From 01013ec96c78d9218226255e90cd104966fe46fd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: "Bradley M. Kuhn" Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2013 15:41:32 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Beginning of general description of using Ledger CLI for fiscal sponsorship accounts. --- npo-ledger-cli-tutorial.md | 31 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 31 insertions(+) diff --git a/npo-ledger-cli-tutorial.md b/npo-ledger-cli-tutorial.md index 23b976c..4d37655 100644 --- a/npo-ledger-cli-tutorial.md +++ b/npo-ledger-cli-tutorial.md @@ -108,6 +108,37 @@ ignored. (For example, if your organization simplified its chart of accounts in later years, you don't want to report those old accounts that are no longer used.) +Handling Fiscal Sponsorship +--------------------------- + +NPOs that do not provide fiscal sponsorship services will find this section +somewhat useless. One of the biggest benefits of Ledger CLI is its +incredible flexibility that just does not exist in other accounting systems. +This section describes how to exploit that flexibility to provide a +separation in your books and reporting to handle earmarked accounts for +fiscally sponsored projects. + +NPOs that don't need this feature can, in most cases, use the methods +described herein to deploy Ledger CLI, but should leave out the `:General:` +and `:ProjectNAME:` parts of the account hierarchy, since these are the +primary mechanisms used herein to handle the fiscal sponsorship structure. + +### Earmarked Accounts + +Many fiscal sponsor NPOs keep earmarked accounts for their member/affiliated +projects. Furthermore, these projects often may either (a) terminate their +agreement with the NPO, and thus deserve a copy of their books that they can +"take away" with them, or (b) might be affiliated with *other* NPOs that also +hold accounts. This system of earmarked accounts is designed to make it easy +for projects to have a copy of their own accounts, but not interfere with nor +even be aware of (a) the books of other member/affiliated projects, and (b) +the overall books of the entire NPO. + +On the latter point, this system utilizes a directory structure and separate +`.ledger` files to separate out the different projects into different +structures. This allows member/affiliated projects to take their data and +run `ledger` commands against it, separately and without access to the other +`.ledger` files of the NPO. Copyright and License of This File ----------------------------------