Initial setup mistake

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Uthminmel
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Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:30 pm

Initial setup mistake

Post by Uthminmel »

My church is new to pcp. Our old accountant did not have a clear grasp on things such as donor restricted funds. We set ourselves up at the beginning of the year and recently discovered there are a few restricted funds that did not get set up. How do I go about setting those up with out throwing off our balances?

NeilZ
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Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by NeilZ »

Uthminmel wrote:
Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:35 pm
My church is new to pcp. Our old accountant did not have a clear grasp on things such as donor restricted funds. We set ourselves up at the beginning of the year and recently discovered there are a few restricted funds that did not get set up. How do I go about setting those up with out throwing off our balances?
Adding restricted funds is relatively simple, however, are the funds already accounted for in the current unrestricted fund balance? That would determine what you need to do to create a beginning balance.

However, the instructions (other than that) to create the restricted funds are found on page 228 of the PCPlus manual, if you don't have the hardbound version, there is a PDF of the manual in the x:\Powerchurch\PCPLUS14 directory (where x: is the drive Powerchurch is installed on).

If you can get back with the answer to the question above, and with any questions you may have, we can give you some advice :)
Neil Zampella

Using PC+ since 1999.

Uthminmel
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:30 pm

Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by Uthminmel »

They are not accounted for. We set up several restricted funds that we were aware of during set up but have discovered there are a couple others that were overlooked

NeilZ
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Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by NeilZ »

Uthminmel wrote:
Fri Jan 27, 2023 9:25 pm
They are not accounted for. We set up several restricted funds that we were aware of during set up but have discovered there are a couple others that were overlooked
By 'not accounted for' exactly what do you mean? Where are the funds held? If in the normal checking account, and the checkbook balance was used when setting up the system, then the funds are already accounted for in the unrestricted fund balance account.

This is why I'm asking these questions ... the funds are somewhere, the issue is where are they?
Neil Zampella

Using PC+ since 1999.

Uthminmel
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Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:30 pm

Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by Uthminmel »

They are in the checking account.

NeilZ
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Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by NeilZ »

Uthminmel wrote:
Fri Jan 27, 2023 9:56 pm
They are in the checking account.
OK ... then create the funds as directed on page 228 of the User Manual, DO NOT use 'existing accounts' when asked for in the 'setup assistant' as you will need to have new accounts for the equity (fund balance), income, and release accounts. When using the accounting setup assistant, it will create a level 2 group header of Donor Restricted and a level 3 group header of Temporarily Restricted under the Fund Balance (3200- series) and Income (4200- series) areas of the Chart of Accounts. For permanently restricted funds, there is are similar headers under the 3300-series and 4300-series account numbers for that.

When all the restrictions are created, you will move funds to the Fund Balance accounts using the Enter Transactions function under Fund Accounting .

The transactions go like this: you are going to move an amount from the Unrestricted Fund Balance, usually 01-3110-000 and move it to one of the new temp restricted Fund Balance accounts, say 01-3210-000. So if you're going to move $8000.00 to the temp restricted fund it'll look like this:

01-3110-000 Unrestricted Net Assets DEBIT 8000.00
01-3210-000 Temp Restricted Net Assets CREDIT 8000.00

you would do this for each fund until you've moved all the funds to their appropriate Temp Restrictions (or Permanent Restrictions) as the case be.
Neil Zampella

Using PC+ since 1999.

Uthminmel
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:30 pm

Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by Uthminmel »

Ok, great! Got those accounts set up. Now, I just wanted to see how to walk through paying a bill out of a restricted fund. I have looked a few other places but the answers were not super clear. Can you point me in the right direction?

NeilZ
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Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by NeilZ »

Uthminmel wrote:
Tue Jan 31, 2023 12:47 pm
Ok, great! Got those accounts set up. Now, I just wanted to see how to walk through paying a bill out of a restricted fund. I have looked a few other places but the answers were not super clear. Can you point me in the right direction?
Basically, you would create the check as normal, using the regular checking account and a normal expense account. You would then click on the Release Restricted Funds button. You'll get a pop-up window asking you to select the restricted fund you want to release funds from select the fund then click the NEXT button, the window will change to show how much is being released, usually the amount of the check. You can also add any notes you want to add about the funds release if you want, usually explaining was what bought or paid for, then just click on the FINISH button, and you'll get the proper release transactions added to the check's transactions.

