Errors entering contributions...help!

[gospeltab]

We are running version 11.

We just started using the program in January. I do everything but enter the contributions, although I did enter all of the January & February contributions so I could understand how that module works.

I taught the person how to enter contributions and was assured that he knew what to do. He entered and posted all the contributions for the month of March and April. He posted them to fund accounting. Before I actually posted them in fund accounting, I decided to double check the totals.

The way that our church gets me the dollar amounts (because we use a manual checkbook) is on a special reporting sheet that tells me how much of the money is to be applied to missions, benevolence, youth or general.

Sadly, there is not one week without a mistake - where totals were put into the wrong fund. I have been trying to figure out the best way to correct this.

1. If I delete the transaction with errors in the "modify unposted transactions" in fund accounting will that affect the contributions module?
2. If it doesn't, does that mean I need to reverse and reenter the entire "deposit" for each week? It is usually 2-6 individual contributors that have not been entered correctly. Or can I just fix the individuals that had the mistakes?
3. Or, if I posted the incorrect amounts to fund accounting then immediately reverse them and then reverse them again only put the correct amounts in the correct funds.
Then could I correct the mistake in contributions and only have it post to contributions?

I hope this makes sense...I am just having trouble wrapping my brain around how to fix things it so it is correct in both contributions and fund accounting.

Thank you so much in advance for any help!
Deanne

[JohnDMeyers]

It would seem that the hardest part would be to identify all the errors. Once that is done (if it is 2-6 per week), here's how I would handle it:

I would post the incorrect information in Fund Accounting and then correct it in Contributions and Fund Accounting. I recommend this because it sounds like the contributors have been assigned either incorrect amounts or incorrect fund assignments.

You will need to know for each error:
Date, Env#, Cash/Check, Fund#, Amount

In Contributions:

Enter a negative amount for the same:
Date, Env#, Cash/Check, Fund#

Post in Contributions and Fund Accounting.

In Contributions:

Enter the correct information for each:
Date, Env#, Cash/Check, Fund#, Amount

Post in Contributions and Fund Accounting.

[NeilZ]

We are running version 11.

We just started using the program in January. I do everything but enter the contributions, although I did enter all of the January & February contributions so I could understand how that module works.

I taught the person how to enter contributions and was assured that he knew what to do. He entered and posted all the contributions for the month of March and April. He posted them to fund accounting. Before I actually posted them in fund accounting, I decided to double check the totals.

The way that our church gets me the dollar amounts (because we use a manual checkbook) is on a special reporting sheet that tells me how much of the money is to be applied to missions, benevolence, youth or general.

Sadly, there is not one week without a mistake - where totals were put into the wrong fund. I have been trying to figure out the best way to correct this.

1. If I delete the transaction with errors in the "modify unposted transactions" in fund accounting will that affect the contributions module?

This won't affect the contributions module. However, since you're using the accounting module, the Contributions module should be setup to properly create the transactions that Credit the income accounts for missions, benevolence, etc. If there is an error its either in the way the Contribution Funds were create to credit the income account, or the data entry person is not using the correct Contribution Fund to credit those contributions.

That said, if you follow the directions in the next area here, you won't have to do anything with this transaction except post them !!

2. If it doesn't, does that mean I need to reverse and reenter the entire "deposit" for each week? It is usually 2-6 individual contributors that have not been entered correctly. Or can I just fix the individuals that had the mistakes?

You can fix the individual contributors. These instructions are for v11: You would go into the View Posted Contributions module in Contributions, look up the individual contributor, highlight the incorrect entry, then click the Reverse button. This would fix the Contributions database by adding a negative amount to remove that incorrect entry. You would then go into Enter Contributions select the correct date, select the contributor, and enter the proper Contribution Fund and amount to credit.

You can do one thing first (reverse the incorrect entry) and take notes on amount and envelope number, then do the corrected entry afterwards so you won't have to switch back and forth.

Then, all you would have to do is Post Contributions to Fund Accounting this will create the proper correcting transactions for you.

Finally, just post all the transactions, you'll see that everything will be properly credited and debited

3. Or, if I posted the incorrect amounts to fund accounting then immediately reverse them and then reverse them again only put the correct amounts in the correct funds.
Then could I correct the mistake in contributions and only have it post to contributions?

I hope this makes sense...I am just having trouble wrapping my brain around how to fix things it so it is correct in both contributions and fund accounting.

