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If we do online banking (pay bills, loan payments, etc) can we import this transactions into power church plus so that we don't have to redo the entry work?

samueld4 wrote:If we do online banking (pay bills, loan payments, etc) can we import this transactions into power church plus so that we don't have to redo the entry work?

Unfortunately, no. Most (if not all) banks do not create the type of double-entry accounting transactions needed in Powerchurch.

That said, if you can get such transactions in an ASCII comma or tab delimited format, you could try to conform them to this type of format:

For a successful import:
♦ The file must be in an ASCII format (comma separated or tab delimited).
♦ The header record must be the first line and must contain the names of the fields in the order they appear in the following layout:
o Check number Check number or reference number
o Batch Date Format: MM/DD/YY
o Memo Transaction description, 25 characters maximum
o Account number Format: FFMMMMSSS
Note: Do not use hyphens
o Debit amount Format: #########9.99
o Credit amount Format: #########9.99

Note that for each transaction, you would need two lines, one to update the debit account, and one to update the credit account.

You would then import as follows:

To import accounting transactions:
1. From the Accounting menu, choose Fund Accounting, Setup, then Import Accounting Transactions.
♦ File name. Click the Browse button to find and select the file you want to import.
♦ Import to month. Select the month to which the information will be imported.
♦ Journal code. By default, the code is for the Contributions journal. You can enter a new code if needed.
♦ File format. Designate the type of file to be imported.

2. Click Finish.

PowerChurch Plus will import the data into the Unposted Fund Accounting file. You can view this data on the Modify Unposted Transactions screen.

This information was found in the Powerchurch manual, also by using the built-in help feature of PCPlus.

Online banking use is increasing significantly. For example, back in 2007, HSBC bank had seen a 55% growth in online business over the past year, with 1.8bn visits to its websites. At some point, there comes a time when the value of not having to reenter data twice, once at the online bank, and once for the same information in PowerChurch, and the potential for errors doing so, have to to outweigh the double entry issues that were cited in 2010. It is also hard to understand why if banks like Bank of America allow one to download your account information from Online Banking to your Quicken software why Powerchurch cannot create a user interface that allows easy download and importing of the online transactions, instead of having the person enter the data. The data can then be managed into the double entry process, just as they are for data typed in. Thank you

MarkD wrote:Online banking use is increasing significantly. For example, back in 2007, HSBC bank had seen a 55% growth in online business over the past year, with 1.8bn visits to its websites. At some point, there comes a time when the value of not having to reenter data twice, once at the online bank, and once for the same information in PowerChurch, and the potential for errors doing so, have to to outweigh the double entry issues that were cited in 2010. It is also hard to understand why if banks like Bank of America allow one to download your account information from Online Banking to your Quicken software why Powerchurch cannot create a user interface that allows easy download and importing of the online transactions, instead of having the person enter the data. The data can then be managed into the double entry process, just as they are for data typed in. Thank you

FWIW ... Quicken is not a double entry accounting system. It tracks your expenses by using 'categories' which are close, but not the same thing.

Considering that most churches usually need to have an invoice prior to payment, entering data into the system is unavoidable, especially when you need an audit trail that can be printed locally.

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And finally, Intuit has quite a number of programmers who work on their Quicken and Quickbooks software. Their customer base numbers in the millions. Powerchurch's customer base is closer to 50,000 or so (maybe more, I don't really know). Their potential client base is small compared to the number of small and medium businesses there are in the country, and they compete with at least 10 to 15 other church management program for that segment. Their main programming staff is 1 person, they are supposedly adding a few more. Yet for their size, they maintain the code base on at least 5 separate versions, provide phone support for versions 7.0 and up, and are ready to upgrade you from any version for about half the price of a full version. Quickbooks only gives you an upgrade discount of $25 bucks off the $225 price of QB Pro.

So you have to enter data in two places. Normally, if you setup a vendor on your bank, all you need to do is fill in the amount you're sending the next time. Most of the input is done in Powerchurch when you receive the bill. And for recurring bills, you can setup the transactions so all you need to do in Powerchurch is the same thing, just enter the amount.

Will you save that much time importing the transactions, maybe, but considering you'd still have to enter the particulars of the bill (invoice number, etc) not much.

(Rant Mode Off)