Offering & Pledges User Guide

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2 Offering & Pledges User Guide PUB5R OCT for use with ParishSOFT s Offering & Pledges Module version and later 825 Victors Way Suite 200 Ann Arbor, MI Web: info@parishsoft.com support@parishsoft.com Phone: (734) main (866) support Fax: (734) ParishSOFT LLC, all rights reserved. ParishSOFT grants licensed users the right to unlimited duplication of this publication for internal use. PUB5R OCT

3 3 CONTENTS Getting Started Introduction About this Manual Offering & Pledges Module User Checklist First-Time Users Experienced Users Run Offering & Pledges Module Log In to Offering & Pledges Module...11 U.S. Parishes Update Your First Look at the Offering & Pledges Module Find the Answers You Need Set Up Offering & Pledges Program Regular Contributions Setup Process Pledges and Capital Campaigns Setup Process Back Up Your ParishSOFT Database Recommended Backup Practices Database File Name and Location Network System Backups Run Scheduled System Backups Run Immediate Backup Set FTP Backup Parameters Enable WebCONNECT Privileges for Users View Your User Privileges Security of Contributions and Banking Information Fund Permissions Tuition Permissions Request User Privileges System Security Family and Member Records Family and Member Information Data Structure Overview Database Management Tips Add New Family Create New Family Record Color Coding in Search Results Family Information Screen Data Field Descriptions Save/Create Record Edit Family Record Import Family from Diocese Benefits of Diocesan Import Import Family Color Coding in Search Results Data Availability for Synchronizing Parishes View Diocesan Import Records Ownership of Imported Records Add Family Member Create Family Member Record Edit Family/Member Record Family Member Screen Data Field Descriptions Import Family Member Import Member Into Family When a Member Dies Change Deceased Member Status Edit Records of a Surviving Spouse Edit Family Information of a Deceased Member If the Family Record Contains Surviving Family Members If There are No Surviving Members in the Family Record Register/Unregister Family About Registered and Unregistered Designations Register/Unregister a Family from Family Record Register/Unregister a Family from Family List Interaction of Registration, Member, and Group Statuses Search for Family Search from Membership Pledge Records Screen Search from Contribution Posting Screen 46 Search by Name or Envelope Number Search from Families Screen Search for Sacrament Sponsor, Witness, or Parent Manage Lookup Tables Edit Lookup Table Records Merge Lookup Table Records Members First Time Users Ports a Member OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

4 Chart of Accounts Fund Management Manage Funds and Banking Information. 52 Security of Fund and Banking Information Set Fund Permissions Open Funds Screen Add Funds to Chart of Accounts Fund Add/Edit Screen Data Field Descriptions Edit Fund Delete Fund Sort Funds in Chart of Accounts Print List View Configure the List View Report Pledges and Capital Campaigns Manage Pledges Open Membership Pledge Records Navigate the Membership Pledge Records Screen Manage Pledges to Diocesan Funds Add a Pledge Create New Pledge Choose Family, Set Pledge Dates Calculate Payments and Schedule from Total Pledge Amount Calculate Total Pledged Based on Desired Payment Plan Add Multiple Pledges for Family/Fund Combination Add Pledge to Individual Family Member 65 Membership Pledge Records Data Field Descriptions Enter Diocesan Pledges from Your Synchronizing Parish Create Batch and Post Diocesan Pledges Reconcile Your Batch Add Empty Pledge Records for All Registered Families What Happens if Pledges Already Exist for This Fund? Non-Pledging Families Adjust a Pledge Record Pledge Notes Edit Pledge Fields You Cannot Edit Manually Delete Pledge Delete Family from Pledge Fund View Family Giving History Posting General Contribution Posting Guidelines. 78 Posting by Family Member Families with Multiple Pledges Posting Pledge Payments Viewing Payment History Rapid Check Number Entry Set Posting Preferences Default to Last Contribution Amount Show Members in List Include Memo Field in Entry Order Get Fastest Data Entry with Rapid Check Number Set Data Entry Field Order for Posting Post by Batch Create a New Batch Post Contributions to a Batch Reconcile Your Batch Edit Batch Total Close a Batch Post Non-Cash Contributions Post Matching Contributions Post One Payment to Multiple Funds Post Loose Cash Create Family Record for Loose Cash Post Loose Cash Contributions Non-Batch Contribution Postings Before You Post Post Pledge Payment from the Pledge Record Post Contributions Without a Batch After You Post Correct a Posting When Batch is Closed Credit an Incorrect Posting Post Correcting Entry Correct a Posting in Open Batch or No Batch Edit One Posting Bulk Edit Multiple Postings Process a Nonsufficient Funds (NSF) Check95 Create a Batch for the NSF Post the NSF Amount to the NSF Batch 95 Manage Batches View Batches By Date Range Hide Batches Change Batch Status View Batch List Sort Columns in List View Clone a Batch Delete a Posting Guidelines for Delete vs. Edit How to Delete a Posting Delete Last Posted Entry

