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Process For County & Reservation Zsuite Administrators
Updated February 2026

Overview

For most statewide Montana 4-H events, participants (member/volunteer/MSU Employees) must be approved by a county admin before they can pay event fees.

This process exists because counties often:

  • Contribute to registration fees
  • Require different payment instructions
  • Collect payment locally

Step 1: Access Zsuite Event Registrations

Option A: From Dashboard

On your County Admin Dashboard, locate the box showing:

Event registrations awaiting approval

Click the BLUE “Registrations” link to view participants.

If nothing appears in this box on your dashboard:

  • Click the Events tab (left menu) to reach the “EVENTS PAGE”

 

Once on this events page: (pictured above)

  • 👉 Toggle “Show State Events” (top middle of page)
    State events will not appear unless this is turned on.
  • Click the BLUE “Registrations” button for the event you want to view.
  • Only your 4-H members, volunteers or external registrants that selected your county (MSU staff) will appear.

 

Step 3: Approve a Participant

  1. Click the blue pencil icon next to the participant.
  2. Review their information.
  3. Enter an Approval Date.
  4. Click Save Data (scroll to bottom).

The status will change from:

Pending Approval → Pending Payment

 

Step 4: Understand the Payment Process

Important Policy

  • Youth participants and chaperones should NOT send payment to the event host.
  • County/Reservation program collect payment from their participants.
  • County/Reservation sends ONE check for the total registration amount to the host.

Why This Process Exists

This approval-first system ensures:

  • Counties control who from their program attends statewide events
  • Counties control fee distribution
  • Families are charged correctly
  • Payment flows through proper county channels
  • Host districts receive one consolidated payment

Submit one combined county payment for:

  • Fall Leadership Training
  • Citizenship Seminar
  • 4-H Congress & Pre-Congress
  • Rec Lab

Online Payments in Zsuite

  • If a family pays online in zsuite, funds go to your local Stripe account.
  • We avoid collecting payment directly from participants because many counties subsidize registration fees.

Automatic Payment Email

Once approved, participants receive an automatic email from ZSuite (support@zingbooks.com) prompting them to pay the full amount shown in ZSuite.

⚠️ This email is NOT county-specific.

If you:

  • Cover part of the registration fee
  • Do NOT want families paying online

You must email families separately with your own specific payment instructions. What is owed is not clear in Zsuite and must be communicated to the family.

Example

  • ZSuite shows event fee: $110
  • Host district is owed: $110
  • County pays half
  • Family owes county: $55 (NOT $110)

An example communication might be:

Thank you for registering for Montana 4-H Rec Lab. The registration fee for this event is $110. The 4-H Council has agreed to cover 50% of this fee for each youth participant. For Sally’s participation in this event you owe $55. Please login to Zsuite account and pay $55 of rec lab registration or bring cash or check payable to [blank] to the MSU Extension office by this deadline.

It is also a good idea to include a local cancelation policy

Thank you

Step 5: View and Document Payment Details

When status is Pending Payment:

  • Expand the ^ arrow next to “Total Fee” to see full breakdown.
  • You can print or copy this page as an invoice.
  • When printing:
    • Change pages from “All” to “1” if you only want the payment page.

There is currently no built-in invoice feature, but printing works well for records.

Step 6: Record County-Level Payment

After payment is received at the county level:

  1. Change status to Active
  2. Enter a Payment Date
  3. (Optional) Use Payment Notes field
    • Notes are visible only to county/state admins
  4. Scroll down and click Save Data