Home > 2019 - a year in review

2019 - a year in review


2019 brought many changes to Scouting and Scout Manager. Here are a few of the highlights.

2019 brought many changes to Scouting and Scout Manager. Here are a few of the highlights.

Scoutbook is made free

In 2019 the BSA made Scoutbook free to all scouting units. The new system replaced the aging Internet Advancement system they'd been using for years, but also provided better online accessibility to all users with a new user interface that works similar to Scout Manager.

At first, this really hit us hard at Scout Manager. We received countless emails about our plans to continue offering our service and some units left us for the free service. We stood firm and rebounded nicely. Our mission has always been to provide a superior service than what the BSA and others were putting out. Our measures of success include service, reliability, performance and features you'll love. Many of the former measures go unnoticed until a unit moves to Scoutbook and they realize that slow performance makes their job take much more time and service is a vision of hope in a post. We're proud of what we've built for you and we intend to keep it that way.

Scout Manager integration with Scoutbook

It took us quite a bit more time than we expected to get the Scoutbook integration working. It seemed like the developers over at Scoutbook were actively working against us. After our first integration work they changed login security controls making it impossible to integrate dynamically. While frustrating we applaud their work in creating a better and more secure environment.

After much work and trials, our current integration using a Chrome plugin has proven to be ultra-reliable and integrates nicely with Scoutbook. It provides the ability to receive updates from Scoutbook as well as push updates (e.g. award data) back to the BSA.

Thank you to everyone who helped with testing and working through the early issues with us.

New Accounting Module

Our new accounting module makes financial management cleaner and easier to manage especially for year over year accounting. You may hear us refer to it as "checkbook accounting" as it removes double-entry and provides an easier way to tag transaction amounts to one or more accounts. While account types like Revenue, Expense and Liability are still there its much easier to avoid the issues that popup with double-entry.

If you haven't migrated to the new accounting its definitely something to consider for the new year!

 

News & Updates

Stay Warm and Earn Merit Badges this Winter!

A photo of a scout building a debris hut in the snow, with a warm fire burning inside.
{
Jul 17 2025

"title": "Eagle-Approved Merit Badges to Earn During Winter Months",

Placeholder image for: {

A Bittersweet Farewell: Why You Should Migrate Your Content Before August 2025

A cinematic photo of an apple laptop with a 'Troop 777' website in the browser. The background of the website is a mountain scene with tents.

Don't miss your chance to migrate your custom website before August 2025!

A group of scouts gathered around a laptop, excitedly browsing through their custom website.

Join us as we venture out on an unforgettable adventure with our troop's elite scouts!

Imagine a group of experienced scouts setting up camp in the wilderness, their gear scattered around them like a well-oiled machine. This is what our Venture Patrol outing looked like.

A Journey Through Time: Exploring the Wonders of Geology at War Eagle Cave

Imagine stepping into a massive cave entrance, where a crystal-clear stream flows out and meets the sparkling waters of Beaver Lake. This is just a taste of what we experienced as we worked towards earning our Geology merit badge.

Don't let winter weather keep your scouts cooped up - discover the Eagle-required merit badges that can be earned during January, February, and March.

A snow-covered forest with a backdrop of mountains, symbolizing the beauty and adventure that awaits during the winter months.

As summer approaches, many boy scouts are eager to make progress towards achieving the prestigious Eagle rank

As Boy Scout leaders, you work hard all year round to prepare your scouts for summer camp