• More Professional Looking Reports – All built-in reports have been redesigned using Arial as the standard report font. These reports can be saved to number different formats including: Microsoft Word, Rich Text Format, Excel, and ASCII text.
• More Phone Number Fields – You can enter up to three phone numbers for each family and five phone numbers for each personal profile. 
• Calculate Hourly Payroll – Enter the number of hours an employee worked and PowerChurch Plus will calculate the amount for you.
• New Name Fields – New fields for Middle, Suffix, and Preferred names.
• More Mail Merge File Formats – When creating Mail Merge data files, there are now four different formats available: Comma Separated, Excel Spreadsheet, dBase, and WordPerfect DOS.
• More Options to Export Data – The export process in the Family Mailing List and Personal Profiles has been simplified. You can now choose which fields you want to export.
• Print Pictures with Custom Reports – The pictures in the Family Mailing List and Personal Profiles modules can now be included in the reports you design through the Custom Report Writer.
• E-mail Address – A new field for e-mail addresses has been added. In addition, the e-mail address has been added to several reports.
• Print One Label Per Household – When printing labels, there is a new option to only print one mailing label per household. This option is available in the Personal Profiles, Activity & Skills, Attendance, and Ministry Services modules.
• Unlimited Transaction Length – Enter accounting transactions with an unlimited number of debits and credits the Fund Accounting and Accounts Payable modules.
• Redesigned Pledge System – You can now have multiple pledges to the same fund, handle prepaid pledges, multiple year pledges, and non-calendar year pledges. The Pledge Statement report has been added as well.
• New Contribution Statement Options – New options on the Contribution Statement allow you to print statements for people with specified Personal Status codes, who have given over a specified amount, or with a balance due on a pledge.
• Updated Pictorial Directory – This report has been changed to include the names of each family member.
• Marital Status Descriptions – The Marital Status field now uses a 25 character description instead of hard to remember codes.
• Backup to ZIP Disks – Added the ability to backup to ZIP disks.
• Unlimited Note Fields – Unlimited note fields are now available in both the Family Mailing List and Personal Profiles modules.
• Date Lookups – Popup calendars have been added to make entering dates easier.
• Change Field Titles – You can now change the titles of the Special Code fields in Family Mailing List and the User Code fields and Special Needs code fields in Personal Profiles.
• Alternate Addresses – Automatically switch to the alternate address for the time period you specify. New reports shows which addresses are currently in use.
• Contribution Check Numbers – You now have the option to record the check number of contributions you receive.
• Enter Next Year’s Budget – Enter a new budget for the next accounting year or copy the current.
• New Manual Check Screen – A new screen to enter manual checks has been added to the Accounts Payable module, making it easier to record vendor checks written manually.
• New Reports – 22 new reports have been added to PowerChurch Plus.
  • Family Mailing List
    • Families with Alternate Addresses
    • Current Alternate Addresses
    • Phone Numbers List
    • Families Not Included in Membership Reports
  • Personal Profiles
    • New Church Directory Layout options
      • Classic
      • Detail (Prints birth dates, anniversaries, and e-mail addresses)
      • Column
      • Booklet
  • Activities and Skills
    • Class Pictorial Directory
    • Profiles that are not members of Selected Activities
  • Attendance
    • New Attendance Register Forms
      • Weekly Column Layout
      • Name and Phone Number
    • Activity Attendance Report
  • Contributions
    • Funds Report by Date
    • Fund Summary Report
    • Pledge Statement
    • Projected Pledge Payments
  • Fund Accounting
    • Monthly Budget Amount
    • Budget Worksheet Report
    • Journal Report
  • Payroll
    • Wage and Hour Report
    • Item Summary
    • Payroll Check Amounts

• Send E-mail Message to a Group – Send an e-mail message to an entire class or committee right from PowerChurch Plus. Options are available to print a report or labels for those that are missing e-mail addresses.
• Print 1099-MISC Forms – PowerChurch Plus automatically determines if the vendor meets the criteria to print a 1099-MISC form and totals the amounts paid to each vendor.
• Backup to a CD-R/CD-RW – Backup directly to a CD-R/RW drive. There is no need for special burning software and multiple backups can be stored on one disc.
• Internet Mapping – Need to visit a new family, but not exactly sure where they live? With the new map button, finding directions is just a click away. With your choice of popular Internet mapping sites, you’ll quickly find directions to their location.
• Attendance Entry by Bar Code – Enter Attendance faster than you ever thought possible with a standard barcode wand that attaches to your computer. Simply open the Fast Data Entry screen and scan the bar code of those who were present, eliminating the need to scroll up and down the screen or referring to the attendance form to the computer. (Additional hardware is required to use the attendance bar codes. See www.powerchurch.com/hardware for more information)
• Contribution Check Reader – A new data entry option in 8.5 is to enter contributions using a check reader. Simply slide the check through the reader, and PowerChurch Plus looks up the envelope number and displays the contributor information. Just key in the amount to complete the contribution entry. (Additional hardware is required to use the contribution check readers. See www.powerchurch.com/hardware for more information)
• Church Directory Changes – E-mail address is now available on all layouts of the Church Directory. There is also a choice of name format and an option to print alternate addresses.
• Notes on Attendance Register Forms – Need to give teachers announcements? Use this new note area to print your information at the bottom of every attendance register form.
• Family Grouped Report – E-mail addresses have now been added to the Family Grouped report.
• Print Label Summary Only – The Label Summary report (count of ZIP Codes) report can now be printed without generating labels.
• Contribution Statements – It is now optional to print addresses on Contribution Statements for people not included in mailouts.
• Accounts Payable Vendors – Added e-mail and web site address fields for Accounts Payable Vendors.
• External Reindex Utility – Use this new utility with Windows Scheduler to reindex automatically at a specified time.
• New and longer field lengths in the Record Keeping modules – Fields have been lengthened in the Equipment Inventory, Education Library, and Music Library modules. "Manufacturer" and "Model Number" fields have been added to Equipment Inventory.  There is a new "File Name" field in the Sermon Filer.
• Background Images – Now includes background images from Alan Hall Photography, as well as the option to define your own background image.

