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Reconciling paddle raise commitments after the event

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A paddle raise is recorded at speed, in a dark room, by people watching for raised hands. Some commitments will have been entered against an unknown bidder, and some will have been entered twice. This is the tidy-up, and it is best done the morning after while the night is still fresh.

Open the auction's Paddle Raise tab to work through the commitments list.

1. Deal with duplicates first

Select Show possible duplicates. Commitments sharing the same bidder, level and amount are highlighted.

Two spotters catching the same raised paddle is the single most common recording error, so start here — clearing duplicates before anything else stops you chasing a supporter about a commitment they never made.

For each genuine duplicate, click Void on one of the pair, then Confirm Void. The voided row stays in the list for the record and drops out of Total Raised.

Note: A commitment flagged as a possible duplicate is held back from the Live Display until confirmed, so during the event the room will not have seen both.

2. Attach the unknown bidders

Commitments recorded with Unknown bidder show whatever description your spotter typed — "Table 5, blue tie". Work through these while people still remember the room.

  1. Click Edit on the commitment.
  2. Search for the bidder by number or name and select them.
  3. Click Save.

The Entered By column tells you who recorded each one, so you know who to ask about an ambiguous description.

If a commitment genuinely cannot be attributed, leave it. It still counts toward your total; it simply cannot be invoiced to anyone.

3. Check the total

Total Raised is the sum of every commitment that has not been voided. Compare it against what your emcee announced from the stage — a mismatch usually means a duplicate you have not voided yet, or a commitment recorded against the wrong level.

Select Hide voided to see only the live commitments while you check.

4. Correct anything else

Edit on any row lets you change the bidder, the giving level, the amount and the description. Use it for a commitment logged at the wrong level, or an amount taken down wrongly.

Important: Voiding cannot be undone from this screen, and a giving level cannot be deleted while it still has commitments against it. Void the commitments first if you genuinely need to remove a level.

What this does not do

Reconciling commitments does not collect any money. Paddle raise commitments are pledges recorded in the room — invoicing or charging them is handled separately from the Fulfillments tab, which covers won items.

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