FAQ
Why don't my game fees come in from Arbiter automatically?
No assigning platform publishes fees over the calendar feed — the feed carries schedule, site, and crew only. That's why fee schedules exist (they price new games as they sync) and why the importer can fill fees from any spreadsheet export.
I got a 1099 from Arbiter for the first time. Did officiating just become taxable?
It always was. Consolidated pay made it visible. The right response isn't frustration — it's claiming the deductions you've been entitled to all along. See "Why track any of this?" — for most officials the mileage alone is worth four figures.
Is RefTraq itself tax-deductible?
Yes, once it is paid for. It is software for your officiating business, the same kind of expense as a rules app, so it goes on your Schedule C under Software & Subscriptions. You don't have to type it in: the day you pay, RefTraq adds the charge to your expenses, dated that day, for what you paid. A refund comes off it. If you already typed it in yourself, RefTraq sees your entry and doesn't add a second one. Free access costs you nothing, so there is nothing to deduct for it. Ask your tax preparer if your situation is unusual.
I opened RefTraq and everything looks gone.
It almost certainly isn't. Your records are kept on RefTraq's server, not on the device. A weak or dropped connection only holds up showing them, and while they are on their way each screen says Loading your games…. If it takes longer than usual it says so and offers Try again. Check your connection, then tap it. A screen says it is empty only once the server has answered with nothing.
Who is Chief, and does it send my numbers anywhere?
Chief is the round button with the whistle in the white hat: at the top of the page on a phone, beside the speech-bubble button (Feedback), and at the bottom right on a computer. Ask it about your pay, games, miles, deductions and plans in plain words. Chief answers questions about your own records on your device, from the same numbers your tabs show. Two things ever leave your device. A question about how RefTraq itself works that Chief can't answer that way ("what is a travel fee band?") is sent to an AI model (Cloudflare Workers AI) with the sections of RefTraq's public guide that match it, so the answer comes from the guide. No records are attached: before the question goes, the names of your venues, teams, groups and crewmates, your own name, and anything that looks like an amount, an email address, a web link or a long number are taken out of it, and none of your games, pay, miles or other records are sent. The other is Chief's reader (Read the check, Read the receipt, Read the picture, Have Chief read it), the one way RefTraq reads a picture: only when you tap it, and only after you agree the first time, the one file, picture or pasted text you chose goes to Anthropic to be read (see "Having Chief read it" on the Importing page). It is not a tax advisor: a question about what you can deduct gets what this guide says, and your preparer decides. See "Ask Chief" for what you can ask.
Someone gave me a code. Where do I put it?
Signing up? Tap Have a promo code? under your email on the sign-in page and type it there. It's used as soon as you're in, and Home tells you what it gave you. A link with the code in it fills the box for you. Already signed up? Settings → Redeem a code takes one any time. Capitals, spaces and dashes don't matter. A code gives free access, recorded against the email address you sign in with, and the screen says how long it lasts. RefTraq is free during the beta either way. When paid plans start, RefTraq will say so in the app first.
How do I delete my account?
Settings → Delete my account. Type the email you sign in with to confirm. Any bank you linked is disconnected at Plaid first, then your kept pictures are removed, then the account and every record in it. It can't be undone, so download your records first: Taxes → Export Schedule C CSV gives you every game, mile and expense for a year. You can also email hello@reftraq.com from your account's address and we will do it for you.
Does RefTraq record how I use the app?
Inside RefTraq only, and never what you type. It records what features you use and when something goes wrong, with your account, so it can see where people get stuck. Never the amounts, names, addresses or pictures on the screen. It stays in RefTraq's own database for 90 days, then only daily counts. Settings → Privacy → Help improve RefTraq turns it off. The privacy page says exactly what is kept.
A game shows the wrong sport / site / fee. How do I fix it?
Open the game → Edit game. To fix many at once, tap Select on the Schedule (or long-press a game), tap the games, and apply the change in bulk. Anything you edit is yours: sync and automation never overwrite a field you set.
A banquet or chapter meeting synced in as a game.