The Fund Accounting module was completely rewritten for this release.

• Multiple Years of Transactions Detail – Like other areas of PowerChurch Plus, the Fund Accounting module will now hold multiple years of transactions detail. You will still be able to review this year's transaction detail next year.
• Work with Calendar Months – You no longer have to be puzzled by confusing accounting periods. Instead of referring to the month as "0401," we now refer to the calendar month as "January 2004".
• Change Account Numbers – Change an account number at any time, automatically updating wherever the account is used. No longer do you have to wait until the end of the year to reorganize your chart of accounts. You can also merge two accounts together.
• Deactivate an account – Mark an account as inactive to keep it from printing on most reports. An inactive account can not be used in new transactions.
• Manage Donor Restricted Contributions – A whole new area has been added in Fund Accounting for keeping track of donor restricted contributions. These changes are in compliance with GAAP modifications for non-profit organizations (specifically FASB 117). With the additional feature of allowing multiple equity accounts in each fund, you can track the available balance of your restricted funds at any time.
• New Bank Reconciliation Method – Reconcile your bank account quicker and easier. The two step process of maintaining the check register, then reconciling the bank account has been combined into one easy step.
• Repeating Journal Transactions – Save Fund Accounting transactions as repeating entries for easy retrieval. Great for common monthly entries such as bank service charges.
• Transfer Accounts – A new account category has been added to keep transfers between funds from affecting income and expense balances.
• Transaction Description, Line Description, and Unlimited Notes Fields – A new 25 character note field has been added to better describe the transaction. You can also enter a separate description on each line of transaction detail. An unlimited note field is available to record more detailed information about the transaction.
• New Reports – 15 new reports added to the fund accounting module alone, including Balance Sheet by Fund, Income and Expenses by Fund, Statement of Activities, and many more.
• Include Unposted Transactions – The Balance Sheet, Income & Expense Statement, and Account Activity reports now allow you to include unposted transactions. This helps to verify that your transactions are correct prior to posting and finalizing them.
• New Accounting Setup Assistant – If you have not yet set up accounting, PowerChurch Plus now has an assistant that walks you through the process of creating your chart of accounts and establishing beginning balances.

Budgets

• You can now have multiple years of budget history.
• Enter budgets for group accounts and "budget by the group" which allows all of the detail accounts to share the same group budget amount.
• PowerChurch Plus now allows you to enter a budget for any type of account (Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, Expense, Transfer).
• We have added subtotals on the Budget Report.

Increased Security

• New options for controlling who can post information and close months in Fund Accounting.
• The system now tracks the user that entered, modified, and posted individual transactions and when it was done.
• A new audit log to track system functions, such as posting transactions, closing the month, deleting and envelope number, or restoring a backup.

Accounts Payable

• You can now print your "account number" or other information on the memo line of Accounts Payable checks.
• There is a now a description field for each transaction line on invoices and manual checks.
• A new unlimited note field has been added for recording detailed information about an invoice.
• You are now able to delete individual vendors without deleting history for all vendors.

Payroll

• The new Void Checks process makes voiding checks a breeze, even easier than in Accounts Payable.
• You are now able to delete individual employees without removing history for all employees

E-mail Enhancements

• Bulk e-mails now allow file attachments.
• E-mails can be Plain Text or HTML formatted (using the built in HTML editing tools).
• You can request read receipts and set priority levels on bulk e-mails.
• The e-mail address field can now be marked unlisted.
• You can also exclude a person from bulk e-mailings.
• Send e-mail through servers that require authentication.

E-mail Contribution Statements

Save time and postage by sending Contribution Statements as an e-mail attachment directly from PowerChurch Plus. There is a setting for each contributor to opt-out of receiving Contribution Statements by e-mail.

