📗Record books: what, why, and how (all in ZSuite)

Your record book is where your whole 4-H year lives: your goals, what you spent, what you earned, what your animal weighed, what you learned, and the story of how it went. Every member keeps one. It gets judged at the fair, and it’s what turns a summer of chores into a document you can show a scholarship committee someday.

Rule: You can do the entire record book in ZSuite. You do not need to turn in a paper book unless you want to. But no matter how you submit, you must pick your record book up at the fair after it has been judged. Record books are available at the command trailer on Saturday of fair week.

Why it matters

• It’s required. Completing a record book is part of completing your project and being a member in good standing.
• It’s judged. Record books earn ribbons and awards at the fair, separate from your animal’s placing. Plenty of kids with a red-ribbon pig have a blue-ribbon record book.
• It teaches money. You’ll know exactly what your animal cost per pound of gain, and whether you made or lost money. That’s real ranch math.
• It builds a story. Colleges and scholarships love a 4-H story that shows years of goals, setbacks, and growth. Your record book is that story, one year at a time.

What’s in it

The Arizona 4-H record book in ZSuite has these main pieces. Names vary a little by year:

Section	What goes there
Member information	Your name, age, club, years in 4-H, projects this year
Project goals / plan	3–5 goals you set at the start (make weight, learn to brace, place top half, earn $X)
Expenses	Every dollar spent: animal, feed (by bag with date and weight), bedding, supplies, entry fees, vet, fuel to shows
Income	Sale price, add-ons, premiums, any grants
Feed record	What feed, how much per day, and when you changed rations
Animal inventory / weights	Purchase weight and date, weights every two weeks, fair weight, average daily gain
Activities and events	Club meetings, tagging day, pre-fair show, demonstration, skill-a-thon, camps
Leadership and citizenship	Helping younger members, buyer visits, community service, thank-you notes
4-H story	One to two pages in your own words: what you did, what went wrong, what you learned
Photos	Purchase day, pen build, weigh-ins, show day, sale day, with captions
Signatures	You, a parent, and the club leader sign electronically

Doing it in ZSuite

1. Log into 4h.zsuite.org with your household account and click on the member’s name.
2. Open Record Books in the left menu.
3. Click + Add Record Book (or New). Pick the current year and the project (for example Market Swine). Make one record book per project.
4. Work through the tabs on the left: Goals, Expenses, Income, Feed, Weights, Activities, Leadership, Story, Photos. Each one has Save at the bottom. Save often.
5. Add expenses as they happen: date, item, amount, and a short description. Keep receipts in an envelope; you’ll want them if a judge asks.
6. Upload photos straight from a phone. Add a one-sentence caption to each.
7. In late summer, write your 4-H story, then have a parent read it.
8. When everything is complete, click Submit for Review. Your parent and the club leader get a notice to sign electronically. Once the leader approves, it goes to the county.

ZSuite has a Help button in the top corner with videos for every tab, and the Extension office (928-524-6271) can walk you through it.

Tip: Set a 15-minute “record book” alarm every Sunday evening. Enter the week’s feed, weights, and any expenses while they’re fresh. Do that and the whole thing is done before fair without a single late night.

Prefer paper?

You can. Print the Arizona 4-H record book forms (ask the club leader or the Extension office for this year’s version), fill them out neatly in pen or by typing, put them in a binder with your photos, and turn the binder in by the county deadline. It’s judged exactly the same. Just remember: paper books also get picked up at the command trailer Saturday.

Deadlines

• All year: update at least monthly.
• County deadline: the Extension office sets it every year, usually a few weeks before fair, so record books can be judged before fair week. Ask the club leader for this year’s date and put it on your calendar.
• Saturday of fair week: pick up your judged record book (and any ribbon) at the command trailer. Read the judge’s comments. They’re the best advice you’ll get all year.

What judges look for

• Completeness. Every section filled in, every signature there.
• Accuracy. Expenses add up. Feed record matches weights. Dates make sense.
• Neatness. In ZSuite that means spelling and full sentences. On paper it means legible pen and no crossed-out messes.
• Goals with results. Did you set goals, and did you say honestly whether you met them?
• Your story in your words. Judges can tell when a parent wrote it. Your voice, your mistakes, your fixes.
• Growth. Second-year books that mention what changed from last year stand out.

Quick-start checklist

• Record book created in ZSuite for each project (or paper forms printed)
• Goals written before you buy the animal
• Animal purchase entered as your first expense, with the bill of sale photo
• Feed bags logged as you buy them; daily amount logged as you change it
• Weights entered every two weeks
• Every meeting, show, and demonstration logged in Activities
• Buyer visits and thank-you notes logged in Leadership
• Photos with captions
• 4-H story written by you
• Submitted by the county deadline; parent and leader signed
• Picked up at the command trailer Saturday of fair week

For a month-by-month routine, see Record book tips.