're structuring the troops.  Are these linked troops?  Will they often go on joint trips?  Will they have the same troop meetings?  Do they share equipment?  Do they share common committee members?  Do they share a treasurer?

Lots of yes's here may suggest that it makes more sense to have a combined back account and have your treasurer track money as appropriate.  You very well could quickly end up where your doing lots of transferring money back & forth just for the sake of having separate bank accounts.  

But - if it's the more normal case of two completely separate troops at the same CO - then yes, separate bank accounts sounds like the right choice.

[69RoadRunner]

Keep them separate. It will prevent the possibility of one troop spending money budgeted for the other troop.

One of the biggest causes of problems in relationships, personal and professional, is money. Keep it separate and you reduce the chance of that happening.

You will need to figure out how the money is raised and budgeted. Even if your fundraisers are done together, do you split the the money evenly or do it based on who earned the money? The fair way, to me, is doing it based who raised how much.

Our scouts earn "Scout Bucks" based on the hours they and the people they bring work for our mulch fundraiser.  If a scout does flyer delivery and brings a couple people for the mulch delivery weekend, he'll earn enough to not have to pay for any monthly activity plus have money available for summer camp and high adventure.  If he doesn't work, mom and dad have to write checks for the activities.

This same principle can apply to the linked troops to encourage everyone to do the fundraising work.

[nchg2]

Although li

On 12/11/2018 at 4:12 AM, 69RoadRunner said:

Keep them separate. It will prevent the possibility of one troop spending money budgeted for the other troop.

+1

Linked troops are two separate units; tracking their financials on different accounts make sense.

Our committee opened an additional checking account under our main bank account for the girl troop - with its own treasurer to manage the books. The girl troop will have separate budget, outings expenses, fundraising, etc.

[thrifty]

our CO is very hands off so they have nothing to do with our bank account. just from experiences with our troop, people are not always going to agree on how money is spent.  some adults find it easy to spend money that is not theirs.  IMO there will be many questions similar to this one in the future, you have to find what works for your troops but I tend to be cautious and the less people that have their hands in the pot, the better.

[MattR]

If your treasurer is any good it's possible to have multiple accounts under the same bank account. A troop should likely have multiple accounts anyway so adding another set for a different troop shouldn't be too hard. We have an account for HA, summer camp, gear, etc. It ties to our budget.