New ones are filtered automatically. For old ones: open it → Delete game, or long-press → Delete for several at once. Deleting is real, and it is safe: RefTraq keeps a full copy, the game will not come back on the next sync, and the Schedule's Deleted view (it appears under the segments once you have deleted something) has an Undelete button that puts it back exactly as it was, payment record included. A deleted game is left out of Taxes and the export, so when it was paid, the Sure? Delete button says how much leaves Taxes and for which year, like "$125 received in 2025 leaves Taxes". Hide is still there for "clutter, not gone" — hidden items leave every list and total but stay in the Hidden view.
A game got canceled. Why is it still in my list?
Canceled games are flagged, not deleted — they stop counting toward your expected income but stay in your records (some chapters pay partial fees on call-offs; if money was received, it still counts). RefTraq never silently removes your data.
If the assigner puts it back on, RefTraq puts it back on too at the next sync, unless you changed that game's day, time, site, status, crew, sport or assigning group yourself. Then it stays canceled until you choose: you get a notification right away ("Your game at Dillon High School on Friday is back on Arbiter; you still have it canceled"), and Needs attention asks. Open the game and tap Take Arbiter's to put it back on your schedule, or Keep mine to keep it canceled; RefTraq won't ask again unless Arbiter cancels it and puts it back on once more. Only a cancellation that came from your feed is asked about: a game you canceled yourself stays canceled.
My assigner dropped a game. How do I see when?
When a game disappears from your feed, RefTraq flags it Removed and it shows up under Review → Removed on the Schedule. Open it: the note says the day it dropped from your feed, and the History card at the bottom of every game lists each change with its date — dropped, back in the feed, canceled by the feed, hidden, deleted, restored. Keep it, hide it, or delete it from there.
What does the yellow ! on a game mean?
The game is missing something RefTraq needs, and the ! stays until it's filled in. A game you worked with no fee set, or no drive logged that day. A game you worked more than 30 days ago that still isn't paid in full (a partly paid one says "Partly paid, $30 still owed"). A game you imported or added yourself that may also be in your calendar feed (Possible duplicate; until you answer, its pay is counted once). A game whose fee schedules disagree about what it pays (Fee schedules disagree; RefTraq won't pick one, so that part of its pay stays blank until you end or change one of them). An upcoming game whose drive RefTraq can't time yet, because the venue has no drive time, no address, or isn't in My sites. Or no position, when your pay rules depend on it (never on a chapter meeting or a clinic, which have none). Or Arbiter moved a game you changed by hand, or put one back on that you still have canceled. Review → Needs attention on the Schedule lists every one. Open a game to see what's missing, with a button to fix each thing. Canceled, declined and removed games never get the ! (except a canceled game Arbiter has put back on, above), and for games you've already worked it only looks at this year (and last year until April 15, while that return is still being filed).
My assigner moved a game to another day. Does RefTraq move it too?
Yes, if you haven't changed that game's day, time, site, status, crew, sport or assigning group yourself. On the next sync your feed moves it to the new day and time, and the game's History says "Moved from Friday, October 2 at 7:00 PM to Saturday, October 3 at 1:00 PM", so the old date is never lost. Typing the fee, the level, a note or a payment doesn't count: the feed keeps that game up to date. A game where you changed any of those by hand keeps yours. When the assigner moves it, you get a notification right away (quiet hours or not), once for each new day, time or place, and Needs attention says "Arbiter moved … You kept yours." Open the game and tap Take Arbiter's to move it, or Keep mine and RefTraq won't ask about that move again. Fix my schedule in Settings only repairs times RefTraq read wrongly. A move never changes the game's fee, payment or anything you typed.
What does a game's History show?
Every change to the game, newest first, with the day and who made it: you, your feed, or you by import. That covers a new date or time, a fee filled in or changed, a payment marked or cleared, a site or crew that changed, a check picture kept or removed, and the drops, cancellations and deletes above. It shows what changed and what it was before. For the crew it gives only how many officials, never their names. A sync that changes nothing writes nothing, so the list stays short.