You're done. When you post the transaction, the system will move the funds from the restricted fund balance account to the unrestricted fund balance.

Nothing else for you to worry about.
Neil Zampella

Using PC+ since 1999.

Uthminmel
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:30 pm

Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by Uthminmel »

So the above part is figured out. Now, when there are new contributions that are for restricted funds, what is the process for getting them in the correct spot.

NeilZ
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Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by NeilZ »

Uthminmel wrote:
Tue Feb 07, 2023 2:38 pm
So the above part is figured out. Now, when there are new contributions that are for restricted funds, what is the process for getting them in the correct spot.
You did create the Income account for the temp restricted fund, right? The setup of the Contribution Fund is no different than for other funds.

I'll leave this as a teaching moment :)
Neil Zampella

Using PC+ since 1999.

Uthminmel
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:30 pm

Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by Uthminmel »

Yes, and my finance secretary, who handles the contributions side of the module, and I walked through the process but at the end it was saying the transaction was unposted. I'm wondering if there is a final step he needs to take on it. For years we have been using powerchurch plus to keep track of contributions only. But we have now started using it for all of our accounting.

NeilZ
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Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 1:20 am
Location: Dexter NM
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Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by NeilZ »

Uthminmel wrote:
Wed Feb 08, 2023 12:21 pm
Yes, and my finance secretary, who handles the contributions side of the module, and I walked through the process but at the end it was saying the transaction was unposted. I'm wondering if there is a final step he needs to take on it. For years we have been using powerchurch plus to keep track of contributions only. But we have now started using it for all of our accounting.
Transactions are always unposted until they're posted!! The Contributions need to be posted to Funds Accounting. How were you posting Contributions previously? Posted to a file, or just to Contributions?
Neil Zampella

Using PC+ since 1999.

Uthminmel
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2023 5:30 pm

Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by Uthminmel »

Just to contributions. The past way of doing things is a mess. Trying to untangle everything. Thanks for your help.

Terry Bentley
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Joined: Sat Jan 14, 2023 10:33 am

Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by Terry Bentley »

I am new to Power Church. I've done the accounting setup three times now trying to add beginning balances to other (non-General) funds. Reading through this thread, I thought I should reduce the checking account balance in the General Fund by the amount of each temp restricted fund; then add each fund with it's balance to give the total in the checking account (since all the funds use the same checking account). But I still can't find where to add the beginning balances for the temp restricted funds.

NeilZ
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Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 1:20 am
Location: Dexter NM
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Re: Initial setup mistake

Post by NeilZ »

Terry Bentley wrote:
Tue Jul 04, 2023 2:40 pm
I am new to Power Church. I've done the accounting setup three times now trying to add beginning balances to other (non-General) funds. Reading through this thread, I thought I should reduce the checking account balance in the General Fund by the amount of each temp restricted fund; then add each fund with it's balance to give the total in the checking account (since all the funds use the same checking account). But I still can't find where to add the beginning balances for the temp restricted funds.
Temp restricted fund should have their own Fund Balance Accounts. However, this doe NOT reduce the amount in the checking account as you would create the transaction in Funds Accounting to move funds from the Unrestricted Fund Balance account to the Temp Restricted Fund Balance account.

The way it works is this:

You have a checking account balance of 2000.000
Of that 500.00 is a temp restricted amount

You would then create a transaction as follows. For this example, the Unrestricted Fund Balance is the default account number: 01-3110-000,
and the Temp Restricted Fund Balance has a number that is 01-3210-000, which follows the default number scheme.

So, to move the funds from one to the other it would look like this:

01-3110-000 500.00 DEBIT
01-3210-000 500.00 CREDIT

You don't touch the checking account whatsoever. Then when you do a Balance Sheet report you'll see that the Checking is still at 2000.00, but that Under the Net Assets Section, you'll have an entry for the UNRESTRICTED net assets which is 1500.00, and one under the Temp Restricted Net Assets of 500.00, which balances out the accounting.

Then when you use funds from a Temp Restricted account, when creating the invoice in Accounts Payable, you RELEASE the funds using the Release Restricted Funds button at the bottom of the invoice screen, select the temp restricted account you're going to be using funds from, and the system will add the proper entries to move the funds from the Restricted to the Unrestricted net assets.

Again, everything then balances.
Neil Zampella

Using PC+ since 1999.

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