Why Do This?
Reconciling your gate information at the end of the event can be a difficult process. This system closes many of the gaps suffered in running an event gate and answers most questions that can come up in the case of a discrepancy or error.
Common gate/sheet issues:
Members forget to put membership info on the gate sheet
(causing the branch to owe more NMS than it collected to the kingdom)Tills don’t balance
Non-members forget to sign a waiver
Checks cross from one gate sheet to another and make reconciliation difficult
Staff members are not SCA members (they must be per Corpora)
So- how do we prevent this?
Prior to the Event
Generate a roster for gate staff consisting of the following:
Modern name AND SCA name
Contact information (phone number, e-mail, address, as you see fit)
Membership number and expiration
This will allow you to track and verify your gate staff’s activities.
Generate a gate sheet reconciliation document (GSRD) consisting of the following on each line:
For seed money going out:
Seed money given out
Gate captain initials
Staff initials
For finished sheets coming in:
Cash subtotal
Check subtotal
Envelope total
Seed money taken in
Gate captain signature
Staff signature
You will use this throughout the check in process
You will also need:
Lots of pens; they tend to walk away with attendees
Gate Sheets
Non-member roster waivers
Child waivers
Clipboards
Peel-and-seal envelopes (trust me, do not get lick-and-seal)
Seed money (in $5 or $1 increments)
Cash box
A list of comped members - preferably with photos so that your gate staff can easily identify these individuals (officers/champions/royalty/nobility/staff)
Who will be working?
The GATE CAPTAIN is in charge of holding seed money in a cash box, providing double custody of seed money out, seed money back in, and incoming cash and checks. They hold completed, sealed envelopes of intake until these are removed by the event steward or exchequer.
All GATE STAFF (including the captain) must be paid members of the SCA, per Corpora. They should be attentive to detail, willing to follow an order of operations, able to sit several hours or more per shift, and congenial in welcoming people. There should never be less than 2 people at the gate at any given time.
At the Event
Before Working Gate
All gate staff members must fill out a line on the gate staff roster. This allows you to prove your gate staff are SCA members and also track who handled which envelopes. Have a snack, use the restroom.
Receiving a Gate Packet
Each staff member is given a clipboard with an envelope containing an amount of seed money ($50 or whatever they will need to make change for people signing in), a single gate sheet, a single non-member roster, and access to child waivers as needed. They must verify their seed money and initial on the GSRD with the gate captain before they may work.
The envelope, gate sheet and roster waiver should be given the same number , and the event details written at the top of the gate sheet and non-member roster.
When Signing People In
Gate staff must verify membership details BEFORE receiving any money. If a person claims to be a member, they must prove it with their card, online details, or a printout right then and there or they will be charged the non-member surcharge. The NMS, once paid, is NON-REFUNDABLE. The envelope will later be sealed and no refund can be given for producing membership details after the fact.
Non-members should sign the waiver AFTER presenting payment and BEFORE they fill out the gate sheet information. This ensures your waivers are filled for everyone who comes through the gate.
If someone pays with a check, the check number should be included on the gate sheet to the right of EACH of the lines to which it applies so that this can be reconciled.
If a group wants to sign in with a check or large bill and there are not enough lines left on the sheet, STOP. Have them check in with someone else or wait for you to turn in the sheet and get another. Checks and bills should never cross from one sheet to another.
The gate captain should NEVER handle their own gate sheet, except to process comped members on a separate gate sheet or sheets. All other gate staff should send comped members directly to the captain.
When a Gate Sheet is Full/Shift Ends
The gate staff member brings the full gate sheet (or partially full) to the gate captain. They remove the seed money or an equivalent amount in other bills if necessary and set this aside. Both should count that amount to verify. The cash subtotal and check subtotal are added and verified. The gate sheet itself has totals to add up for NMS (if applicable), gate fees, and totals. Additionally verify that the gate sheet total matches to the cash and check subtotals.
Having confirmed all of this, write the cash and check subtotals and the envelope total on the envelope itself and on the GSRD. Fold up the gate sheet, non-member roster, and any child waivers for that sheet with all cash and checks and seal this in the envelope. The gate captain and staff member initial the envelope over the seal.
The seed money is returned to the cash box OR placed into a new envelope to be used with the next gate sheet. The numbered, totaled, sealed, and initialed envelope is placed in the cash box.
Sealed envelopes should periodically be removed to a secure location or safe, and taken off site if possible. NEVER leave gate contents in a car even if it is locked as this is a prime location for theft.
After the Event
Final Reconciliation
The sealed envelopes, the cash box containing seed money and the GSRD should be taken to a secure location, preferably offsite, before doing a final reconciliation. Also bring the empty check register created prior to the event. The branch exchequer and event steward will reconcile the amounts, or another trusted SCA member if one of these two is not present.
Each envelope should be opened one at a time (cut the end of the envelope so that the contents and the initials of the gate captain and staff are not damaged). Confirm:
The event details are filled out correctly
The number of adults, children, and non-members are collected
The waivers for all non-members are found with the sheet
The cash and check amounts match the GSRD
Copy any check details for the sheet to the check register.
When you are done, there will be a pile of cash and a pile of checks. Recount the total cash amount and reconcile this against the cash subtotals on your GSRD. Confirm the check total on your check register against the GSRD.
If all has gone well, you have matched your cash and checks up and are ready to deposit. You will make three separate deposits to your bank or credit union, for clarity: incoming seed money (so you know it matches the amount withdrawn prior to the event), incoming gate cash, and incoming gate checks. This allows your exchequer to see each total coming in and account for them.
Now that you know how many gate sheets you have in total, add this information to the bottom of each. All of your gate sheets, non-member waivers and child waivers should be filed by the branch or sent to the kingdom if applicable. Your exchequer will make a check out to the kingdom for NMS if applicable.
If You Discover a Problem
You are armed with a tremendous amount of information. You have your gate sheet reconciliation document with initials and signatures. You can prove who handled all cash and checks. You can find which waivers go with each gate sheet. You have a check register to confirm which checks belong with which gate sheets.
Is the seed money being returned inaccurate?
Did seed money get removed from each envelope correctly before sealing it? You know what the cash subtotal of each envelope should have been and who handled it.Did a check or cash get left in an envelope when reconciling?
You can determine precisely which check is missing if one is not found. The gate sheets allow you to reconcile your checks and see which are not present on the check register.Did a non-member fail to sign a waiver?
Numbered non-member waivers allow you to match non-members to gate sheets and find exactly which non-member has not signed. It is not too late to pursue this and get them to sign a waiver for you, if they can be reached.
In Closing
This method of separately handling each gate sheet ensures cash and checks can be easily reconciled. It requires more staff and does take longer to finalize. In return, you minimize the risk of costly mistakes and prevent most problems before they start. Staff members may find the steps of initialing and signing cumbersome, but the reliability of the information for your event more than makes up for these small delays. This document was created in collaboration with HL Morgan Woodsende of Hoghton
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