Mulitple Checking Accounts

[RLM]

I have Fund 01 set up for our General Account and track expenditures and contribution income through this account. However our treasurer currently holds checkbooks for six (6) separate checking accounts: 1) General, 2)Building Fund, 3) Missions....you get the picture. Beyond that there are three other checking accounts out there for two women's groups and one men's group that he doesn't handle.

My question is this - I would like to track all of the bank accounts that I have access to the checkbooks for (the first 6 accounts) and would like your input on how best to do this. If I set up a Fund for each checking account I may only have a handful of transactions for a couple of the accounts. That seems too few to set up a Fund account for. I am too new in PowerChurch Plus Accounting to push for closing the checking accounts and handling the transactions through one fund. I want to prove the software first (this church has never tracked finances electronically before).

I would like your opinions, or if you walked into something similar, I would like to know how you handled it.

[RLM]

I must not be phrasing my questions very intelligently or something. This is the third post in as many weeks that I have gotten no response on. It's o.k. to speak truthfully if I am heading down the wrong path with my questions. I have dabbled in PC+ Fund Accounting for a couple of years because I didn't have the time to dedicate in taking it on because of other responsibilities. Now I am committed to making this work because the treasurer is stepping out. I could REALLY use the help.... I don't feel that I am in any worse shape than some of the others that post. Quite a few of us are being called upon to take responsibility for something that we may not be thoroughly qualified for. But with the help of each other, we can accomplish our task(s). If you prefer not to post and your reply would not benefit the forum, feel free to e-mail my personal account.

I really appreciate what this community is all about and have gleaned a lot of good information. I really appreciate the professional level of communication. This is quite different from a forum I looked into some years back with another church software provider. Some of what I need isn't easily located so I have to post. For that I apologize....

[tborgal]

RLM,

It sometimes takes a little bit before the correct person sees a post so don't be discouraged if you don't see anything for a few days.

In response to your question, I have 14 Funds using one checking account so the number of checking accounts does not necessarily dictate the number of Funds or visa versa. Also the number of transactions in a particular Fund does not have bearing on its need to be in the system. I see no reason why you can not create an account for each checking account. The Fund does not have to have more than a few necessary accounts in it. Such as an Income account and an Expense account. You can always add needed accounts in the future. There is much to be said for keeping things separate for accounting purposes. If it were me I might consider moving to one checking account, if that is feasible, this would make life a lot easier with depositing money as well as reduce costs for checks etc., but I would definitely keep the Funds separate.

[RLM]

Thank you so much for your response. I was wanting to create a separate fund for each checking account, but I wasn't sure that was the correct thing to do. It was logical in my way of thinking, but I wasn't sure that was a good accounting move.

I am also curious how the other modules, i.e. Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payroll should interact with Fund Accounting. Must they be used in conjuction with Fund Accounting? Is that the preferred way to do things? Or will a simple journal entry suffice?

[Kristi]

RLM,
I have not checked the forum since Nov.
I have as many checking accounts in PowerChurch as I have in the bank.
We have 1 Bank with 2 accounts and 1 Foundation with 3 Funds:
In our bank...
General Ckg is # 1111 this has all my funds in it
Fund 01 General: is budgeted activities
any other funds are non-budgeted
Fund 12 Kids

All of these monies are in account 1111
If it's an expense for general item:utilities,
it comes out of 01-1111 Gen Fund ckg & 01-5437 Gen Fund exp "Gas"

If it's for VBS snacks it comes out of 12-1111 Kid's Min. ckg & 12-5910 Kid's Min desig exp

So,if I wrote a check to each, all the money would come out of the one bank account, but reduce each Fund by the amount of the check I wrote.

Construction Ckg bank account uses a different colored check with different check signers than Gen Ckg account.

Construction Ckg account #1112 uses only 2 funds:
01 General Fund
16 New Sanctuary

Our Foundation Account is not a "checking" account. No checks are written out of it. Money is deposited into it or withdrawn. My different accounts within the Foundation are also called Funds.
It only uses a few accounting funds.
Foundation Funds "bank" account #1118 uses only 3 accounting funds:
01 General Fund
16 New Sanctuary Fund
45 Special Fund

My descriptions with my account numbers reflect how the bank names my accounts. Ie: Ckg-Bank name:Gen
Ckg-Bank name:Const

I live by my Balance Sheet & Balance Sheet by Fund. I run one before I write my checks and after I post to double check the totals. You can track exactly how much is in any bank account. You can easily tell if you posted to the wrong bank account.

We also had only one bank account when I first began this job!
Kristi