Management of Fees

Committee Procedures for Enrolments and Accounting

Management of Eals

The System Account, is set at a value which brings the overall balance of accounts in the system to zero, and in many schemes carries a chronic negative balance. However, it can be replenished by contributions from members, and once we had contacted members and inactivated those who wanted to leave, a Service Fee was taken from all the active accounts, at the rate of 12 Eals per year in January 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. From the System Account Eals may be paid into other management accounts to provide them with an operational budget, and three new Fund Accounts each received 200 Eals in January 2011, leaving the System account with a positive balance (currently 430 Eals).

Sterling Records

Ealing LETS does not currently have its own bank account - the last record of a joining subscription was January 2014, and after a period of inactivity, the Administrator, who had diligently kept things going without an active Core Group in support, closed the bank account in October 2015 and donated the remaining funds into the LETSlink London account to cover website hosting costs, leaving the management of the scheme in the hands of the LETSlink London Coordinator.

The available records indicate that since 2010 Ealing LETS had been operatoring on Joining Fees only. Furthermore, evidence from the transactions record indicates that from January 2014, Ealing LETS began using the Donations Method, so that subscriptions were optional and any time a member made a sterling payment, It was acknowledged by an equivalent payment in Eals from Xchange Fund (0001) into the member's account.

In addition to the Xchange Fund the Joining Fund (0002) was used to replenish new accounts, according to the month they joined, in anticipation of the service fee being taken the following Janury. LETSlink's recent research has shown that a Combined Renewal Fee is being used by one thriving group to create a viable budget. The member chooses how much sterling to pay, and the LETS component to make up the total is taken individually into a designated account.

Following this example, instead of using two separate Funds (0001 and 0002) we could carry out an overall Membership Update concerned with all aspects of members' wellbeing and their options for participation in socialising and trading, which would also provide an opportunity to inactivate members who have left the area or cannot participate for another reason. This process is facilitated by using the Expire Date function.

Eals Payments to Members

On checking the transaction records of several groups whose online systems we host, we have found that practice varies considerably. One group pays members for attending Core Group meetings. Another pays all Core Group members a regular "honorarium" with additional payments going out to particular members carrying out administrative functions. The advantage of this is to encourage them to attend meetings and to reward them for managing the system. It also provides currency to encourage trading, and the fact that Ealing LETS has not thrived should encourage us to re-visit this aspect - and possibly to make retrospective payments for work done by Core Group members.

The Social Fund (0003) has been used to acknowledge the hosting of socials but its role could be expanded. Further accounts we envisage might be a Care Fund (0004) to support elderly and disabled members, and possibly a Green Fund (0005).

To become operational each of them could have a Fund Manager who has the password so that they can manage the project and make the Eals payments. Members seeking payment from these funds can invoice them. Members can also donate or tithe direct into these Funds, which is a way of increasing the relevance Ealing LETS to the community.

In Ealing LETS the original Admin Fund appears not to have been part of the above accounting system, but could be brought into use (or another numbered account eg 0002 repurposed) to manage payments for Admin Work - which to our regret seems not to have been done before, the issue being that protocols need to be agreed for making this possible.

Looking forward

If Ealing LETS is to be revived, Core Group members need thorough training and facilitation to jointly make management decisions. The advantages of adopting new methods are that (a) the work of Core Group members can be acknowledged, (b) Eals expenditure is properly governed in the same way as for sterling, (c) poor and poorly members can be catered for and not excluded from trading, (d) members can be encouraged to engage in social and green projects, and (e) additional sterling funds can be raised. We hope to discuss these ideas in the near future at an all-member zoom

Mary Fee (LETSlink Support)
at 9/1/2010 - updated at 12/3/2022