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 t

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

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

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 dr

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 lea

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

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

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 responsibil

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

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 dimin

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

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 Applicat