Before you can set up premiums, there must be a budget for the premiums to be paid from.
Select the Setup Menu, Budgets Tab.
A Default unlimited budget is automatically configured for each fair. That may be right for your fair (you don't need to do anything), or you may need to make changes. Select the correct type of budget for the way you pay premiums at your fair:
- Limited Budget: You know how much money is allotted for premiums each year. Entries are awarded points, then all points are divided into the total amount of premium money to determine the value of the premium for each entry.
- Unlimited Budget: You know how much money you want to award for a ribbon (for instance, $5 for a blue ribbon). The total amount spent will vary, depending on how many blue ribbons are awarded.
- Unlimited Budget: You know how much money each POINT is given (for instance, $0.25 per point), and different ribbons are assigned different point values. The total amount spent will vary, depending on how many ribbons are awarded.
You can have more than one budget set up for your fair, depending on how/when you pay premiums:
- If you would like to print checks for one area of the fair at a different time from another area of the fair, you will need to add a budget (the Add Budget button). Example: you pay the premiums for static exhibits early, after the judging results are in; but you pay the premiums for livestock exhibits at the end of the fair.
- If one part of the fair has its own budget separate from the rest of the fair's premium budget, you will also need to add a budget. Example: you have a budget of $2500 for the 4-H and FFA part of the fair, and $1000 for the Open classes.
Assign the Budget to your Hierarchy
By default, the Default Budget is applied to the entire Fair. That may be right for your fair (you don't have to do anything), or you may need to edit which budget gets used where. To edit this (add a new budget to a select portion of the hierarchy):
- On the Hierarchy menu, select the area of the hierarchy to which you would like to apply the budget.
- Select the Points and Premiums tab.
- The Default Budget has been applied to the entire Fair. To override this setting, click on the drop-down arrow by "Inherited" and select Override from the button at the top right.
- Select the budget to apply to this area of the fair and click Save.
- If you need to edit the budget or add a new budget to use in the area, you may do that from that screen as well.