Using Money Held on Account

Occasionally a member ends up with two subscriptions for the same fee — a duplicate set up by mistake, or one created before an older one was tidied away. When you cancel the spare, any money already collected on it is still your group's money, but it isn't claimed against any particular month. Scoutworks shows this as held on account, and you can now put it towards a month the member still owes.

When this is useful#

• A parent was charged on two subscriptions and one has been cancelled.
• A member shows "£20 on account" and there are no missed payments left for it to be swallowed by.
• You'd otherwise refund money the family is happy for you to keep against next term.

If the money should genuinely go back to the parent, use a refund instead.

Where to find it#

Go to Finance → Online Payments and open the Recurring Payments tab. Expand the member's plan to see the grid of months.

Click a month that hasn't been paid and choose Use £20 held on account — it appears at the top of the list of options.

You'll also find a Credit against a cycle link next to the "on account" figure in the member's list view, which takes you straight to the right grid.

What happens when you credit it#

• The month is settled. It stops being owed, exactly as if a payment had been collected for it.
• Nothing is added to your accounts. The money was already recorded as income when it was first collected — crediting it only changes which month it counts towards, so your books don't move.
• Any Direct Debit for that month is stopped first. The collection is stopped before the change is recorded, so the parent can't be charged for a month you've just settled.
• The cell shows where the money came from. A credited month keeps its green marker but swaps the tick for an exchange symbol, and names the subscription the money was collected on — so a month showing as paid with no charge against this plan is never a mystery.

Undoing it#

Open the same cell and choose to undo. The month goes back to being owed and the money returns to being held on account. If crediting it had paused the subscription, that's resumed too.

Because nothing was added to your accounts in the first place, there's nothing else to reverse.

Good to know#

• Only genuinely spare money is offered. You can't credit a payment that is already settling a month — otherwise that month would become owed again.
• Money stays within the family. One member's money can never be moved onto another child's subscription.
• A month can't be settled twice. If two leaders try to spend the same held money at once, only the first goes through.

What's next#

• Seeing a Member's Full Payment History — where the "held on account" figure appears.
• Marking a Recurring Payment as Paid by Hand — for money that arrives as cash, cheque or bank transfer.
• Refunds — giving the money back instead.