Thank you so much in advance for any help!
Deanne

Skip item 3 entirely, the answers to items 1 and 2 will preclude you having to do anything like in item 3.

Hope this helps.

[gospeltab]

Thank you so much!

I am going to post everything "as is" and then go back and make the correcting entries in Contributions. And then re-post everything. Hopefully I can do it right the first time so everything matches!

As a side note, how do you consistently make sure that contributions are entered correctly? We are trying to keep tasks distributed at the church so there are checks and balances. But, even though the person entering contributions assures me that they understand the process...
If it isn't done right, then I have to try and go back and figure out where the error occurred and I am not supposed to see the individuals actual contributions.

Just wondering how others handle this.

Thanks again!
Deanne

[NeilZ]

Thank you so much!

I am going to post everything "as is" and then go back and make the correcting entries in Contributions. And then re-post everything. Hopefully I can do it right the first time so everything matches!

As a side note, how do you consistently make sure that contributions are entered correctly? We are trying to keep tasks distributed at the church so there are checks and balances. But, even though the person entering contributions assures me that they understand the process...
If it isn't done right, then I have to try and go back and figure out where the error occurred and I am not supposed to see the individuals actual contributions.

Just wondering how others handle this.

Thanks again!
Deanne

We have two people doing the actual counting. One person opens envelopes and reads off the data from the envelope (or the check) as to where each contribution should be going, the other enters the data into the system and reads back the envelope number, fund and amount. In this way, you get a verbal check as the data goes in.

This does two things, gives you two separate people handling money, and two people verifying the data entry.

[JohnDMeyers]

We also a two-person system to verify that the information entered into PowerChurch is accurate.

After the first person enters the offering information into PowerChurch, she prints out an "Unposted Contributions Report" in data-entry order (which is the same order as the stack of envelopes that she just entered.

Another person reads off the envelope information (number and amount) to verify that the contributions were entered correctly.

It only takes 5-10 minutes each week to do this verification, but saves hours if you have to track down an error that is several months old.

[gospeltab]

Thanks for your ideas...

Right now we have 2 individuals count the money. They record the totals of what is given on a special sheet that tracks what the money is designated for (ex. general, benevolence, missions, etc.) Then everything is given to the person who is supposed to fill out the deposit slip, enter the contributions on the computer, and take the deposit to the bank. I get a copy of the sheet with all of the totals on it.

Thankfully, this week when there was an error, the person called me before he posted anything and I was able to spot the error visually without having to go through all of the contributions. (Mostly because he had entered $1000 extra to the cash envelope and that is usually never more than a couple of hundred dollars.)

We will definitely have to rethink how this whole process works for us since having the contributions entered correctly the first time is pretty critical. I worry more about having correct numbers due to the accounting component (which is what I am in charge of). My husband who is the Pastor is very worried about people having incorrect giving records. He doesn't see any numbers except on budget reports. I don't want to see numbers and am trying to work myself out of a job once this program is running fairly smoothly!!!

I appreciate the help as I am trying to get this flowing smoothly! Overall, I love the program. The church was using Quicken before and this is so much better!

Thanks again for the help!
Deanne

[NeilZ]

Thanks for your ideas...

Right now we have 2 individuals count the money. They record the totals of what is given on a special sheet that tracks what the money is designated for (ex. general, benevolence, missions, etc.) Then everything is given to the person who is supposed to fill out the deposit slip, enter the contributions on the computer, and take the deposit to the bank. I get a copy of the sheet with all of the totals on it.

Thankfully, this week when there was an error, the person called me before he posted anything and I was able to spot the error visually without having to go through all of the contributions. (Mostly because he had entered $1000 extra to the cash envelope and that is usually never more than a couple of hundred dollars.)

We will definitely have to rethink how this whole process works for us since having the contributions entered correctly the first time is pretty critical. I worry more about having correct numbers due to the accounting component (which is what I am in charge of). My husband who is the Pastor is very worried about people having incorrect giving records. He doesn't see any numbers except on budget reports. I don't want to see numbers and am trying to work myself out of a job once this program is running fairly smoothly!!!

I appreciate the help as I am trying to get this flowing smoothly! Overall, I love the program. The church was using Quicken before and this is so much better!

Thanks again for the help!
Deanne

Deanne,

Sounds familiar, I'm also a Pastor's spouse. My wife has just started here, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the church was using Powerchurch. However, everyone, from the bookeeper to the contribution counts were still doing a 'double entry', writing everything down on paper, and then having someone else enter the data.

