After Using The Setup Wizard

Once you have finished the Chart of Accounts Wizard, the Accounting  Module will enable full functionality to the active software menus. You then have the choice to click the Manage Accounts button and make any additional adjustments to your Chart of Accounts that were not made during the Setup Wizard. Below is a list of features to review and understand after using the Wizard.

Each Asset, Liability, and Fund Balance account has a balance that represents the value of the account at the beginning of the Accounting Year, called the Beginning Balances. After using the setup wizard to set up your accounts, the Beginning Balances will not yet be set. You can enter the Beginning Balances into the software and save your changes at any time. You have until the end of the Accounting Year to assess the accurate Beginning Balances. When you are ready to make a final commitment to the Beginning Balances for the Accounting Year, you should Finalize Beginning Balances. Doing so will allow you to set up a new Accounting Year as time moves forward from one year to the next.

 

Use the Budgets and Budget Projection features in Accounting if your Church sets forth plans to spend and gain certain amounts of money each year for its funds. The Budgets feature will display all the Income and Expense accounts you have added to the Chart of Accounts, each with a setting for you to enter Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual budget amounts.

 

When you run Reports in Accounting, you have the choice to print it onto paper, Export it to a file that is viewable on a computer outside of the Church Windows software, or Send via Email to someone. All the reports that can be run in the software are found under the Reports / Export menu in the Button Bar. The Reports menu also includes features to record payments then Print Checks and create Tax Forms to give to the Accounts Payable Vendors / Payees listed in your Chart of Accounts. Either one report can be run at one time, or Multiple Reports can be set to run one at a time in a customizable sequence.

If you have activated the Licensing key to use the Accounts Receivable portion of Accounting, you can use the Reports menu to Accounts Receivable Invoices and Accounts Receivable Statements for each Client.

 

Each Accounting report that has a total line will show one or more of the following: Total Assets, Total Liabilities, Total Fund Balances, Total Income, and Total Expenses. Within these total lines, you can set up Subtotals and add sets of accounts. If a report is set to show the subtotal line, the subtotal line will show the total balance for the set of accounts.

 

Each month, more or less, your bank(s) will issue you a statement to show you the activity for the accounts your Church has opened with them. Use the Bank Reconciliation feature in Accounting to update and compare your financial records with the bank's confirmation of those transactions actually having cleared. The Bank Reconciliation gives you the opportunity to also account for the Charges and Interests that the bank account has incurred, as well as verify the Deposits and Withdrawals that have been made. The Bank Reconciliation can be saved multiple times until you are ready to bring closure to, or finalize, the Bank Reconciliation.

 

On the date you decide to start using the Accounting  Module, you might have outstanding checks that you have not yet accounted for as having cleared the bank. While you wait to receive a statement to verify that the checks have cleared, be sure to enter the information for these types of checks on the Prior System Checks screen. When you receive the bank statement, run the Bank Reconciliation for the corresponding Asset and mark the checks listed on the statement as  "Cleared" in Accounting.

 

Each Chart of Accounts and the transactions applicable to it are kept track of in distinct fiscal years, called Accounting Years, in the Accounting   Module. While you are working in the current Accounting Year, the Manage Years feature found under the Special Functions menu gives you the option to set up a new Accounting Year, update its Beginning Balances, set up its Chart of Accounts, and update its Budgets and Budget Projection amounts. Other features include switching between Accounting Years to view the Transaction Journal and Reports, and even implementing any changes your Church might be making to its fiscal year duration.

 

If you plan to use the Accounting  Module to keep track of Giving entered in the Donations   Module, the next step is to link the Donations   Module accounts to the accounts in the Accounting   Module. After you are finished with the Chart of Accounts Wizard, you can Link Donations to Accounting on the Default Account Links tab of the Transfer Donations to Accounting screen.

 

By having accurately established the above items, you can post Transactions to your accounts and generate Reports that accurately reflect the financial progress of your Church. The Accounting Settings that are found in these features can be changed throughout the Accounting Year unless a setting in the specific feature has been finalized.