frustrated and just getting started

[teddyditt]

I am trying to help set PowerChurch up for our church. The treasurer does not understand accounting nor does my sweet husband the SP. They wanted this software to do fund accounting. However, we do not distribute monies into accounts when the contributions are taken. We put them in the checking account/general fund. I tried setting up the Savings and Investment accounts as funds and also the general account. However when I make an entry of the deposit to the Checking account (asset) account to the General Fund (income) it will balance and do well until I make a payment (expense) then it can come out of the income account, but will not take the money out of the checking account.
I really just don't think that we can use this software for what they want. We have only been at the church for a year and they were using Excel before this it was in a mess!
Any suggestions? Thanks

[Jeff]

I think you have some confusion about terminology. The word fund is used to mean several different things. In contributions it is used to describe a specific area that people are giving money to. In accounting it has a different meaning. In accounting the term "fund" is used to define a stand-alone accounting entity. One of your accounting entities will be your general fund or operating fund.

When money is receive you will credit an income account and debit an asset account. You will look at the income account to determine the total amount that came in during a period of time.

When you spend money you will credit the asset account and debit an expense account. The expense account will show you how much you used during a period of time. Think how much did we spend on electricity in June 2010.

The income and expense account don't really hold balances, they show you what happened during a period. (We had 1,000 of general giving and we spent $250 on electricity.

If you are debiting back to an income account, you are trying to use an income account to track a balance and that is just not what it is designed for. It purpose in life is to track the income for a period, just like the purpose of an expense account is to track how much money was used in a period.

The equity section shows balances of what is left. Income and Expense accounts automatically update their corresponding equity accounts. Take a look at the Changes in Equity report or the Detail Changes in Equity Report to see if that helps.