Expense Tracking Solution

[agllcc]

Hey there!

New to PowerChurch. How do most people handle expense tracking--people buying supplies and submitting receipts?

[NeilZ]

Hey there!

New to PowerChurch. How do most people handle expense tracking--people buying supplies and submitting receipts?

Its handled like any other vendor, using the Accounts Payable. That said, I'm assuming that these are authorized purchases. Frankly, unless they're also using any church sales tax number, they're costing the church money.

If they're using a church credit card, you would setup a liability account for the card, then when a receipt is entered, you would use the liability account instead of the checking account when creating a manual check.

[whfpc]

Chiming in on this question because I tried to do this once and I'm pretty sure I made of mess of it and then just quit doing it. However, when we have credits it's a nightmare.
So you make a liability acct say 01-2012-000 but then can you give an example off multi holders of the cc? Do you enter the manual check to the business?
Walmart for example, we have multiple employees purchasing from Walmart for various items. Use account 01-2012-000 as the checking then the appropriate fund?

Sorry if I should have made this a new post...


Robin

[CranfordUMC]

What I have been doing for church Credit Cards is as follows:
When there is a CC charge, I enter a manual check with the Number being the name of the CC user (we only have three).
The manual check would credit the credit card libility account and debit the expense account.
When the CC bill come due, I credit the checking account and debit the CC libality account.
The only problem I have is getting the receipts from the CC users.
As treasurer, I check the credit card accounts online every day to keep on top of the expenses.
Hope this helps.

[whfpc]

Do you make the manual check out to the business in which the card was used?

[CranfordUMC]

Just to clarify, I DO NOT WRITE OUT A PHYSICAL CHECK.
The manal check entry is made out to the business just as I would for a normal physical check, except the credit card liability account is credited instead of the checking account.

[whfpc]

Understood! That answers my question, it was the "to the order of". Wish me luck

[CranfordUMC]

followup:
My information is based on the assumption that they are using a church credit card!
If they are using their own credit card then you would follow Neil's instructions like any other vendor.

[whfpc]

Yes, church credit card!

[NeilZ]

Hi all ...

What happens in Cranford, stays in Cranford. That is, the Cranford credit card account.

What Steve is doing is exactly the right way to handle the credit card. The only thing missing from that description, was reconciliation of the account. For that you use the same reconciliation function that you use for the bank account, you just select the credit card liability account when you begin.

I agree, getting the receipts from the users is the hard part, but having the backing of the church financial committee, church board, or Session by them making it a requirement of using the credit card is a great way of making sure they come in. At one church where I helped setup the system, their board had a financial policy, and they added that requirement as mandatory. If someone didn't turn in receipts by the time of reconciliation then that was a violation. Three violations, they lose the privilege of being able to use a church credit card. That sounds harsh, but it saves the treasurer or bookkeeper a lot of time trying to track down why the account is off by $23.99!!

[whfpc]

I am back!!! Posting on this thread to keep my notes straight.
I want to make sure I understand fully before I pay the invoice for the credit card, post accts payable and do the reconciliation.

We have budget accounts - Fund 01 and Designated accounts - Fund 02 charged to this cc.
I have entered all of my manual checks crediting the proper liability fund (01 or 02) and debiting the proper accounts, budgeted or designated (01 or 02)
So if my total in fund 01 is $1000 and fund 02 is $500 I would then pay the credit card $1500 then it would go like this?
Checking acct
credit 01-1120-000 $1000
02-1120-000 $500
Liability acct
Debit 01-2029-000 $1000
02-2029-000 $500

[NeilZ]

I am back!!! Posting on this thread to keep my notes straight.
I want to make sure I understand fully before I pay the invoice for the credit card, post accts payable and do the reconciliation.

We have budget accounts - Fund 01 and Designated accounts - Fund 02 charged to this cc.
I have entered all of my manual checks crediting the proper liability fund (01 or 02) and debiting the proper accounts, budgeted or designated (01 or 02)
So if my total in fund 01 is $1000 and fund 02 is $500 I would then pay the credit card $1500 then it would go like this?
Checking acct
credit 01-1120-000 $1000
02-1120-000 $500
Liability acct
Debit 01-2029-000 $1000
02-2029-000 $500

Remember, the totals in the liability accounts may total more than the CC bill, as you've been adding new purchases after the closing date of the CC bill. You should only pay out for the charges listed on the CC bill, no more no less. I would do your reconciliation (and check off which charge is for which fund) then cut the check using the totals for each fund.

So if there's 1000.00 in fund 1, and 500.00 in fund 2. And the total CC Bill came to 1200, and the bill only included $200 Fund 2 charges, then you only debit Fund 2 for $200, and the rest from Fund 01.

When doing the reconciliation, only keep track of those charges for Fund 02, then subtract that total from the total CC bill to get the amount to pull from Fund 01. I know it sounds like extra work, and it is, but its better than having a separate CC for each fund.

EDIT and WARNING NOTE: DO the CC Reconciliation FIRST ... before you do anything else. This makes sure you have EVERY CC transaction listed covered in Powerchurch. If not, you need to track down that CC user and get the receipt for that purchase. This keeps EVERYONE safe from any charges of misuse of the church CC.

In other words, all purchases need to be vetted !!! I cannot emphasize this enough as I caught misuse of funds by a 'former' church secretary who was charging for bulletins for her OWN church, against the church CC where she worked. She was made to 'retire'