Add-On Releases - VC_Accounts

DESCRIPTION
VC_Accounts provides you with a simple and convenient method of displaying an ongoing summary of your monthly income and expenses whilst further allowing for showcasing those members who have financially contributed toward the costs of maintaining your website.

Members are able to view a summary of itemized monthly expenses, and any income received to date that will offset those expenses, prior to your accounts becoming due for payment. The VC_Accounts display further encourages potential donators to contribute towards your monthly site maintenance costs, more so than just setting a financial target and a date to achieve that target by, thus further complimenting any installed donation module.

At the end of each monthly cycle, simply take a screenshot of your Monthly Accounts Summary and post that image in a dedicated thread and then reset the values in your AdminCP to start a fresh monthly period. That is what I have done over the past 18 months. Basic but effective.

FEATURES
VC_Accounts -
- turn on/off.
Usergroup permissions -
- only allow usergroups listed in the admincp to view VC_Accounts.
- only usergroups listed with viewing permissions of VC_Accounts can view the navtab.
Navtab options -
- insert navtab link position left, middle, right or leave turned off.
- enter your preferred navtab text name in the admincp.
Monthly Accounts Summary Display
- enter row descriptions of income and expenses in the admincp. Use hyperlinks if desired.
- enter regular updates of values of donations received/expenses due in the admincp. Negative values result as debits in the Debit and Balance columns otherwise values result as credits in the Credit and Balance columns.
- total credits, total debits and overall total are automatically calculated and displayed on your Monthly Accounts Summary display.
- option to insert your own currency symbol for totals or to leave blank if preferred.
- empty/unused rows are collapsed out of view.
Fully Phrased
- whatever is not editable in the admincp options for VC_Accounts Template Fields is phrased.

INSTALLATION
Upload VC_Accounts.php to your forum directory.
Import product-vcaccounts.xml
Edit Usergroup Permissions & Options - AdminCP/Settings/Options/VC_Accounts Template Fields

FAQ
[S]Q. I tried to install VC_Accounts but I was unable to because I use an earlier version than vBulletin 4.0.6.
A. I have only tested VC_Accounts on vBulletin version 4.0.6 and so I limited the minimum required version that this addon will install on. Either upgrade to the latest version of vBulletin or wait until those with earlier versions of vB4 than 4.0.6 post on this thread to let me know that it works on those versions. I'll make the appropriate edits when I know it is safe to do so.[/S]
EDIT: Tested and not working on 4.0.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2 and 4.0.3
[S]Q. How can I test VC_Accounts on an earlier version than 4.0.6 if it won't install?
A. If you don't know how then you are the wrong person to be testing it. Please wait.[/S]
EDIT: Minimum version working is 4.0.4 PL1
Q. If I need more than the default 8 rows will you add more?
A. If enough people ask for more rows I would probably have to consider it.
Q. Where can I donate if I want to thank you with a few dollars?
A. I help to administer a gaming community that relies 100% on donations for survival. Please contribute to that community rather than to me personally -

SCREENSHOTS
Next post down

[midnz]

SCREENSHOTS

Full Page View:



Collapsed Rows View:



CMS Style Sheet & Table Mapping:

[ProFifaLeagues]

Tagged as we will be using 4.03 untill the release of 4.1 but this mod looks like it will be very handy thank you!

[CFodder]

Tagged as well, in pretty much teh same boat as rammieone.

Looks like a great mod and will give those that contribute to our site a feeling of where their money goes

[6FRGaming]

Ugh. This seemed to be EXACTLY what I needed, but having to update everything manually seems like such a pain in the butt.

Would be awesome if it synched with PayPal and automatically updated everything.

Anyone know of a script like that?

[onehost]

Would be nice if this would carry a clickable balance sheet so that you can click
on any given month/day/year to see what is going on...I like the part that
he says do a reset...since when does a business just reset their balance sheet?
if you have a credit/debt, then it should roll over to the next month regardless...
it shouldnt be wiped out just because you are on a new month...

[midnz]

Originally Posted by 6FRGaming

Ugh. This seemed to be EXACTLY what I needed, but having to update everything manually seems like such a pain in the butt.

Would be awesome if it synched with PayPal and automatically updated everything.

Anyone know of a script like that?

This script is simply the sharing of a private addon that has been a convenience to me with my own community for the past 18 or so months. Although we use a donations addon there is no record displayed showing the PayPal fees deducted from donations nor the accounts details which we were raising money to pay for on a monthly basis, but rather just a target and a date to raise that amount by. I don't know of any donations addon that incorporates the information that I wanted to have displayed. I'm not even sure that the Paypal fees deductions amounts can be automatically accessed from PayPal.
Of course it's possible to automatically include the total donations amounts and donator usernames from another donations addon in the Monthly Accounts Display however there are many such donations addons which is where things become too complicated, for me anyway. I can't cater for every such donations addon, especially those that haven't been made yet, but will be.
Your idea is a good one though. The best that can probably be hoped for is for one of the current donations addon authors to incorporate a display, showing similar information to what I have provided with VC_Accounts, with their own addon. I would certainly use it myself.

Originally Posted by onehost

Would be nice if this would carry a clickable balance sheet so that you can click
on any given month/day/year to see what is going on...I like the part that
he says do a reset...since when does a business just reset their balance sheet?
if you have a credit/debt, then it should roll over to the next month regardless...
it shouldnt be wiped out just because you are on a new month...

1. This addon was not designed for business usage and it hasn't been promoted as such.
2. The credit or debit total balance is rolled over to the next month albeit manually. The first row clearly reads "Balance from last month" and is hyperlinked to last months record (That's why it is underlined. Check the very first image provided by me.). Of course you can change that, or any other row, to whatever you want.
What I have provided is an exact copy of what I use for my own gaming community. It works for the purpose for which it was made.

If you want a clickable balance sheet that provides a history of your accounts then you do have options:
1. Do what I did. Make what you want yourself. There are some excellent tutorials in the Articles forum.
2. Pay a coder to make it for you. I've listed this addon with "Re-usable Code".

This is my first ever attempt at coding an addon and I don't have the necessary skills to make what you suggest. Thanks for the friendly words of encouragement anyway.

[6FRGaming]

It's a good mod, and I think I may still use it because, like you - I strive for transparency within my gaming community. Just sucks having to do it manually

In the end though, it's worth it.

Appreciate the addon. Great work!

[midnz]

Originally Posted by 6FRGaming

It's a good mod, and I think I may still use it because, like you - I strive for transparency within my gaming community. Just sucks having to do it manually

In the end though, it's worth it.

Appreciate the addon. Great work!

You're welcome, and thanks for the compliments. I do appreciate it.
Since upgrading from 3.6.8 to 4.0.6 I've just used a template with an html table display that I've been updating after receiving every donation. Having to do all that extra coding and calculating work made me get my A in to gear to learn how to port my 3.6 version of VC_Accounts to 4.0.6. As you already stated, it would be great to have more automation. From my perspective, there is more . Seriously, I do understand what you mean and I agree with you. Thanks again

[midnz]

Tested on 4.0.0, 4.0.1, 4.0.2 and 4.0.3 but does not work on those versions of vB. Works fine on 4.0.4 PL1.
I've edited the .xml with the minimum version required to install from 4.0.6 to 4.0.4 and also edited the description with that new information.
There's no need for anyone to update anything despite what the tag says.