User Support Forum

Hi All:

Members of our church demand a cash receipt to be printed (issued) for them when they contribute money.

At present we cut a pre printed cash receipt that is prepared manually with three copies. Original is given to the contributor. The rest is set for data entry into powerchurch. This is taking too much of our volunteers time.

I know the Canadian version of powerchurch has the capability to print receipts.
1) I am wondering if anyone in the US is able to print cash receipt from powerchurch when members give money?
2) is there any other alternative such as another application that can be connected to powerchurch to issue cash receipts?
3) I can build an invoicing system using MS Access , but it will be disconnected from powerchurch and need to move data back and forth.

Any idea.

YW

yaregal wrote:Hi All:

Members of our church demand a cash receipt to be printed (issued) for them when they contribute money.

At present we cut a pre printed cash receipt that is prepared manually with three copies. Original is given to the contributor. The rest is set for data entry into powerchurch. This is taking too much of our volunteers time.

I know the Canadian version of powerchurch has the capability to print receipts.
1) I am wondering if anyone in the US is able to print cash receipt from powerchurch when members give money?
2) is there any other alternative such as another application that can be connected to powerchurch to issue cash receipts?
3) I can build an invoicing system using MS Access , but it will be disconnected from powerchurch and need to move data back and forth.

Any idea.

YW

FWIW ... I have never heard of a congregation that demands a 'cash receipt' when they contribute. Normally an envelope is used, and the envelopes are usually counted by designated counters, and entered into Powerchurch. Quarterly, members and others who have given over a specified amount are sent or emailed statements.

Also, I do not believe that the Canadian version prints 'receipts' in the way you're thinking of. Their 'tax receipt' is more like our quarterly or annual Contribution Statements. Canadian Revenue requires a signed, numbered receipt from every non-profit. This is a government mandated form. So do not confuse this with what you want to do.

That said, you have not said what version of Powerchurch you are using. Since version 12 has some updates that may have some application here, I'm going to use it in this example.

Your mention of an invoicing using Access completely bypasses the Powerchurch Accounts Receivable module. In Version 12, AR has been given some updates that will do what you want. You'll have to create an 'invoice' of some type, then enter the amount given against the invoice, but you can then print them a statement. However, they will not get a 'contribution statement' at the end of the year showing this as it was done in AR, and no record goes to Contributions.

Frankly, even this is rather kludgy as you have to create the customers in AR, create the invoice, apply the payment, then pull up reports and print the report.

I'm not sure what caused such a requirement at your congregation, but it is not one that many other congregations have. The only advice I can give you is if you going to create something in Access, you may want to figure if you really need to keep track of such donations in Contributions, as they are getting a receipt which they then should save for their taxes, and thus do not need a contributions statement.

All you need to do is create a report that gives totals given to every area (tithes, building, missions, etc), so that the bookkeeper can enter that data using Enter Transactions in Funds Accounting.

However, if you feel you really need to track this giving in contributions, then all you need to do is have a way to look up the envelope number, then create a file you can import into Contributions.

Neil

Thank you for your quick response. Here is some clarification

1) we have church members who contribute “church memberships fee” which is entered and tracked in the contribution module.
2) we provide quarterly pledge to actual variance report to the members and also annually or on demand.
3) members pay their due amount during the year.
4) when members pay an amount, we cut a receipt that shows how much they paid at that time. Could be the annual full amount or part of it.
5) since members of the church have certain rights regarding the church affairs, we need to make sure their membership contribution is tracked accurately. To avoided any dispute regarding outstanding pledges , we issue cash receipts as additional controlling mechanisms.

So, I am trying to find a way I can establish a direct connection (via ODBC or otherwise) to PowerChurch can ntribution module tables and create an invoicing database which will allow me to print “cash receipts” when members pay their due amount. Want to avoid the manual issue of cash receipt

Can I create an ODBC connection or Create some kind of API with PowerChurch?

yaregal wrote:Neil

Thank you for your quick response. Here is some clarification

1) we have church members who contribute “church memberships fee” which is entered and tracked in the contribution module.
2) we provide quarterly pledge to actual variance report to the members and also annually or on demand.
3) members pay their due amount during the year.
4) when members pay an amount, we cut a receipt that shows how much they paid at that time. Could be the annual full amount or part of it.
5) since members of the church have certain rights regarding the church affairs, we need to make sure their membership contribution is tracked accurately. To avoided any dispute regarding outstanding pledges , we issue cash receipts as additional controlling mechanisms.

So, I am trying to find a way I can establish a direct connection (via ODBC or otherwise) to PowerChurch can ntribution module tables and create an invoicing database which will allow me to print “cash receipts” when members pay their due amount. Want to avoid the manual issue of cash receipt

Can I create an ODBC connection or Create some kind of API with PowerChurch?

Not really, there are a bunch of database constraints, as well as programmatic constraints that would cause issues for updates. However, you I believe you could access it for reading, or export the database to an Access database. My suggestion for updating is to use the Contribution Import system by creating a CSV file you can import into Powerchurch Contributions:

The file must contain the following fields in this order:

·Envelope Number - (Number, up to 5 digits) - This is used to connect the Contributions record to the Personal Profile of the contributor.
·Amount - (Number, up to 9 digits with 2 decimal places) - Amount of the individual contribution.
·Date - (Date) - The date of the individual contribution. Formatted as MM/DD/YYYY or DD/MM/YYYY, depending on your regional settings.
·Fund Number - (Number, up to 5 digits) - This is used to define which Contribution Fund this was given to.
·Check Number - (Character, up to 20 digits) - The contribution check number, if applicable.
·Memo - (Character, up to 50 characters) - A note or memo for the contribution, if applicable.

You should call Powerchurch support directly, as they can give you some ideas on what you could do.