We're slowly weaning them away from putting everything on paper, they were having someone enter the contributions into Powerchurch during the count, but were also writing everything down on a sheet. We have been slowing training them, and showing that you can do a very thorough verification using the existing reports out of Powerchurch, thus eliminating a possible source of confusion.

If you have 2 people counting, then its time to show them how to do it by direct entry. Eliminating the paper and pencil does take time and patience, but in the end it makes everyone's jobs (which are usually volunteer) much easier.

[debbieg]

Just curious....do you guys count during worship service or on a later date? I would like to have our church going towards entering info dynamically in PC also. But right now there are some restrictions because of the counting going on during worship service. The big one is lack of an available computer. There is a public computer in a small office but no room available in there to spread out the necessities for counting. Also, since the counters rotate, there would be quite a few people to train. I see that as more people to make mistakes.
How do you make it work?
Debbie

[NeilZ]

Just curious....do you guys count during worship service or on a later date? I would like to have our church going towards entering info dynamically in PC also. But right now there are some restrictions because of the counting going on during worship service. The big one is lack of an available computer. There is a public computer in a small office but no room available in there to spread out the necessities for counting. Also, since the counters rotate, there would be quite a few people to train. I see that as more people to make mistakes.
How do you make it work?
Debbie

The count is done right after service, and is done in an area where there is a Powerchurch networked computer. In our church, the offering is brought up to the table where it remains until the end of the service. At a previous church, the first service collection was put into a bank envelope, then dropped in our drop safe, where it was retrieved after the last service where it was counted.

We have teams of counters, and at least one person on the team is trained on entering data into Powerchurch. As long as you have one trained and experienced data entry person, the risk of mistakes is kept to a minimum, especially with the verification process in place.

Of course, the only permissions granted the counters is for Data Entry. I'm not at my test machine (or at the church right now) so I don't recall if access to add/update Membership is explicitly needed, or is a byproduct of the Data Entry permissions. I seem to remember giving add/update to Membership in v9 and 10, I can't verify right now if its needed in v11.

Hope this helps.

[ConnieL]

I am running version 10.

I have a contribution for an individual listed as $50 when it should have been $100. It is posted in contributions, but not posted elsewhere yet. How can I fix it before posting in accounting? I want to make sure their contributions will be correct for year end.

[NeilZ]

I am running version 10.

I have a contribution for an individual listed as $50 when it should have been $100. It is posted in contributions, but not posted elsewhere yet. How can I fix it before posting in accounting? I want to make sure their contributions will be correct for year end.

A few questions:

Was the original deposit correct? That is, if this contribution was entered as $50, then the deposit should have also have been off by $50. This is actually more critical than the Contribution Fund correction as that is the easy part, the Funds Accounting part can be a bit tricky.

To fix the original incorrect Contribution, just enter another contribution of $50 for the individual in the correct Contribution Fund on the date in question. Then Post to Contributions Only when you go to post.

However, if the bank deposit was correct then there is an error elsewhere. Someone may have been credited for an extra $50, that needs to be found and reversed.

Once that is done, you can then post contributions but again, you want to Post to Contributions Only You do not want to change anything in Funds Accounting.

If the Bank Deposit was off by $50, that is, the bank said that you had an extra $50 in the deposit, then you can correct the deposit transaction by going into Funds Accounting -> Modify Unposted Transactions and find the deposit transaction from Contributions and adding $50 to the checking amount, and $50 to the proper income account.

Also, a friendly hint. Its always good to start a new topic rather than find one that has been open for a while, even a week. As you can tell, this topic started out talking about a contribution error, but then moved into other areas.

[ConnieL]

Thanks Neil,

I forgot about the starting a new thread..

The original deposit was correct.

$50 extra was credited to the unaccounted cash account. So I think that I should do a -$50 in that account and then add $50 to the individuals account. Right? I will only post to the Contribution Module, then all should be ok for the year end tallies.

Thanks, I knew it had to be an easy fix. But couldn't remember.

[NeilZ]

Thanks Neil,

I forgot about the starting a new thread..

The original deposit was correct.

$50 extra was credited to the unaccounted cash account. So I think that I should do a -$50 in that account and then add $50 to the individuals account. Right? I will only post to the Contribution Module, then all should be ok for the year end tallies.

Thanks, I knew it had to be an easy fix. But couldn't remember.

There you go ... !!