ShoWorks allows for a "jackpot" type structure for premium payouts. This is used when premiums are dependent on how much money is available (usually in the form of entry fees). In order to perform this type of payout, rather than assign dollar amounts to a premium, the fair assigns "points" of an arbitrary value that indicate the "strength" of a given award. These points are later turned into dollar amounts once the fair knows how much dollars can be paid and how many points have been awarded.

Steps:

1. Instead of dollar amounts (Premiums Awarded) in the Points & Premiums menu, assign Points (Points Awarded).  For example, 1st place = 50 points, 2nd place = 25 points, 3rd place = 10 points, etc. etc.
2. After judging has occured, create a Custom Report over the Entries, adding the fields Entry Number and Total Points.  Place a check in the "sum" box of the Total Points column.  Filter the report Where Total Points is between 1 and 9999.  On the last page, you will see the sum of the total points over the whole show (or per department or division if you are grouping by department or division).
3. Now that you know the total points awarded in the show, find out how much total $ you have to offer (you can add up the total entry fees in the same way to find this number).
4. Divide the total points by the total $ you have to offer (total entry fees).  This is a number showing you how much $ a point is worth.   For example, if you have a total of 10,000 points awarded and brought in $20,000 of entry fees, then each point is worth $2.00.
5. Go to the Points & Premiums menu and click "Options", then type this amount ($2.00 in our example) into the Multiplier field and click "OK".  Your Points & Premiums menu will now be adjusted, showing that the Premiums Awarded for any given line is equal to the Points Awarded times the Multiplier amount.