This worksheet is designed to help us try out different ways of accounting for income and expenditures at dances. It allows us to tinker with prices, splits, guarantees, and different payment priorities, and to view their effects on the bottom line.
In this section, you will define the dance series you wish to model. You may enter values in any of the light-green cells, or leave them empty if you wish to use the default values.
Please be careful that your input value is correct. If a box wants a numeric value, enter a number or a formula to calculate one. If you want to empty a box, use the delete key to remove all data. Hitting the space bar puts in a blank space character that looks like an empty box, but will cause trouble when other formulas try to treat it as a number.
If you wish to model a specific dance series, enter the dance code for that from the table below. If you leave this box empty, it will default to a "typical" dance that is a composite of all the regular series.
Note that you can also select the "TYP" code that explicitly references a typical dance. You may note that the numbers are slightly different if you select "TYP" from what you would get if you make no selection. The reason for this is rather subtle, and is explained under the heading "Average band size." below.
Our organization sponsors both English and Contra dances. If you wish to focus on the statistics for one particular style of dance, you select the style here.
If your organization sponsors more than two types, you can add new types on page 2, and use them here.
If you wish to experiment with a different per-dance hall rent, enter it here. If you leave this box empty, it will choose the per-dance rent from the column chosen by the dance code.
If you wish to clear a fixed dollar amount at each dance to cover incidental expenses (or whatever), enter it here. Overhead is a fixed amount of money reserved for the organization from the receipts for each dance. This is a bit of a fuzzy concept, because, if the dance income exceeds the money payed out for staff fees and rent, the organization pockets the remainder, and doesn't care that some fixed number of those dollars is labelled "overhead".
But it does make a difference if you are using the SCDS formula The SCDS formula explicitly deducts the overhead before calculating the band shares. So increasing the overhead will actually reduce the size of the staff payments and slightly increase the organization's share. For this reason, the overhead defaults $25, which is what SBCDS uses at its contra dances.
This is the part that makes the overhead amount not really matter. This is the percentage of the overhead that is expected to be used to pay incidental (e.g. petty cash) expenses for the dance. It defaults to zero, which means that the entire overhead amount is counted as going into the organization's general fund as profit. If it is set to 100%, then the overhead is counted as an expense, just like the rent, and does not figure into the organization's profit. You can pick any number in between if you wish. Generally, it's not worth changing this from zero.
This is another idiosyncratic item. One of our dance halls has a floor that is very sensitive to wear, and must be refinished annually to prevent further damage. Because we contribute a fairly large sum regularly to help pay for the refinishing, we want to add it into the hall rent for the dance series that uses the hall. But it is a parameter that we can manipulate, so we enter it here rather than hiding it inside the rent figure for the hall. If your organization doesn't do this, you can remove or zero out this entry.
This is a percentage of the dance income that is reserved to pay the staff (caller, musicians, and sound tech). The BACDS formula uses the staff split directly. The NBCDS formula doesn't use it at all, and the SCDS formula ignores it and uses its own split value.
It is present on this page because the bottom-line comparisons at the foot of the page are based on the BACDS formula, and therefore require the staff split as an input value.
THe money that is set aside to pay the staff is apportioned into shares for each person. Normally, at our dances, each member of the band gets one share, the caller gets one share, and the sound tech (if any), gets 1/2 share. These two cells let you set the caller's share and the sound tech's share to different percentages of the musician's shares.
If you don't set the shares, but you do set the guarantees, then the shares will be calculated from the guarantees. If you leave everything alone, the caller and the musicians will each get one share, and the sound tech will get 1/2 share.
If you want to offer your staff a guaranteed pay rate, then you need to set a limit on how many people get paid the guaranteed rate. So you set a maximum band size. As long as the band is that size or smaller, each member gets paid at least the guaranteed rate. If the band is larger, you figure out the guaranteed rate for the maximum band size, and divide that total into equal shares for the band members.
The most reasonable values for maximum band size are 3, 4, or 5. Nearly all bands have at least 2 people, and bands larger than 5 seldom expect to all get the guaranteed rate.
To declare that you will not be offering guarantees, simply set the maximum band size to its default value of zero.
Here you can enter the guarantee amounts separately for musicians, caller, and sound tech. If you leave one out, it will default according to the staff split chosen above.
None of this will have any effect unless you also set the maximum guaranteed band size to something other than zero.
Here is where you can decide to have different guaranteed rates for different types of dance, if you wish. In the box next to the chosen type, enter a percentage that will modify the guarantee sefined above to make it suitable for this type of dance. Or leave both boxes blank, and the guarantee will apply across the board.
Here you can enter an average band size for your chosen dance series, if you don't want to accept the default value taken from the dance statistics.
When we figure the default average band size for a typical dance, (dance code "TYP"), we average the band size for all the dances done in the sample period. But some dance series have "house bands" that are always the same size. This tends to skew the average a bit. This skew is not a problem when we are talking about a typical dance put on by our organization, since the dance series with "house bands" are part of the organization.
