How RefTraq thinks about your money
Three numbers per game, and they are deliberately not the same number:
| Number | Meaning | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated | What you should be paid | Rate table + travel fees |
| Received | What actually landed | You (Mark paid) and imports |
| Outstanding | Past games where nothing landed | Computed: estimated, unpaid, in the past |
Estimated is a model; received is a fact. Tax math runs on received (cash basis) — a wrong estimate can never distort your Schedule C. Estimates exist so you know what to chase: the Unpaid view is your receivables list.
Why estimates drift, and why that's fine
Fees change. Playoff games pay more than week 1. A gate-fee game (Texas varsity football) literally cannot be known in advance — the fee depends on ticket sales, so the right expectation is the minimum and the right final number is whatever the check says. RefTraq's posture: automation fills blanks, humans set truth. Nothing automated ever overwrites a number you entered — not sync, not imports, not the rate table.
Two kinds of travel money — never mix them
- Travel fee — money a school or chapter PAYS YOU for showing up at distance. It's income. It lives on the game, next to the game fee.
- Mileage deduction — a tax write-off computed from miles you drove at the IRS rate. It's not income and no one pays it to you. It lives in the Mileage log.
Same drive, two different numbers, opposite directions on your tax return. Conflating them is the most common bookkeeping error officials make, and the app keeps them in separate rooms on purpose.
Fixing money in bulk
Long-press any game on the Schedule to enter selection mode: set fees for a batch, mark a batch paid at their estimated amounts (games with no estimate are skipped — the app never invents a payment), or fix a mislabeled sport across a whole season in one pass.