> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.horsespot.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.horsespot.com/product-docs/show-day-tools/barn-accounts/when-should-i-use-barn-accounts.md). # When Should I Use Barn Accounts? {% embed url="" %} ## **Should You Use Barn Accounts?** A lot of secretaries ask whether they should be using barn accounts to manage their horse show. The answer largely comes down to how you'd like to handle billing. ### Why You Might Use a Barn Account Barn accounts are useful when you want to add shared items, like extra stalls, shavings, or hay, across a trainer's entries, then split those costs out afterward. Once you have a barn account set up, you can see every entry tagged to that trainer (or trainers) grouped together. From there, you can add fees to the barn account to track extras that aren't yet applied to every individual entry. Whatever you add is held as a balance on the barn account until you're ready to split it out using the splits functionality. For more detail on how splits work, see our guide covering that feature. ### When You Might Skip Barn Accounts If your show can just as easily use bulk billing to charge those same items directly on entries, you may not need barn accounts at all. For example, if you want to add extra stalls to a specific trainer's entries: 1. Select those entries. 2. Go to Bulk Actions. 3. Choose Show Fees. 4. Split out the fee (for example, two extra stalls) directly across the selected entries. This gets you the same result as adding the fee to a barn account and splitting it out later, just without that extra step. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://help.horsespot.com/product-docs/show-day-tools/barn-accounts/when-should-i-use-barn-accounts.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.