But when we are modelling a completely abstract dance, we don't want to include the "house band" dances in the average, since an abstract dance doesn't have a house band. So the default average band size figure for a custom dance (no dance series code selected) is not generally the same as that for an typical dance (dance code "TYP").
Of course, none of this matters if you plug in your own value for average band size, or if you select a particular dance series type to model. If you are modeling a dance that does have a "house band", simply enter the size of the band here as the average band size.
Individual dance series tend either to have a paid sound tech or not to have one. So if you are modeling a specific dance series, this value will either be 100% if you pay your sound tech, or 0% if you don't.
The average (typical) dance series is a composite average of all the dances the organization does in a year, so the default value for a typical or custom dance will be somewhere between 0% and 100%. You can enter your own value if you don't like the default.
This is another place where the default value is taken from the actual attendance statistics recorded for the selected dance series for some sample period. If no particular dance series is selected, the average is taken for all dance series combined. If a particular dance type is selected, the average is taken for all dances of that type. You can enter your own value here if you wish.
Here is where you can fiddle with your door prices. There is one row for each of the admission categories your organization has set up (on page 2), and one row for free passes. In each non-free row, you can either set an explicit price, or provide an increment to be added to the current average price for that admission category.
You can also fiddle with attendance mix. For each attendance category other than the first, you can enter the percentage of attendees who fall into that category. The first row is your normal admission rate, and doesn't get its own percentage, because you can figure it out by subtracting the others.
The prices and the attendance percentages are used to calculate an average per-person income figure for the dance series you are modeling.
This section (at the bottom of the first page) displays the financial performance of the dance series you have selected to model (column 1, highlighted in yellow), compared to an average dance for this organization (column 2, highlighted in tan), and also compared to each individual dance series sponsored by the organization. This is where you can see at a glance the effects of your proposed changes.
All calculations in this section are done using the BACDS formula. To see the effects of the other formulas, you have to look at the pages devoted to those formulas.
The first column (highlighted in yellow) shows the dance series selected by the codes and other parameters that you entered in the input section. This is where you will see what the average dance would look like if our organization adopted the rules you just entered, and if the statistical averages were as you supplied them.
The second column (highlighed in tan) shows the performance of a typical dance that your organization sponsors. It uses the input values you gave for staff splits, shares, and guarantees, but it applies these to the actual average rent, attendance, and band sizes as supplied on pages 2 and 3.
The remaining columns show the performance of each individual dance series sponsored by the organization. Again, it uses the door prices, staff splits, shares, and guarantees that you supplied, but applies those to the actual recorded rents, attendance, and band sizes for the given dance series.
Rows whose value depends on "baseline statistics" have their values calculated from the tables on pages 2 and 3, which provide collected statistics from all dances over a given period. If the dance series code for the column refers to a specific dance seris, then the statistics for that dance series are used. If the dance series code is "TYP", then the composite statistics for all dance series are used (weighted by the number of dances in that series each year).
If the dance series code is "(custom}", which can appear only in column 1, then the corresponding input value is used, if any value was provided. If no input value was provided, then the dance series type is inspected. If a specific dance type is selected, then the composite statistics are calculated only for dances of the same type. If no type is selected, then the composite statistics are the same as if "TYP" was selected as the dance code (except in the case of average band size, discussed above).
This page defines the various dance series sponsored by the organization and lists their fixed attributes: dance types, rents, admission categories, and so forth.
Cells marked in grey are parts of reference lists used elsewhere to populate selectors or to index tables of statistics. Cells marked in blue are places where the organization can input its own attributes for each dance series. White cells contain formulas or labels, and should not be modified. Cells in green allow you to select whether the values you entered in that row were collected on an annual or a per-dance basis. Before modifying any cell on this page, you will need to unprotect the spreadsheet.
This section defines the different types of dance sponsored by the organization. You can add your own here, if you do it carefully. Insert the new row in the middle of the list, so it is still included in the dropdowns and ranges that select it. Then shift the labels around to get them in the right order.
This section allows you to define each dance series, giving it a name, a code, a type, and the number of dances per year.
The only tricky part is the number of dances per year. Since this is used everywhere to come up with weighted averages for many different statistics over all dances, it is important to get it right. This means that you want to come as close as possible to the actual number of dances per year; and not just take the number of dances per month and multiply by 12. Some dances take the summer off, some skip the dances that fall during Christmas break. Some include the 5th week of the month, which means they have one extra dance per quarter on the average.
Rents are charged on many different bases, so it's best to calculate the annual rent in this row. If the rent is charged per dance, you can enter a formula that multiplies the per-dance rent by the "per year" number above it. You can also enter something like "=325*4" to signify a $325 quarterly rent, or "=150*12" to signify a $150-a-month rent. If all rents are charged per dance, you can switch the green selector to "per-dance" and enter them that way.
The grey column on the left is where you define the different admission categories for your dances. In the blue area, you can enter the admission price for that category for each dance series.
Note that the weighted average for each category is calculated for you in the column headed "Typical Dance Series." There are also a bunch of "Annualized" prices filled in below the blue area. These represent the prices multiplied by the number of dances per year in the series. These "annualized" rows are necessary to allow us to calculate default values based on dance type or other selection criteria.
