Knowledge Base

Tales From Tech 2 - Issue: 35

Well, it seems like we went through all this year end stuff just about a year ago, but year end is almost here again.

Well it's almost the end of the year again (funny how year end seems to come around every year or so about this time) and so it's time to talk about closing the accounting year (or not closing the year, depending on which version of PowerChurch Plus you are using).

Anyway, thinking about my Uncle Steve and his rubber chicken collection reminded me of the old saying: Don't throw the baby out with the sleeping dogs because they lie.

CLOSING THE ACCOUNTING YEAR IN VERSION 8.5 OR PRIOR

If you are using Fund Accounting and you haven't upgraded to Version 9, then you must be out of your mind. Of course, I've been out of my mind for quite some time now, so I guess you're in good company. (Well, that may be debatable.)

Now I know we've gone over all this before, but just in case you have been pulling a Rip Van Winkle for the last year or so, let me recap. Version 9 added some important new features to Fund Accounting, such as the ability to keep as many years of detail as you want, the ability to define multiple equity accounts and a utility for maintaining donor restrictions, but you've heard this all before and I don't want to stomp all over ground that's already been stomped. (There have been some great new features added outside of Fund Accounting too, as we'll discover in Volumes 36 through 45.)

Anyway, closing the accounting year in prior versions has already been discussed in great and horrible detail and I don't want to spend a lot of time going over things that have already been covered, so let me just give you a couple of links that you might find helpful. These links are to two (not tutu) documents available on our web site. The first is a support document which is available at http://www.powerchurch.com/support/kb.php?id=18&type=1 and the second is a prior volume of Tales From Tech 2 which is available at http://www.powerchurch.com/support/kb.php?id=172&type=2.

I recommend that you review this information VERY carefully before closing the accounting year. Read these documents. Study them. Know them. Love them. Take them home and read them while you are cooking (just don't burn the biscuits). Read them in the car on the way to work (not while you're driving, of course, pull off the road first).

CLOSING THE ACCOUNTING YEAR IN VERSION 9

Now for the good stuff. (This is going to be easy.)

There is no such thing as closing the accounting year in Version 9.

Well, that's it for today's issue.

QUESTIONS?

If you have questions about anything you've read...

OKAY, OKAY, OKAY

Okay, I was cheating (but just a little). Although there is no year end close for Accounting in Version 9, that doesn't mean that there's nothing for you to do.

One of the first and most important things you need to do (and this is important regardless of what version of PowerChurch Plus you are using) is to check your Program Date and then, if needed, download and install the latest Maintenance Release. We've went through this drill before, but in case you've forgotten, you can access the current Maintenance Release by going to http://www.powerchurch.com/mr/ and there's a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document regarding Maintenance Releases available at:

https://www.powerchurch.com/support/60/1/maintenance-release-faq

It's wonderful reading, so feel free to have a look.

There are also some things outside of Fund Accounting that you may need to do, such as updating your tax tables in Payroll, creating pledges or budgets for the new year or possibly reassigning envelope numbers. These topics are covered in detail in the documents listed in the CLOSING THE ACCOUNTING YEAR IN VERSION 8.5 OR PRIOR section above, so even if you are using Version 9, you might take a quick glance at the non-Fund Accounting related information in those documents since you probably have nothing better to do.

Anyway, even though there is no year end close in Version 9, I did want to take a moment to talk about closing months because I really don't have anything better to do.

In Version 9, you can have up to 12 months open and the only time you have to close a month is to move beyond that open period. This means that you could have an entire accounting year open at one time. For example, let's say you have January 2005 through December 2005 open. In order to start posting your January 2006 transactions, you would have to close January 2005. You would not have to close all of 2005, just January. Then, to post your February 2006 transactions, you would have to close February 2005 and so on and so forth. In other words, even though there is no year end close, you may have to close a month in order to move forward, but it will depend on what the last closed month was and how many months you have open.

That's certainly better than closing the year and losing all your Fund Accounting detail though, isn't it?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Our office will be closed on Monday, December 26, 2005 for the Christmas holidays.

Well, that really is it for today's issue.


Created: 12/15/2005
Last updated: 07/25/2021