User Support Forum

The membership/fund accounting/payroll software that we have been using for many years is not compatible with operating systems beyond Windows XP (or Windows 7 in virtual XP mode). After researching a number of software packages, we have decided to try PowerChurch Plus. That said, we plan to take this year to set up PC+, convert and load the necessary data from our existing software, and run the old and new software in parallel until we are comfortable with PC+. In order to accomplish this, I am seeking recommendations on setting up version 11.55 for our Church, Daycare, and Preschool under the following constraints:

1. All three activities are under one EIN.
2. Each activity has its own checking and savings accounts.
3. The Church and Daycare are on a calendar year for budget and payroll cycles.
4. The Preschool is on a school year, August 1 - July 31, budget cycle but is on a calendar year for payroll.
(Administrators and teachers are paid bi-weekly throughout the year.)
5. All State and Federal payroll taxes are paid and reports are filed combined together under the single EIN.
6. There are requirements to be able to transfer funds between the three activities for payroll taxes, shared expenses
such as bulk purchases of office supplies, etc.
7. The church has a significant number of Designated Fund accounts that require income and expense tracking,
while the Daycare and Preschool have just a few each.

Can these requirements be accomplished in one data set. And, even if it can, should it be done in one data set or should each activity be set up separately? I've found some related discussions on the forum, but not definitive answers. If I missed something, please advise. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

*** It has been two weeks and no replies/suggestions. Isn't there someone out there whose church has a Preschool and a Daycare program that uses Powerchurch? I'm not asking for a detailed setup, just some general guidance on whether to set up three completely separate instances of PC+ or to attempt a single instance based on the above criteria.

I'm fairly new (last month to be exact) to PCPlus but if you would like to create an account fund separate and distinct from the general fund of the church, you can create a new fund account. To do so, refer to page 216 in the PCPlus manual. Essentially, the directions are: Go to Accounting > Fund Accounting > Setup > Maintain List of Accounting Funds. The accounts tab shows a list of accounts used currently. At the top of that screen, you should see a button to "add" to add a new account and that will start the process of setting up your new account.

You should also be able to make transfers between the two funds as well as you see fit also (I believe that will show up during the setup process).

I hope that helps you!

DBS_CBC wrote:
Can these requirements be accomplished in one data set. And, even if it can, should it be done in one data set or should each activity be set up separately? I've found some related discussions on the forum, but not definitive answers. If I missed something, please advise. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

*** It has been two weeks and no replies/suggestions. Isn't there someone out there whose church has a Preschool and a Daycare program that uses Powerchurch? I'm not asking for a detailed setup, just some general guidance on whether to set up three completely separate instances of PC+ or to attempt a single instance based on the above criteria.

Sorry, I was hoping someone with a daycare would chime in, but evidently not.

Basically, based on what you list there should not be a problem doing it all within a single Chart of Accounts, with three different accounting funds. You would have to make sure that each checking and savings account has its own account number, since they're all separate bank accounts. In addition, you'd have to make sure that in Payroll, you have the correct Accounting Fund expense and checking accounts setup when you create the pay items.

For example, when setting up the checking & savings accounts, it should look something like this. Assuming that the Accounting Funds are designated as: Church is 01, Daycare is DC, and Preschool is PS.

01-1110-000 Church Checking
01-1210-000 Church Savings

DC-1120-000 Daycare Checking
DC-1220-000 Daycare Savings

PS-1130-000 Preschool Checking
PS-1230-000 Preschool Savings

and so on ..