--- title: The five kinds of group exchange | Pairc Goodman description: What each kind does, who earns and who pays, with an example. canonical: https://pairc-goodman.com/help/members/group_exchanges/split_options generated: 2026-10-24T02:07:29.558Z ---Group exchanges # The five kinds of group exchange What each kind does, who earns and who pays, with an example. --- The kind of group exchange decides how many hours each person earns or pays. You choose it on the **Details** step, under **What kind of group exchange is this?** . **Workshop or class** is already chosen when you open the form. In every kind, one hour of time is one time credit. People giving time earn credits, and people receiving time pay them. ## Workshop or class Someone runs a session for a group. The person running it earns the hours they put in. Everyone who attends pays the hours they attended. Any hours left over go to the community's time fund. Example: Mary runs a 2-hour class for 4 people. Mary earns 2 hours. Each person pays 2 hours. The other 6 hours go to the community time fund. You answer **How long was the session (in hours)?** once. We fill in that number for everyone you add. Change it for anyone who came for less time. The people giving time cannot earn more than the people attending pay. If they would, the page shows a message and you cannot create the exchange until you fix it. ## A team helping someone Several people give their time to one person. Each helper earns the hours they spent, and the person helped pays for all of it. Example: Two volunteers spend 1 hour moving furniture for Tom. Each volunteer earns 1 hour. Tom pays 2 hours. You answer **How many hours did each helper spend?** once. We fill in that number for every helper. Change it for anyone who spent more or less time. The person helped has no hours to type, because they pay for everything the helpers earn. If more than one person is helped, they share the total equally. ## Share equally Set one total. Everyone giving time earns an equal share of it, and everyone receiving time pays an equal share. Example: 6 hours, 2 people giving and 3 receiving: each person giving time earns 3 hours and each person receiving time pays 2. You enter one number under **Total Hours** . ## Share by amount of effort Like sharing equally, but you mark who did more. Someone marked 2 gets twice the share of someone marked 1. Example: Of 6 hours, Ann (marked 2) earns 4 and Ben (marked 1) earns 2. You enter one number under **Total Hours** , then a share for each person on the **Participants** step. 1 is a normal share. 2 is twice as much. The total is shared by these numbers, separately for the people giving time and the people receiving time. ## Type each person's hours You enter exactly what each person earns or pays. The total earned must equal the total paid. Example: Ann earns 3, Ben earns 1, and Cara pays 4. You type the hours for each person on the **Participants** step. If the total earned and the total paid do not match, the page tells you, and you cannot create the exchange. ## Which one should I choose? - A class, workshop or session that several people attend: Workshop or class. - Several people helping one person: A team helping someone. - Everyone gave and received about the same: Share equally. - Some people did more than others: Share by amount of effort. - None of these fits: Type each person's hours. Always read **What everyone will earn or pay** before you create the exchange. It shows what each person will earn or pay, and any hours that will go to the community time fund. [Go to this page](/group-exchanges/create) ## More guides in this topic [What is a group exchange?](/help/members/group_exchanges/what_is_group_exchange) [Creating a group exchange](/help/members/group_exchanges/create_group_exchange) [Giving time, receiving time and adding yourself](/help/members/group_exchanges/providers_receivers) [Starting, confirming and completing a group exchange](/help/members/group_exchanges/confirm_and_complete) [Cancelling a group exchange](/help/members/group_exchanges/cancel_group_exchange) [Recording hours for a workshop or group activity](/help/members/group_exchanges/workshop_community_pot) ## Still need help? If you can't find what you need, get in touch and a person will help you. [Contact us](/contact)