Start the booster organization¶

Each band can have one booster organization in MusterSheet, and it can be started from either side of the program. The Start a Booster Organization wizard asks "Who's starting this?" and offers two paths:

I'm the band director — the organization is created already linked to your band, and you become the first president long enough to add the real officer team.
I'm a booster officer — a president, treasurer, or booster parent creates the organization directly. No band and no director are needed yet; you link the band later by handing the director a short code.

Before you start

The booster suite requires the standalone Booster tier or the full Program tier. Creating the organization starts a full-feature trial with no card — free through the end of the 2026 season while MusterSheet is in beta, and a 60-day trial starting with the 2027 season. See Trial, billing & online payments for what happens at the end of the trial.

Path 1: the band director creates it¶

Sign in with the account attached to the band's profile.
Choose Booster Organization from the left menu on a phone or your initials menu on a wider screen. If your band does not have one yet, this opens an overview of what the Booster tier includes; click the button at the bottom to continue to Start a Booster Organization.

You can also open Settings → Band Profile and click Start a Booster Organization — it opens the same overview page. 3. Under Who's starting this?, choose I'm the band director. 4. Under Organization Name, enter the legal or commonly used name of the booster group. 5. Confirm the Band. A band will appear only if you are one of its directors and it does not already have a booster organization. 6. Choose Fiscal Year Starts In. Many school booster organizations start in July, but use the month your board treats as the first month of its financial year. 7. Under How do you want to use MusterSheet for finances?, choose one:

- **Track students and fundraising** is the recommended default. It keeps
  fees, payments, fundraising credits, balances, and parent statements in
  MusterSheet while your official income-and-expense books stay in the
  bookkeeping system you already use.
- **Track students + keep the booster books here** adds MusterSheet's
  ledger, categories, budgets, reimbursements, receipt inbox, and
  treasurer reports.

Click Start Free Trial.

You land on the organization dashboard, the trial begins that day, and the organization is already linked to your band — no code handoff needed.

Choose the fiscal-year month carefully

It controls the program year for student accounts and the year-close process. If you keep the booster books in MusterSheet, it also controls budgets, reports, and the starting ledger balance. If you are unsure, check the previous treasurer's reports or ask the board before entering activity.

Hand the work to the officers¶

On this path the director is the initial president because someone must be allowed to add the real officer team.

From the organization dashboard, open Settings.
Find Staff → Add Staff.
Enter the booster president's email, choose President, and click Add Staff Member.
Add the treasurer and any assistants the same way.
Ask each person to use that exact email address when signing in or creating their account. If they already have an account, access is immediate. If they do not, their pending role activates automatically when they register with that email.

Email delivery is helpful but not required for this staff handoff. If email is not configured or a message is missed, the pending role still activates when the person signs up with the invited address.

The director can remain a president, or step down after another president is active. The only president cannot leave or be removed; add the replacement first.

Path 2: a booster officer creates it¶

You do not need the band director to do anything first — the band does not even have to be in MusterSheet yet.

Sign in, or create a free account with the Parent / Volunteer account type (Create your account).
Choose Booster Organization from the left menu on a phone or your initials menu on a wider screen. This opens an overview of what the Booster tier includes; click the button at the bottom to continue to Start a Booster Organization.
Under Who's starting this?, choose I'm a booster officer.
Under Organization Name, enter the legal or commonly used name of the booster group.
Under School Name, enter the school the band belongs to. This is display-only for now — it shows in place of the band's name until the director links the band.
Choose Fiscal Year Starts In (see the fiscal-year warning above).
Choose the finance workflow described in the director path above. The recommended default tracks student finances while your official books stay in your existing system.
Click Start Free Trial.

You land on the organization dashboard as its first president, and the trial begins that day.

Everything works before the band is linked¶

An unlinked organization is a fully functional private workspace. Staff roles, private parent invitations, students and parents, fees, payments, fundraisers, the calendar, RSVPs, announcements, the free trial, and the Booster subscription all work exactly as the rest of these guides describe. If you chose to keep the booster books in MusterSheet, its ledger, budgets, receipts, reimbursements, and accounting reports work too. Work through the First-time setup checklist as normal.

The only things that wait for the band link are the director-facing ones: the director's read-only access, competitions appearing automatically on the calendar, and the Program tier's hosting benefit (see Trial, billing & online payments).

Link the band¶

Linking is the director's act — that is what confirms the organization really belongs to the band. There is no approval queue; the director performing the link is the confirmation.

Open the organization dashboard, then Settings, and find the Band Link card. It shows the organization's band link code.
Get the code to the band's director — hand it over in person, or use the card's Email Your Director form to send them the code and a confirmation link directly.
The director either follows the emailed link, or opens their own Settings → Band Profile, finds Link an existing organization, enters the code, and clicks Continue.
The director sees a confirmation screen showing the organization's name, school, who started it, and how many members it has. They pick their band and click Link This Band.

From that moment the director has read-only access to the organization's records (unless an officer extends fee and payment entry to them under Settings → Permissions), competitions the band registers for merge onto the calendar, and the Program tier becomes available in Settings → Billing & Subscription.

One link, one code

MusterSheet allows one organization per band and one band per organization. Regenerate Code on the Band Link card invalidates the old code — useful if it was shared more widely than intended.

Unlink the band¶

Either side can undo the link:

A president or treasurer clicks Unlink Band on the Settings → Band Link card.
The band's director clicks Unlink Booster Organization under their own Settings → Band Profile.

Unlinking removes the director's access immediately, and if the organization is on the Program tier, the band's directors lose its competition-hosting benefit at the same moment. The organization itself keeps working — a fresh band link code appears on the Band Link card.

If you cannot start it¶

No band appears (director path): make sure you are attached as a director under the band's Band Profile — or switch to I'm a booster officer and link the band later.
The band already has an organization: ask the current president or treasurer to add you or the correct officer. MusterSheet allows only one organization per band.
The link code doesn't work: it may have been regenerated or mistyped. Ask the president or treasurer for the current code from the Band Link card.

Next: First-time setup checklist.