Does RefTraq keep who I worked with?
Yes, from your feed. Every game your feed lists with a crew now keeps it — every official and their position, you included — and the game's page shows it under Crew, with your own line marked from Settings → Your name. A game synced before RefTraq kept crews fills in on the next sync, as long as your feed still carries it; a game that has already dropped out of your feed cannot be filled, because the feed no longer has it. The names stay in your account: RefTraq never shows them to anyone else or sends them anywhere. A game card you print (below) is yours to hand out.
Can I add who I worked with myself?
Yes. Open the game, tap Edit game, and fill in Who worked it with you — type a name ("Tim Riggins", or "Tim Riggins (Umpire)" with a position), separate several with commas, or tap one of the people you've worked with before. For a whole season, import a spreadsheet with a Crew column (also read as Partners or Officials), with the names separated by commas in each cell. RefTraq adds your own line from Settings → Your name, so set your name first. A crew your feed already listed is never replaced by a spreadsheet's.
Can I print a game card for the coaches?
Yes. Open the game and tap Print a game card. RefTraq saves one page with two copies, one for each head coach: the date and time, the teams, the site (with its address when My sites has it) and the crew with their positions. Nothing about money is on it. Open the file and print it; anything RefTraq doesn't have gets a line to write on by hand. If your association requires its own form, use that one: this card is a plain layout of what your schedule says.
Why is my dashboard's "outstanding" different from what I think I'm owed?
Outstanding = what your past games still owe: each game's estimate, less anything that has come in. A game paid $95 of $125 counts the $30 still owed, and a game settled with That's all they're paying (or at $0) counts nothing. If a fee is missing (shows —), the game can't be counted as owed — set up a fee schedule (Price your games) or fix the fee, and check the Unpaid view, which lists partly paid games too.
Do I really only get the mileage deduction if I drove?
Yes — IRS rule, only the driver deducts the miles. Log passenger trips anyway (records matter); the switch on the mileage form handles the $0 correctly.
Two games at one field on the same day — one trip or two?
One trip, two game fees. The mileage form warns you if the date already has a trip logged. Two games at two places on one day are usually one trip too: see "A day at two places" in the Mileage guide.
Where can I see my whole career in numbers?
The Stats tab. It opens with your story — a few cards, each one thing that is true of your games, like your biggest year or the day of the week you work most — and then a chart for each question: games by year and sport, the money recorded each year, what a game typically pays, when you work, where, at what level and position, and your playoff rounds. Tap a year's bar, or pick a sport or a year at the top, and everything on the tab narrows to it; tap it again to let go. It counts every game RefTraq holds that you have worked, including the seasons you imported, and nothing that was canceled or was a meeting. A year with no games shows as an empty bar and says so, and so does a year with games but no payments recorded, rather than either vanishing. Stats → Season by season, in detail has the full lists, and each figure says what it covers, so a mileage log that starts in 2025 never pretends to cover a career that started in
- The more history you import (Settings → Import from a file or a paste), the more it has to
count. Where your pay comes from splits each year's pay into game fees, travel and meal money, counted the way your Pay sheet counts them, and for UIL varsity football it counts the games paid at each gate range (a game whose money could be more than one range, or none, is counted apart). What a game typically pays never uses a usual-gate-range estimate: a game priced that way counts at the gate fee its payment matched, once paid at a single range, and is left out until then.
Can I share my season?
Yes. On Stats → Season by season, in detail, each season has Make a card: one picture of that season to post or send. Your name and your mileage deduction are off the card unless you switch them on, and nobody else is ever named on it. The miles on it are the drives in your log that are linked to that season's games, so a trip you logged without a game is not counted. If you use actual expenses for your car that year, the card has no mileage figure at all: under that method the car deduction is your preparer's number, not RefTraq's.
What is Your Wrapped, and when can I open it?
