How Unit Accounting Works

When your unit orders product from your Council, you are invoiced for the retail value of the products, minus your unit’s commission. There is no upfront payment required.

As your Scouts begin selling, payments are collected through:

App credit card sales (individual and storefront)
Cash to Credit® payments
Online sales commission

All of these are automatically credited toward your Council invoice, reducing the amount your unit owes.

Common Point of Confusion: Commission vs. Payout

These two terms are related, but not the same.

Commission

A percentage of total sales earned by your unit
Your commission rate is set by your Council
Viewable in the top-right corner of the Finances page - click the %Council/Unit Commission Agreement for details

Payout

Occurs when the total credits applied to your account (see above) exceed the amount owed to Council
More credits than your balance due = payout available from Trail's End

Viewing Your Unit’s Accounting

To see a breakdown of your unit’s finances:

Log in to the Leader portal
Go to Finances from the main navigation menu

This page is divided into three sections:

Profit/Loss Breakdown - shows how your unit's earnings are calculated
Payout - shows if there is a balance due or a payout available
Council Balance: Transaction History - shows a detailed list of all transactions that impact your invoice

Note: You can click on each card for details of the numbers behind it.

Profit / Loss Breakdown

At the top of the page, the Profit / Loss Breakdown shows how your unit's earnings are calculated:

App Sales - The total retail value of all traditional/in-person sales recorded through the Trail's End app.
Product Cost - The portion of your order due to Council for the product, it is the inverse of your commission rate.
Traditional Commission - The commission your unit has earned on traditional/in-person sales.
Online Commission - The commission your unit has earned on online sales.
Profit / Loss - Your unit's total earnings after product cost is subtracted.

You can click on the product cost and online commission tiles to see the calculations behind those numbers.

Payout

The Payout section shows where your unit stands in terms of money received and money still available. Your bank account on file is displayed here, along with an Initiate Payout button.

The payout calculation includes:

Profit / Loss - Your total unit earnings, carried over from the breakdown above.
Total Already Paid Out - The total amount that has already been sent to your unit's bank account.
Cash Held - Any cash collected that has not been converted to credit and thus is still in your possession.
Misc Adjustments - Other adjustments to your balance, which may include Scout moves, promotional credits, or credits and debits applied by your Council.
Payout Available - The amount currently available to request as a payout.

You can click on these tiles to see the calculations or details behind the numbers.

Council Balance: Transaction History

The Council Balance: Transaction History table at the bottom of the page shows every transaction that has affected your unit's account this season. You can download a copy using the Download button in the top right of the section.

Each transaction includes a date, transaction type, description, and amount. Transaction types you may see include:

ORDER - A product order placed by your unit, adding to your balance.
CREDIT-SYS - A system credit applied to your account, reflecting credit card payments received or online commission credited toward your balance due.
DEBIT-SYS - A system debit, typically associated with a refunded transaction.
CREDIT - A manual credit issued to your unit by the Council or Trail's End.
PAYMENT - A manually recorded payment made from your unit to the Council.

Positive amounts indicate money added to your balance (such as an Order). Negative amounts shown in red indicate a reduction to your balance.