Operating Fund Balance

[FBCEL]

I am fairly new to Power Church Plus. My accounting background is not in Fund Accounting so I am having some trouble. I am trying to correct a system that was set up wrong. How do I reconcile my fund balance accounts to be sure that they are correct? My Operating Fund Balance account is reporting substancially high and I do not believe it could be right. If there is a method to reconcile my fund balance accounts so that I can be sure they are reporting correctly, then I could be sure that my Operating Fund Balance is correct.

Thanks in advance for the help. I want to make sure my accounts are reporting correctly.

Candy

[karlaj]

Not sure if this will help you. Take you checkbook balance for the previous month, add all receipts, then subtract all expenses for this month. That amount should equal the Total Fund Balance on your Balance Sheet. If your system is set up wrong, you may be better off to restart accounting, but that would require starting from scratch. Always make a back up before doing anything like that!

[FBCEL]

Thanks karlaj. That's what I was afraid of. My fund balances are off. Can you tell me how to adjust my fund balances so that my reports are correct? ANY help you could give me would be appreciated. I believe most of the error is in my Operating Fund Balance. If I could decrease it so that it reflects what is in my checkbook as my General Operating Balance then I think everything would come out right. Can you tell me how to do it?

Thanks so much...
Candy

[Zorak]

Just a note on the previous response...

Your checking balance should only match your fund balance if you don't have any other accounts with balances on the balance sheet.

The formula works like this:

Total Assets - Total Liabilities = Total Fund Balance

A quick way to check and see if you are in balance is to check the "Total Assets" number from the balance sheet, then compare that to the last number on the report "Total Liabilities and Fund Balance".

If they match, you are in balance!

[FBCEL]

Thanks for the info, but I think I may not have explained my question very well. My Balance Sheet states that my operating fund balance is $245,000 but I only have about $75,000 in my operating fund. Most of my other fund accounts are reporting different amounts. I have checked which accounts close to each fund and that part is correct. How do I correct my operating fund balance? I would LOVE to be able to print out a balance sheet and have it state exactly what is in each fund so that my treasurer and pastor know. Please HELP!!!

[karlaj]

Do you have a large amount of money in designated or restricted accounts? How many accounting funds do you have set up? (For example, I have an 01 General Fund and an 02 Designated Fund)

[FBCEL]

I have only a 01 general fund. Everything is done in this acounting fund. Is my operating fund balance on my balance sheet supposed to be my total of all funds or is it supposed to be what is my actual operating fund balance? I was under the impression that my operating fund balance was supposed to be what should be in my day to day operating fund. If this is not the case, how would I tell what is in my day to day operating fund? I don't even have the amount shown in the operating fund balance on my balance sheet in my checkbook. There isn't that much if you total all of my fund balance accounts together. PLEASE HELP ME!!

Thanks

[Matt]

The reason your Operating Fund balance does not agree with your checkbook balance is because as Zorak mentions, you have balances in some other asset and liability accounts. If you want these two to agree then you will either need to zero out the other asset and liability account balances or you will need to set up additional fund balance accounts and transfer the other asset and liability account balances to these accounts.