Right now, the only thing in this section is the indication of whether the dance series pays its sound tech (enter 100%) or not (enter 0%). If you really pay the sound tech only part of the time, and can estimate the percentage, you can enter that percentage exactly.
This page fills in statistics on each dance series, for such things as attendance, band sizes, and so forth. These should be distilled from actual statistics collected over some period, in order to reflect some semblance of reality. The process of collecting and distilling these statistics is outside the scope of this document.
Cells marked in blue are places where the organization can enter the collected statistics for each dance series. White cells contain formulas or labels, and should not be modified. Cells in green allow you to select whether the values you entered in that row were collected on an annual or a per-dance basis. Before modifying any cell on this page, you will need to unprotect the spreadsheet.
Enter the actual average attendance counts taken from your sign-in sheets, as averaged over some reasonable period. Attendance figures are broken down by admission category, totaled at the bottom, and averaged into the first column (a weighted average that goes by the number of dances per year). You can use the green selector to enter counts either on an annual or a per-dance basis.
This section shows the annual, per-dance, and per-person door income, as calculated from the attendance figures and door prices for each admission category.
In this section, you enter the average band size for each of your dances. The best way to do this is to set up a spreadsheet in which you can enter the band size for each dance in the column belonging to its series. Then you can calculate overall averages and enter them in the row labelled "no max". The other rows are calculated by going back into the table and "chopping off" any band bigger than the given maximum, and recomputing the averages. The "excluding house bands" column is calculated by applying the same process only to those dance series that hire different bands for each dance.
Each subsequent page shows the effects of a different compensation formula. The formula is applied to the selected dance series only (the one listed in the yellow column on page 1).
These pages allow you to calculate the actual incomes, costs, and payments for a specific band size and a specific attendance, and even a specific door income. Properly configured, the formula pages can show what would happen at an actual dance.
At the top of each formula page, you can enter the number of paid staff. If there are multiple callers or sound techs, they split a single share. If there are more musicians than the maximum guaranteed band size, they split the maximum guranteed amount equally.
On the right end of the same line is the parameter describing the organization's split, which is either expressed as a percentage or as a number of shares, depending on the compensationn formula used.
On the very far right is the total number of shares allocated by the formula. This will be the caller's percentage of one musician's share, plus the sound tech's percentage of one musician's share, plus no more than the maximum number of musician's shares, plus the organization's share(s), if any.
Just above the total number of shares is a reminder of the fixed costs and guarantees that apply to this dance series.
The main table gives the figures for various attendance levels ranging from 10 to 100 by fives. The far right column shows what happens to the organization's bottom line at each attendance level. Other columns track what is paid to each caller, musician, and sound tech.
Signficant things to note in the main table are the attendance levels where the dance becomes profitable, and where the staff payments start to exceed the guarantee (if any), and where the staff payments cross that fuzzy line between "too low" and "acceptable" (if there is no guarantee).
Immediately below the main table is a "marginal effect" table row, showing how each additional individual changes the overall picture. This can be slightly misleading in looking at staff shares when the formula deducts the rent and/or overhead from the income before splitting the remainder into shares. When this happens, the "marginal" staff share is an ideal upper bound. The actual marginal staff share is smaller by an amount proportional to the ratio of fixed costs to total income. (If you didn't get that, don't worry, it only matters if you care about that kind of detail).
The next line calculates the "break even attendance." You can check it by plugging it into the line below and seeing if the result is just greater than zero.
Following that, you enter your own figures for total door income and/or total attendance, and see the results calculated for you on the next line. If you don't enter anything, the default is to use the statistical average attendance from page 1.
The BACDS formula has been used historically by the Bay Area Country Dance Society. This formula starts by assigning a percentage (now 40%) of the total income to the organization. The remainder is split into staff shares. The rent and overhead come out of the organization's percentage. BACDS has traditionally not offered guarantees.
The organization loses money when its percentage of the door does not cover the rent. If guarantees are in effect, then any amount necessary to make up the guarantees also must be covered by the organization's percentage.
The NBCDS formula has been used historically by the North Bay Country Dance Society. This formula gurantees that the rent is paid first. The remainder is split into staff shares, with one extra share for the organization. NBCDS has traditionally not offered guarantees.
The organization loses money when the total door income does not cover the rent. If guarantees are in effect, then any amount necessary to make up the guarantees also must be covered by the organization's percentage. If there are no guarantees, the staff get no pay unless the total door income covers the rent.
The SCDS formula has been used historically by the Sacramento Country Dance Society. This formula starts by deducting rent and overhead from the total income. The overhead amounts to a guarantee for the organization. A percentage (now 30%) of the remainder is assigned to the organization, and the remaining amount is split into staff shares. SCDS does traditionally offer guarantees.
The organization loses money when the total door income does not cover the rent. If guarantees are in effect, then any amount necessary to make up the guarantees also must be covered by the organization's percentage. If there are no guarantees, the staff get no pay unless the total door income covers the rent and overhead.