The Not So Functional Report

[SBCTrustee]

Hello Everyone,

We came on board of the Power Church train last Aug. Before doing so I worked through the Demo program. I was extremely happy to acquire V.9. The only real disappointment that I now have to live with is the Functional (sub) account report.

I am so deep int V.9. now , that I am not really sure about this. But, I beleive that the functional report in the pre- V.9. demo cataglorized expenses & income by sub account number & did the math in terms of a profit & loss by sub account number.
I am really disapointed that v.9. does not do the one calaculation that I need.

Her is the reason. My church does everyhing by budget. Eash auxilary (department) has its on budget that wraps into the church's overall budget. I have assigned each one of them a unique sub-account number.

It is quite normal, in my church, for an auxilary to ask how much is in my budget or account. I could have simply handed them a copy of their P & L using the sub functional report, if only it would have done the math, computed the net Pofit or L oss by sub- account number.

Tom

[Jeff]

We changed the report to not show a net income line because many people thought using sub accounts was the way to keep track of restricted money. Then when the year closed and the accounts reset to zero, they couldn't get their "balance" We changed the report to discourage people from trying to keep track of restrictions this way.

I am a little confused as to what you are attempting to do. The report does show a total for each type of account. So you will get a total of assets, income, expense, etc. This report has never shown budget information in any version of PC+.

[SBCTrustee]

Hello Everyone,

I mentioned earlier that we have numerious auxliaries (groups) that have their own budgets & sub account numbers. They turn in all monies to the Church Treasurer who despenses the fund back to them, if the items are "in" their budgets & the funds have been raised. Each Aux. has its own treasurer. Thus I would like to give them an accounting in terms of what the Church shows in its records, even if it is in sumary form.

Actually, the pre-v.9 version of PC+ was all that I was expecting, though I wanted more. I know that the budget information was not part of the sub functional reports.

You know as I think about it, what I really wish that I had was a way to print a separate Income & Expense report by selected sub accounts(with budget comparison) just like I can for my full accounts.

Thanks anyway.

Tom

[Eden Whitehead]

We changed the report to not show a net income line because many people thought using sub accounts was the way to keep track of restricted money. Then when the year closed and the accounts reset to zero, they couldn't get their "balance" We changed the report to discourage people from trying to keep track of restrictions this way.

YIKES!

(New to PCPlus, preparing to use v.10 on XP, still "getting acquainted"; not trained in accounting)

I am soooo confused!

I just changed my Chart of Accounts to use sub accounts for tracking restricted money!

(Previously I had it set up where donor designated/restricted funds were handled under Liabilities but then came across a thread in the Accounting Forum [sorry, I can't put my finger on the posting now] that convinced me from an accounting standpoint that it was not the way to go. So I changed my COA to use sub accounts, including "release from restriction" accounts in the income range and "close to" accounts in the equity range.)

Now I see Jeff's post saying NOT to use sub accounts. So for version 10, what is the best way (accounting-wise and PCPlus-wise) to handle donor designated/restricted contributions? And do I use the same method for strictly "pass through" contributions?

My heart-felt thanks to one and all who can help shed light on this topic!

Edit: Sorry, the thread I mentioned above is in this forum (Contributions) -- "Pass thru accounts" initiated by "deb" and last posted to on Mar 31, 2005.

Eden

[tenalea]

Hi Jeff, just wanted to add that I would like to see the sub-accounts be able to carry forward balances so that we could get balances in the accounts at any time. A lot of churches can use this type of report because we all have ministry areas that need to know how much they have available to spend. Right now, I have to print out the sub-account report, take my balance from last year and then add and subtract the income and expense items to get a true balance of what they have available. It would be a lot nicer if we could just run a report to get that information for us. Please look for a way to add this feature.
Thanks so much!

[Jeff]

So I changed my COA to use sub accounts, including "release from restriction" accounts in the income range and "close to" accounts in the equity range.)

If you added the equity accounts, you should be able to see the balances for all your donor restrictions in the equity section of the Balance Sheet. You should also be able to get a summary report using the Changes in Equity Report.

Have you checked the Sub-Account Report? I beleive we have changed the sub-account report due to popular demand to include a income - expense line when all you include are income & expense accounts.

[Eden Whitehead]

Jeff, thanks for the quick response. You have answered my question. (Plenty more to follow, I'm sure, as I move along with PCPlus.)

I truly appreciate the very practical and timely help that is available through this forum.

Eden