08 - Projects and Restricted Funds¶

Projects are central to this bookkeeping system. Many grants and activities must be tracked separately from free association money.

What a project means in the ledger¶

Account type	Example	Purpose
Project asset	`Vermoegen:Bank:Sparkasse-NICA:25-ZGV`	Internal balance of project money.
Project income	`Einnahmen:Projekt:25-ZGV:Sachmittel`	Project funding or project income.
Project expense	`Ausgaben:Projekt:25-ZGV:Sachmittel`	Project spending.

The real bank account may be one Sparkasse account, but the ledger separates internal project balances so the team can see what belongs to each project.

Active and closed projects¶

Active projects have open accounts and relevant balances. Closed projects usually have a final 0.00 EUR balance check and close directives for the project asset, income, and expense accounts.

Do not book new transactions into closed projects unless you intentionally reopen or correct historical data.

Current examples in NICA¶

26-JEP-Buehnenreif
25-ZGV
25-CircusWiki
25-Machen-UnitedAges
25-Erasmus
closed 2024 projects such as 24-AWO, 24-HONY, 24-Peter

Current examples in Tohuwabohu¶

VHS-TOHU-25
ZMS-TOHU-25
CEDU-25
TOHUCON-25
closed projects such as Revierpionier-25, OAC-25, TohuCon2024, ZGV-TOHU-24, TohuCon2023

Creating a new project¶

A new project normally needs accounts opened before transactions are entered.

2026-01-01 open Vermoegen:Bank:Sparkasse-NICA:26-NewProject
2026-01-01 open Ausgaben:Projekt:26-NewProject
2026-01-01 open Ausgaben:Projekt:26-NewProject:Honorar
2026-01-01 open Ausgaben:Projekt:26-NewProject:Sachmittel
2026-01-01 open Ausgaben:Projekt:26-NewProject:Aufwand
2026-01-01 open Ausgaben:Projekt:26-NewProject:Sonstiges
2026-01-01 open Einnahmen:Projekt:26-NewProject
2026-01-01 open Einnahmen:Projekt:26-NewProject:Honorar
2026-01-01 open Einnahmen:Projekt:26-NewProject:Sachmittel
2026-01-01 open Einnahmen:Projekt:26-NewProject:Aufwand
2026-01-01 open Einnahmen:Projekt:26-NewProject:Sonstiges

Only open categories that are actually useful for the project.

Booking project funding¶

2026-02-01 ! "Funding Body" "First payment NewProject"
  Vermoegen:Bank:Sparkasse-NICA:26-NewProject  3000.00 EUR
  Einnahmen:Projekt:26-NewProject:Sachmittel

Booking project expenses¶

2026-02-10 ! "Supplier" "Project material"
  Ausgaben:Projekt:26-NewProject:Sachmittel  250.00 EUR
  Vermoegen:Bank:Sparkasse-NICA:26-NewProject

Understanding project balances¶

A positive project asset balance means money is still allocated to that project. A zero project asset balance means the project has no remaining internal bank balance. A negative project asset balance usually means the project has spent more than its allocated funds or an allocation is missing.

Closing a project¶

Before closing a project, all income and expenses must be entered, receipts must be findable, the project asset account must be exactly zero, and any remaining money must be moved or returned correctly.

2026-12-31 balance Vermoegen:Bank:Sparkasse-NICA:26-NewProject 0.00 EUR
2026-12-31 close Vermoegen:Bank:Sparkasse-NICA:26-NewProject
2026-12-31 close Ausgaben:Projekt:26-NewProject
2026-12-31 close Einnahmen:Projekt:26-NewProject

Close subaccounts too if they were opened separately.