Event Finances and Payments

Event costs#

Most events have costs — camp fees, activity entry prices, transport contributions. Scoutworks lets you set a cost per person when creating any event type and then collect payments from parents via GoCardless Direct Debit.

Setting a cost for an event#

When creating a Camp, Programme Meeting, or Activity/Trip, enter the amount in the Cost per Person (£) field. This field is available in all three event creation dialogs.

The cost is shown to parents when they view the event, so they know what to expect.

Collecting payments#

Once an event has a cost and your group has GoCardless connected:

1. Open the event detail dialog.
2. Open the Event Actions dropdown.
3. Select Create Payment.

This creates a payment request linked to the event, which is sent to parents via GoCardless Direct Debit. Parents approve the payment through their portal.

Viewing event finances#

The event detail dialog has two finance-related tabs:

• Costs tab — shows the per-member cost breakdown for the event.
• Payments tab — shows payment status for each member (paid, pending, overdue).

These tabs give you a clear picture of who has paid and who has not, without leaving the event view.

Auto-payment rules#

Auto-payment rules let you collect event fees automatically when parents RSVP, removing the need to create payment requests manually after each event. When a member RSVPs yes, Scoutworks creates a GoCardless Direct Debit payment request for them straight away.

Prerequisites#

Before you can configure auto-payment rules, three things must be in place:

1. GoCardless connected — your group must have GoCardless Direct Debit set up in Finance Settings. If it is not connected, the event creation dialog will show a warning prompting you to connect it first.
2. Sections selected — the event must have at least one section assigned, so Scoutworks knows which members to include.
3. RSVP enabled with a deadline — the event must have Require RSVP turned on and an RSVP Deadline set. This ensures payments are only collected from confirmed attendees and that there is a clear timeline.

Setting up a payment rule#

1. In the event creation dialog, navigate to the Finance tab.
2. Toggle Automatically collect payments when members RSVP to on.
3. The Add Payment Rule dialog opens with the following fields:

1. Below the payment fields, a member list shows all members from the selected sections. Everyone is included by default. Deselect any members you want to exclude from this payment (e.g. leaders' children who are not being charged).
2. Click Add Payment to save the rule.

Multiple payment splits#

Some events need more than one payment — for example, a camp might have a deposit and a balance payment with different due dates. You can add multiple payment rules to a single event:

1. After adding the first rule, click Add Another Payment below the rule list.
2. Configure the second payment with its own description, amount, and due date.
3. Each rule is listed with its amount, due date, Gift Aid status, and the number of members included.

Editing and removing rules#

Each payment rule in the list has a kebab menu (three dots) with Edit and Delete options. Editing opens the same dialog with the current values pre-filled. Deleting a rule removes it — you will be asked to confirm if you have unsaved changes.

To turn off auto-payments entirely, toggle the switch off. This clears all configured rules.

How it works at runtime#

When a parent RSVPs yes to the event, Scoutworks automatically creates a one-time GoCardless payment request for each configured rule. Members without linked parents are skipped. The payment appears in the parent's My Finances portal where they can track its status.

What's next#

• Creating Events — set up events with costs.
• Setting Up Payments with GoCardless — connect GoCardless to collect payments.
• Collecting Subscriptions from Parents — recurring payment collection.