Sort Lookup Lists by Any Column

All Locate screens and Lookup lists can be sorted by any column. Use this feature to find a person by their first name or locate a vendor by their name rather than vendor ID. Simply click on the column header to resort the list. This is especially useful in the Reconcile Bank Accounts screen, to look for a transaction by date or amount, rather than by reference order only.

Report Enhancements

• E-mail reports – Send a report to one person, or a group, right from PowerChurch Plus. For example, e-mail the Balance Sheet report to finance committee members so they will be ready for the next meeting.
• Export reports in PDF and HTML formats
• Improved Word and Excel export formats so they more closely resemble the original report

Add Family Assistant

The Add Family Assistant walks a user through the process of adding a new family and its members. This is a great tool for new staff members learning PowerChurch Plus, making sure that all of the information makes it to the right places. It can also assign envelope numbers automatically to each member of the family.

New Activity Department, Type, and Role Fields

Three new ccustomizable code fields have been added to the Activities & Skills module: 

• Roles – Roles are assigned to indicate a person's functions in an activity. Roles of  "Teacher" and "Student" are perfect examples.
• Department and Type – These new code fields can be used to further categorize your activities. This offers greater flexibility by providing additional search criteria when generating Activities & Skills reports. For example, you could create a list of all teachers of Sunday School classes in the Children's department.

We listened to you

The following improvements were made based on requests to wishlist@powerchurch.com.

• Screen Preview for Mailing Labels – This keeps you from having to waste labels if you aren't ready to print, but would like to see who will be included in your selection.
• Automatically open Quick Menus on startup – Quick Menus were added in a previous version as a way to go directly to the screen you want, without having to navigate the full program menu. You can now define which Quick Menus you want to be opened automatically and where on the screen they will appear.
• User-Defined Background Image – Each individual user can now define their own background image or choose to not show a background image at all.
• Attendance Register Form – Bar Codes have now been added to the Weekly Column Layout of the Attendance Register Form.
• Contribution Statements – You can now adjust the top margin up to 4 inches for Contribution Statements printed on church letterhead.
• Pictorial Directories – Pictorial Directories can now be saved to a file or e-mailed like any other built-in report.
• Higher Resolution Pictures – Family and Profile pictures can now be stored at a higher, 800x600 resolution for better printing.
• Password Protection – Separate, per-user password options were added for Backup & Restore functions.
• Top Margin on Reports – A new option to set top margin of all reports allows for greater printer compatability and also allows any report to be printed on church letterhead.
• Bulk E-mail – You can now send an e-mail message to all current officers in Activities & Skills.
• Unposted Contributions report – The Unposted Contributions report now has the option of sorting alphabetically.

Events Scheduling Module

• Schedule one time or recurring events
• Events can be "Church-wide" or for members of specific Activities and Skills
• Reserve rooms and equipment (from the Equipment Inventory module)
• Assign related tasks to individuals (from the Membership module)
• Generate Event Calendars for your web site or word processor
• Send e-mail task & event notifications

PowerChurch Today

PowerChurch Today is a customizable new feature that brings time-sensitive data to your attention at program startup.

Membership improvements:

• You can now right click the mouse on the Integrated Data Entry, or Maintain Family Mailing List and Personal Profiles to easily print a variety of reports.
• Access the new Searchable Contact List from any screen (just press F3 key).
• We have added a new "Activity Name Tags" report.
• New Quick Tagging screens in Family Mailing List and Personal Profiles allow you to tag people directly from a scrolling Lookup list. Simply place a check mark next to those you want to tag.
• Many address fields now have Auto-Complete functionality.
• Locate lists now display Personal Profile contact information, age, and photo.
• You can now print Personal Profile phones (work, mobile, pager) on any Church Directory layout.
• Attendance Register Forms can now be sorted by Activity Role. People can also be excluded from the report by Role.
• People can be excluded from the Pictorial Directory reports by Personal Status code.  

Accounting improvements:

• A new 1099 Vendors List report was added.
• Optionally, you can choose to print Account Distributions on Accounts Payable check stub.
• New "Variance" columns added to the Income & Expense Statement.
• We have added support for the new Canadian cheque formats.

Contributions improvements:

• Contribution Type is no longer limited to Cash or Check. This is now a user-defined custom code field. This adds support for credit card, online, etc.
• Repeating Contributions save you time in recording scheduled, recurring donations, such as automatic bank drafts.
• Import Online Contributions from Paperless Payments.
• We have added new "First Time Contributors" and "Unused Envelope Numbers" reports.
• All reports with contributor information can now be sorted alphabetically or by envelope number.
• The Posted Contributions report now allows you to select by fund number.
• We have added new options for printing mailing labels or creating a mail merge file by pledges information.

Other improvements:

• The Quick Tasks menu takes the concept of Quick Menus one step further, with a customizable menu list of frequently used menu options.
• Backup to and Restore from any folder on your computer, including USB thumb drives and the local disk.
• Password Group Profiles make it much easier to set up users that should have the same security privileges.
• Resizable screens to keep scrolling to a minimum.