It's a few screens about one season: your games, your miles and farthest drive, your playoff run, your style, and then your card. You can open it any time. While the season is still being played (games of that sport are still on your calendar, or it's this year and you worked one in the last month, or last year that sport ran later in the year than today), it's your season so far: the first screen says so, it tells you how many games are left, and the card says "so far". A screen with nothing true to say is skipped, so if you drove nowhere that RefTraq knows about, there is no miles screen.
Can I make a card for my whole career?
Yes: Stats → Make a career card, or Play it as a story to see your whole career a screen at a time first, ending on the same card. It counts every game RefTraq holds, so it starts at your earliest imported season and says so ("since 2016"). It carries no money: years of deductions added together aren't a figure for anything.
What is the link at the bottom of my card?
It's yours: reftraq.com/r/ followed by a random code. If somebody signs up after seeing your card, RefTraq records that you sent them. Once the referral program starts, a friend who signs up and keeps using RefTraq counts toward Your points; until then the credit is simply kept. The code doesn't say who you are, and somebody who arrives by it is told only that a season was shared with them, never whose. Switch off Put my link on it if you'd rather post a card without it.
Can RefTraq tell me who I work with most?
Yes: Stats → Who you work with. It counts the officials your assigner lists on each game's crew — who you have worked with most, for how many seasons, your longest partnership, and the crews that keep getting put together — and you can narrow it to one sport or one season. A game's page also says, beside each partner, which game together it is ("3rd game together · 2nd this season"). Crews come from your calendar feed, from a game you fill in yourself, or from a spreadsheet's Crew column. It finds you on each crew by the name in Settings: if your assigner spells your name differently, the screen asks whether that spelling is you, and That's me counts those games too. It asks the same way about two spellings that might be one partner ("Matt Saracen" and "Matthew Saracen"). It never joins names on its own, nothing on a game changes, and Separate them undoes a join. These names stay in your account; nobody else sees them.
How do I get my crew on RefTraq?
Settings → Invite your crew. It gives you one message with your own link to send in your crew's group text. RefTraq doesn't have anyone's number or email and sends nothing itself, so the invite goes out from your phone. Each person who joins starts with their own schedule, miles and taxes; nobody sees anybody else's games or money. The screen also lists who you work with most, so you know who to send it to.
Is there a web version, and does it have keyboard shortcuts?
app.reftraq.com is the web version — open it in any browser. On a laptop or desktop window it lays out like a desktop app: a sidebar instead of the bottom tabs, your schedule as a sortable table, the game you open beside the list, and forms as dialogs over the page. Rows are real links, so Cmd-click (Ctrl-click on Windows) opens a game in a new tab. Press ? for the shortcut list: n starts a new game, m logs a drive, e adds an expense, i opens Import, and g followed by t, s, d, x, l, , or h jumps to Home, Schedule, Stats, Taxes, Track, Settings or Help. Escape closes a dialog. On Import you can drag a file anywhere onto the page instead of using the button. The Taxes screen and the mileage log print cleanly, and every browser's print dialog offers Save as PDF.
How do I tell you something, or ask for a feature?
Tap the speech-bubble button (Feedback) at the top of every page. On a phone it is just the bubble; on a wider screen it says Feedback. Pick An idea, A question or Something's wrong, say it in a sentence or two (the microphone on your keyboard works), and tap Send. It arrives with the name of the page you were on, your app version and whether you were on the web or a phone, and never your fees, pay, addresses or feed links. To show what you mean, tap Add pictures or PDFs before you send (up to five screenshots, photos or PDFs, 10 MB each): only you and the RefTraq team can see them, they are kept privately and deleted with your account, and they are never posted anywhere. Any reply shows up under Help → Ask us, under Your requests. For a longer request with a subject of its own, use Ask us on the Help tab.
Is my data mine?
Yes. The Schedule C CSV export gives you every game, mile, and expense for the year in one file, and nothing about your records is held hostage. Your feed URL, your games, your numbers.
Does RefTraq replace my assigning platform?
No — it sits downstream of it. Assigners assign; RefTraq handles what happens to you after: the money, the miles, the taxes, the paperwork. It works alongside Arbiter, Assignr, RefTown, ZebraWeb, or a chapter that still texts you assignments.