Reversing and Voiding Items in PowerChurch Plus

PowerChurch's approach to having an uneditable audit trail is that any time a change is made in posted transaction history, you will see the chain of events that led to that change. For example, if you enter a $100 contribution today, then next week look back and that contribution is only $10, PowerChurch Plus will detail exactly how that change was made. If you have users and passwords enabled in the software (of course you do!) you will be able to see exactly when that entry was made and who made it.

There have been many articles and news items over the last few years about how frequently churches are defrauded and how easily it happens. The small church is very condusive to this type of problem because there isn't the internal structure that you normally find in a commercial environment. There you expect to find lateral departments with vertical leadership roles and oversight.

What PowerChurch hopefully provides is a little peace of mind, knowing that the information you enter into the program will remain there, unaltered. When there are so many thousands of dollars and even the church's nonprofit status at stake, it is important to us that the program is designed to do everything within reason to accurately represent the state of things and to deter fraudulent or otherwise dishonest accounting.

Below are a few examples of processing corrections to posted data in different areas of the program:

Example 1 - Accounts Payable

An Accounts Payable check was printed, but the wrong check number was entered in the system. While that check is open/unposted in Accounts Payable, you could simply change the check number on the Maintain Computer Generated Checks screen. Once that transaction has been posted, though, you won't be able to simply make changes. You would first need to void the check in Accounts Payable, then enter a new manual check using the correct number. After doing so, you should have three transactions on record: the original with the wrong number, the void of the check with the wrong number, and then the correction with the right check number.

Example 2 - Payroll

A batch of Payroll checks were printed on the wrong check stock. While the transactions are still unposted in Payroll, you can delete those checks from the Modify Unposted Payroll screen and then reissue them. Once those checks have been posted, though, it will require that you void the checks in Payroll, then issue new checks. When finished, as in the previous example, you would have three instances of each of these Payroll checks: the first check which pulled from the wrong account, the void of that check, then the correction.

Example 3 - Contributions

A contribution was entered for $100, when in reality, it was only a $10 contribution. While the contributions are still unposted, you can easily make this change on the Modify Unposted Contributions screen. However, once they have been posted, it would require that you reverse the original contribution, then enter a new contribution for the correct amount. This would leave the same three instances of this contribution as mentioned in the previous examples: the original entry for the wrong amount, a reversing entry to negate the wrong amount, then a new entry for the correct amount.

To reverse a contribution, go to Contributions > View Posted Contributions. Find the contribution in question, select it, and click the Reverse button at the bottom of the screen. This will create a new unposted contribution with an amount of negative $100 to offset the original. Be sure to post the reversal, don't delete or modify it.

Example 4 - Fund Accounting

A transaction was entered directly in Fund Accounting to record the bank interest earned on the savings account last month. The transaction was accidentally entered into the month of August instead of July. While it is unposted, you could easily make that change on the Modify Unposted Transactions screen. However, once it has been posted, as with all those previous examples, it will require additional entries to correct the problem.

You can reverse the original transaction from the incorrect month of August on the View Posted Transactions screen in Fund Accounting. Find the transaction, select it, and click the Reverse button. As with the previous Contributions example, this will create a new unposted transaction that does the exact opposite of the original transaction; the debit and credit columns will be switched. Don't delete or modify the unposted transaction that is created. Enter a new transaction for the month of July. Once everything has been posted, you will have the same three entries: the original in the wrong month, the reversal out of the wrong month, and the correction into the right month.

As you probably noticed in considering each of those examples, regardless of the nature of the problem or where the transaction was originally entered, the solution and outcome is always essentially the same. You create additional entries in the program to reverse and correct the problem.

Taking that one step further, reviewing unposted entries prior to posting can keep you from having to make additional entries to correct problems. Run the Unposted Report in whatever area of the program you entered the transactions. Use the Modify Unposted screen in that same area to fix any problems you find prior to posting.