A troop account represents a place where your troop keeps money, like your checking account or a troop PayPal account.  There should only be one troop account for each of these locations.  This could include locations like a petty cash drawer, depending on whether you want to record all of your cash transactions into the system.

Troop accounts are NOT the same as general ledger accounts.  You should only have one troop account for each bank account or other place where you keep money.

To create your troop accounts, please go to please go to Money → Account Balances → Troop Accounts and click the Add a New Item button.  This will bring you to a page that looks like this:

The Account Name should describe the location briefly but accurately, like this: "BB&T checking account"

We recommend that you include the name of the bank in your account name;  this will make it easier to manage the transition if you ever move to a different bank.  We also recommend that you include some other descriptive word, such as checking account, in case you ever create more than one account at that bank.

Check the checkbox labeled Default Account if this is going to be the main account in which you track troop funds.

The Inactive checkbox can be used to deactivate this account later if you switch to another bank.

Click the Save & Exit button to save your work, or Save & Add Another to do just that.

Enter Starting Balance For Troop Accounts

To enter the starting balance in each troop account, go to Money → Individual Transactions and press the Add a New Item button.

Select the transaction type "Starting Troop Account Balance".  As soon as you leave this field, you should see the Credit Troop Account field displayed in the middle of the page;  all other account fields should disappear.  If you do not see Credit Troop Account, please go back to the transaction type and reselect it.

The Transaction Date should be the date on which this balance was current.  This could be the closing date of your last bank statement.

The Description is optional;  it should describe this transaction.

The Reference is also optional;  it can be left blank.

The Amount should be the current account balance.  Assuming you are not overdrawn, this should be a positive number.

Select the troop account for which this is the balance in Credit Troop Account.

Click Save & Exit to save this transaction.