I’m a member of a type of LETS (Local Exchange Trading Systems) and I’ve been asked (well I volunteered actually…:( ) to create a database for our organization.
We oscillate between 70 and 100 members and we have an average of 30 exchanges per month.

Previously we had an Access 95 database borrowed from another LETS and adapted to our needs by someone with some Excel knowledge…in other words not too much help for me at the moment.

My knowledge of Access is somehow limited and I feel that accepting the task like I’ve bitten off more than I can chew…I need help!
Please!
I’ve been reading here and there in you forum and a few other books we have at work for the past few weeks but now I don’t know how to go on.

Here what I’ve done so far:

Created a Member table with the Name, Addresses, etc and an AccountNumber as a unique automatic key.

A Status table linked with the previous Member table to record the variation of status of the members with the fileds: Automatic ID, AccountNumber, Status, From, To.

A Status II table where the possible statuses are recorded “Active”, “Pause” and “Withdrawn”

A Checks table where the exchanges between members are recorded with the fields: Automatic ID, FromMember (AccountNumber), ToMember (AccountNumber), When, What, HowMuch.

A Form for the recording of the Checks.

In our LETS we have a sort of fee that we pay in our currency (pearls).
The fee is a Pearl per full quarter and we do not pay for the first quarter after joining in.
For example if I join in November I’ll be charged the first fee for the quarter Apr-July.

My questions are:

1- Would make sense to create a separate table to record the fees? Or should these go in the Checks Table?
2- Every 3-6 months we should send a statement to all the members. Should I create a table to store all the balances? Or calculate everything every time?
3- How can the fee charges be automatized?
4- I’d really like if I could create a form where when we enter a new member automatically we get a new entry in the Status table. Is that possible? And how? I’ve been trying in the past two weeks without any success. (I’ve been always prompted to create a Form and a Subform – I’d like to have something easier t use).

I hope my questions are not too stupid or badly formulated.
Any help, suggestion, correction is most welcome!
Thanks!

My questions are:

1- Would make sense to create a separate table to record the fees? Or should these go in the Checks Table?
2- Every 3-6 months we should send a statement to all the members. Should I create a table to store all the balances? Or calculate everything every time?
3- How can the fee charges be automatized?
4- I’d really like if I could create a form where when we enter a new member automatically we get a new entry in the Status table. Is that possible? And how? I’ve been trying in the past two weeks without any success. (I’ve been always prompted to create a Form and a Subform – I’d like to have something easier t use).

1 - When the fees can be changed you should put them in a separate table, along with start and enddate. Now you can track when the fees for a person was changed.
2 - Based on the number of members you can decide to put the result of the calculation (process data) in a table to speed things up. You can easily see the amount that was send.
3 - Not enough info.
4 - When you use unbound forms, it is easy to create a new entry in the status table. When you use a bound form to add a new member, you have to program the AfterInsert event.

HTH