The Ledger: A Working Account of Who Carried What

The Ledger is where work and money become visible. Two ways to add to it: a Contribution of cash (real money, ideally with a receipt) or sweat (hours valued at your community's hourly rate). Both feed the same balance sheet but tell different stories.

Logging a Contribution

1. Ledger page > + Log Contribution
2. Pick Cash or Sweat
3. For cash: amount, currency, brief description, photo of receipt if relevant
4. For sweat: hours, category (Physical, Emotional, Administrative), brief description
5. Submit. Goes into the queue for admin approval.

The approval queue

Admins see incoming Contributions on their Ledger page. Most communities approve in a single weekly pass. The point of approval isn't suspicion — it's a beat where the community acknowledges the work. A Contribution sitting in the queue for three weeks tells contributors their work is invisible. Don't let that happen.

Two flavours, two uses

Cash is real money. For tax, accounting, refunds, and reimbursements. Sweat equity vs cash contributions covers the line between them.

Sweat is labour, valued at the rate set in Settings > Sanctuary. Doesn't affect anyone's bank account. Affects the community's understanding of who carried what — useful for member reviews, fair share-of-rent calculations, and exit settlements when someone leaves.

For a deeper read on sweat-equity philosophy and what counts as labour, see Valuing sweat equity.

What the balances mean

Each member's Ledger card shows their year-to-date hours and cash contributions. The community total is the sum.

Don't read the Ledger as a competition. The villager with 80 hours and the one with 8 might both be carrying their share — one is on the work crew, the other is doing childcare that doesn't always get logged. The Ledger surfaces what's been entered, not what's been done.

Cross-Sanctuary work

If your Sanctuary has Reciprocity enabled with a federated partner, hours logged while visiting another Sanctuary appear in your Network Wallet. The Reciprocity Passport explains the mechanics.

Year-end

Settings > Sanctuary > Export Ledger. CSV opens cleanly in any spreadsheet. Hand it to your bookkeeper or treasurer; they'll do their thing.

Correcting an entry

Click any Contribution > three-dot menu > Edit or Delete. Both leave a small audit note. The community history stays honest.

One quiet rule

Don't log sweat for things you'd be doing anyway. Personal cooking, sleeping, brushing teeth. The Ledger is for community labour, not life. If you're not sure, ask: "would I expect another villager to do this if I didn't?" If yes, it's a Contribution. If no, it isn't.