PowerChurch Software Newsletter - Summer 2013

Welcome to the Summer 2013 issue of the PowerChurch Software Quarterly Newsletter. In this edition, we reveal some exciting new online training options, talk about the newly redesigned account number lookups, and explain how to perform background checks in PowerChurch.

Announcement - Online Training Videos

We have recently discontinued the online training classes, replacing them with online training videos. Like the classes, these video series cover various modules in PowerChurch Plus Version 11.5. However, these videos go much more in-depth and are broken down into convenient chapters. We have also added a new video series, Intro to Accounting, in which we discuss some of the basic accounting principles used in the program. Purchase individual series, or there are bundles of related videos available for a 20% savings.

Training videos can be streamed online at any time, by anyone in your organization, for up to one year after purchase. Go to www.powerchurch.com/videos to watch an introductory video from each of the series or to make your purchase.

Account Number Lookups

With the release of PowerChurch Plus Version 11.5 came a new way to look up accounts. Now when you look up an account number, as you would when entering an Accounts Payable invoice or a Fund Accounting transaction, you see a formatted chart of accounts to choose from. Your detail accounts are shown in black and the group header accounts in gray.

Filters at the top of the screen, allow you to narrow the view to a specific Accounting Fund and/or account category.

At the bottom is a third filter that lets you type in all or part of the account name and watch the program find an account for you.

Finding an account has never been so easy!

Background Checks and Protect My Ministry

In the Summer 2010 Quarterly Newsletter (Issue 1) we talked about the importance of background screening for employees or members of particular activities. To review that newsletter, click the link here: www.powerchurch.com/support/kb.php?id=223.

PowerChurch Plus works directly with Protect My Ministry (protectmyministry.com/pcs), but the program also allows you to simply record the date of a background check if you are using a different background screening provider.

Before you begin, verify that your user account in PowerChurch Plus has been granted permissions to access background checks.

• Go to File > Preferences > Passwords.
• Verify that the Background Checks box is checked on the Membership/Personal Profiles section.
• There is also a Background Checks option in the Accounting/Payroll section.
• To be able to view backround checks, check the Background Check Admin option in the System Utilities section.

To get started using the Background Check features in PowerChurch, do the following:

• Go to File > Preferences > Background Checks. Here, you specify, in years, how frequently background checks are required to be performed. This is used by PowerChurch to show reminders when background checks are due.
• Click the Protect My Ministry Settings tab, if you have the account information. Enter your account and user information into the appropriate fields.

To enable background checks on an activity, do the following:

• Open the Maintain Activity & Skill Descriptions screen found under Membership > Activities & Skills > Setup.
• Click the Locate button and select the activity from the list.
• On the General Tab, check the option box that reads "Adults in this activity require a background check".
• Click Save.

There is an important distinction to be made in the label on that option box. It specifically states that it is Adults in the activity who are required to have background checks. PowerChurch Plus features an Adult: Y/N field on each Personal Profile record. In Membership > Personal Profiles > Maintain Personal Profiles, verify that the people who will be requiring background checks have a "Y" in the Adult: Y/N field. Click on the Activities tab and verify that they are enrolled in the activity which requires background checks.

On the Maintain Personal Profiles screen, the background check controls are shown on the Profile Information tab. The date of their last background check is shown in the Last Checked: field and the user who requested the background check is shown in the By: field. Two or three buttons will be shown above, Add Background Check, Delete Background Check, and if you are using Protect My Ministry and looking at someone who has previously had a background check in PowerChurch, you will also see a View Background Check button to the right. If you are not using Protect My Ministry, then PowerChurch simply records the date of the last background check, without linking to the document online.



The same background check controls appear on the Maintain List of Employees screen found under Accounting > Payroll. Use the Locate button at the top of the screen to bring up the employee in question, and click on the Payroll Information tab.

There are reports called Adults With and Adults Needing Background Checks available on the Reports - Personal Profiles screen in Membership > Personal Profiles. You can also add Background Checks Needed to the PowerChurch Today window.

Forum Q&A

The Support Forum on our web site is a very active online community of our users and Tech Support staff members. There you can browse through thousands of questions and answers, or post your own.

From Maintenance Releases:
Q. I downloaded the maintenance release, then got this message: "An error occurred while trying to rename a file in the destination directory: MoveFile failed; code 183 Cannot create a file when that file already exists."
A. When we have seen this error in the past, it has been related to some other process tying up the file while the updater is trying to overwrite it. In most instances, rebooting the computer and opening PowerChurch again will fix the issue. You could also temporarily disable antivirus/security/scanning software that may be the culprit.

From General:
Q. I was wondering if there is a way to record a misprinted payroll check in PowerChurch for record keeping purposes, to denote the skipped check number?
A. Go to Fund Accounting > Enter transactions and input whatever posting date and month you would like. Under the reference put in the check number and void (i.e. 5136-VOID, no spaces). Tab a couple of times and it will fill in the bank account with a line description of VOID. Then you can save it and post. This will show the check in the system for continuity.

From Membership:
Q. I would like to paste into members' info like phone no's, addresses, and email addresses. When I right click on an entry screen, I do not get the options for copying or pasting.
A. Use the Keyboard Shortcuts: CTRL+C to Copy and CTRL+V to Paste.