Many years before any of us arrived on this earth, Rudyard Kipling wrote something about not being fully appreciated:
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
Of couse nobody is shooting at anybody, but it reminds me of how many volunteers the troop has and how much we depend on those volunteers. The last I checked I don’t think I found anybody that was being paid. 
This e-mail is about one such volunteer–the Treasurer–and the job we have asked her to do. The plan is for any troop expenditures by volunteers to be reimbursed promptly, but we all need to give the hard-working treasurer some help because at the end of the year I will want to know what we spent money for so we can budget for the next year.
Here are some ground rules. Let me know if I have gotten something wrong or if you don’t understand something.
Scout Meals On Outings
The troop supplies fuel, stoves, and all of that, but the patrol is supposed to plan meals and then purchase food against that plan. Here’s how the process is supposed to work:
- Scouts plan the meals knowing how much per Scout has been budgeted.
- The Grubmaster for the patrol purchases the food.
- At the next meeting the Grubmaster presents the receipts for food to the coordinator and does a quick run-through of what was purchased and to whom the reimbursement check should be made out. A copy for the Treasurer will save time for the coordinator and will get you a reimbursement check faster.
- Alternatively, the Grubmaster can scan the receipts and then e-mail them to the Coordinator with a copy to the Treasurer to save time.
- If a receipt is lost of if none was obtained, then write out a list of things purchased, where you purchased them, and how much you paid. Obviously, the Treasurer likes real receipts, but we all know accidents happen and things get lost.
Adult Meals On Outings
Sometimes adults pay for food, sometimes not. The coordinator, the troop committee chair, and the scoutmaster will all decide on that beforehand. There are a lot of variables here. But the procedure is the same–buy the food, then get the receipts or lists to the Treasurer.
In most cases, it is easiest to do things through the event coordinator so the Treasurer has a single point of contact.
Adult Purchases for the Troop
Typically the purchase is cleared beforehand, but we all know things happen and we trust your judgement on purchases. If you have made a purchase for which you would like to be reimbursed, get the receipt to the Treasurer along with a short note to explain the purchase.
For instance, as part of the recent service project for our sponsor, I spent $12.40 on small repair parts like screws and tie plates. I have scanned the receipt then attached it to an e-mail with an explanation of what was purchased and why. A copy will be sent to the committee chair.
Bottom Line
The Scout food purchasing and reimbursement process is an especially important one since we are trying to get the ideas of a budget and justification of expenses across before Scouts have to tackle one of the tougher Eagle-required badges, Personal Management.
We also need to give the Treasurer something to work with so people can be reimbursed promptly.
Thanks,
-Hank Manz