Guidelines for DAO Revenue Tracking & Audit

Manual cashbook & co-audit

1.  Why this matters

DEP 2 is about regeneration — proving each DAO can earn and reinvest — not about automating money flows. Revenue and sponsorship are still handled manually, so every DAO tracks and audits its money by hand, the same way Kambria tracks its own incomes and expenses in a simple Excel cashbook.

In DEP 3, these flows get automated through the Kambria DAOs Framework — revenue intake, categorization, splitting and payouts handled by smart contracts. Keeping clean manual records now means your DEP 2 data carries straight into that automation later.

2.  The DEP 2 Cashbook

Each DAO keeps one shared “Cashbook” spreadsheet (template provided). It works like a normal income-and-expense book:

•     Start with the seed. Record the initial DAO fund from Kambria — held in crypto (USDT) in your XDAO treasury — as the first line.
•     One line per transaction. Log every inflow and outflow with its date, description, category, currency, amount, USDT value, running balance, and a link to the supporting document.
•     Fiat or crypto. Use USDT as the base currency for the running balance. For fiat lines, record the original currency and amount and the USDT-equivalent (note the rate used in Notes).
•     Keep the evidence. Store every receipt, invoice, sponsor agreement and on-chain screenshot in your DAO Drive folder, and paste the link into the Cashbook line.

Cashbook columns at a glance:

3.  Categories (aligned with DEP 3)

Income is Revenue (earned from your activities), Sponsorship or a Donation (given to support you). Tagging each inflow by activity answers the core DEP 2 question: which activities bring the most regeneration?

In DEP 3 the framework uses three fixed revenue types — Service, Product, Sponsorship. The categories below roll up into those, so your data maps forward cleanly. You can add your own DAO-specific categories.

4.  Map your regeneration approach to your revenue flow

Before you start recording, each DAO describes how its regeneration approach turns into a revenue flow. Answer four questions — your DFs collect these:

•     Revenue sources? What activities bring money in.
•     Payment methods? Cash vs transfer, fiat vs crypto — and your main method.
•     How are payments processed, and by whom?
•     How are revenues tracked, and by whom?

Each DAO’s current answers, mapped to Cashbook categories:

These are starting points from your DFs — add your own sources as activities evolve, and reflect them in the Cashbook’s Categories sheet.

5.  Payment confirmations → CC your DAO group email

Payment requests and confirmations are issued on behalf of the DAO, not an individual seller. So whenever a payment is confirmed (e.g. a CED session paid by an Explorer, or a sponsor transfer), make sure the confirmation email CCs your DAO group email. This:

•     Gives every DAO member visibility, so they can track payments.
•     Creates an auditable communication trail.
•     Keeps payments tied to the DAO rather than one person, supporting shared ownership.
•     Lets DAO representatives step in if clarification is needed.

The CC’d email thread is itself a valid supporting record — paste its link in the Cashbook’s Supporting doc column. DAO group emails:

6.  Who does what

•     Cashbook Keeper(s). Each DAO appoints 1–2 members (proposed and confirmed like any role) to record entries promptly — within about 3 days — with the supporting-doc link attached.
•     All DAO members. The Cashbook is shared with view access to everyone, and everyone is on the DAO group email. Anyone can co-audit: review entries, ask questions in the DAO Discord channel, and request a missing document link.
•     Facilitators (DFs) + Kambria team. Review each DAO’s Cashbook periodically and give suggestions to improve accuracy, categorization, and reinvestment tracking.
•     Monthly close. The Keeper reconciles the Cashbook balance against the DAO treasury (XDAO) balance and flags any difference.

7.  Audit & review checklist

A quick check the Keeper and reviewers can run each month:

☐  Every line has a date, category, amount, and a supporting-doc link.

☐  Currency and USDT value are filled for fiat lines (rate noted in Notes).

☐  Payment confirmations were CC’d to the DAO group email.

☐  The running balance matches the DAO treasury (XDAO) balance at month end.

☐  Income lines are tagged Revenue / Sponsorship / Donation and by activity.

☐  There are no unexplained gaps between entries.

8.  How this connects to DEP 3

The manual Cashbook is the DEP 2 version of DEP 3’s Revenue Ledger. Same idea — record the source, amount, category and supporting reference — done by hand instead of by smart contract. Teams that keep clean records in DEP 2 move into DEP 3 automation with minimal friction.

Get the template

Use the DEP 2 — DAO Cashbook spreadsheet template (Read me · Cashbook · DAO revenue flows · Categories · Summary & insights). Make a copy into your DAO Drive folder, rename it with your DAO name, set your DAO group email at the top, and share the link with your DAO members:

DAO Cashbook Template 

Questions? Ask in your DAO Discord channel or [email protected]. You’re never alone.