5 5 Import Postings from Lockbox ParishSOFT Templates Compete One-Time, New Template Setup Process Your Bank Data File to Post Electronically View Lockbox Report Export Postings to Accounting Program CMS Fund Accounting QuickBooks Spreadsheet or CSV Manage Postings to AIM Campaign Funds Post to AIM Campaign Funds Submit AIM Batch to Diocese Reports Standard Available Reports Custom Reports Key Concepts Introduction Print Reports Functions Available from Report Preview 118 Report Formats Export Reports Export to Word or Excel Using OfficeLinks Close Reports Module Close Individual Report Exit Reports Module End-of-Year Checklist Update Snowbirds Audit Family Data Prior to Creating Any Statements Audit Funds for Accuracy Complete Postings for Previous Year Run Periodic Contribution Statements for Families Other End-of-Year Suggestions Contribution Reports Open the Contributions Menu Date Range Contribution Report Open the Date Range Contribution Reports Print Standard Report Print Detailed Report Print Detailed Report w/names Print Date Range Summary Report Print Mo-Qtr-Yr Summary Print Statements for One-Time Gifts Over $ Export a QuickBooks File Indiv Family Contrib Summary Create a Family Contribution Summary Report $0.00 Givers Menu Print $0.00 Givers Report Periodic Contribution Statements for Families Set Filter Options for Your Report Set Print Options and Choose Output for Your Report Contributions Detail Statements Contributions Summary Statements Average Per Sunday Statement Family Report Monthly Report Mailing Labels Print Pastor Report Pledge Report Contributions 3-Year Summary Contributions Monthly,Quarterly, Yearly 147 Contributions By Dollar Range Edit Body of Statement Text Unedited Templates Pledge Reports Display Query All Pledges Print Report All Pledges Year Revenue Projection Year Revenue Projection Periodic Statement Past Due Report View/Print Month Report Print Statements Create Pledge Statements View/Print Labels Variance Report Variance Statements Variance Labels Multipledge Statements Envelope Utilities Check Envelope Data Before Sending to Your Envelope Provider Filter Families by Unregistered and Envelopes Categories Print and Review Envelope Report Envelopes to OSV or Other Provider Export Envelope File to Disk Client Requirements Envelope Number Maintenance Print Envelope Report Run Skipped Envelope Numbers Query 170 OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

6 6 Display Access Query How Do I Customize My Reports? Export to Word or Excel Using OfficeLinks Index Training Course Supplement

7 7 New Features, Versions and All Modules Simpler Update Process When an administrator from your parish logs in to your database, we ll check your installed version via the Web to determine whether any updates are available for your ParishSOFT applications. When a new update is available, we ll prompt you to install the update now or defer the update for up to 30 days. Installation is fast and easy, with a few simple prompts for you to click through. During the installation process, we ll perform a Compact and Repair on your database as well as run automated backups of your ParishSOFT Database, Reports, Tuition, and template files. New Address Quality and Bulk Mailing Option in About Menu Your About ParishSOFT screen now includes the new Address Quality and Bulk Mailing products in the list of Licensed Modules. If you have not yet licensed these modules, the options will be dimmed in the list. Offering & Pledges Module (3.7.12) New Edit Contributions Interface This new functionality provides convenient, flexible ways to edit incorrect postings. Users must have the Edit/Add Contributions and Pledges permission in order to change postings to open batches or postings not in batches. Dates, funds, comments, and check numbers can be edited for an individual posted contribution. When multiple contributions are selected, the date and fund can be bulk edited so that one change applies to the entire group. Transactions may also be deleted. See pages of the version Offering & Pledges User Guide for more information and audit trail particulars. Batch Posting Date Retained if Date Changes for an Individual Posting The default posting date set for your batch will now be saved even if the posting date for an individual contribution is changed. QuickBooks Integration (see pages ) The following enhancements have been made to streamline the export and reporting of data from ParishSOFT to QuickBooks: All transactions destined for QuickBooks export may be posted in batches, which can then be exported from ParishSOFT. Electronic Giving ACH transactions are now automatically placed into a batch each time the parish Receives transactions. Tuition payments are automatically placed into a batch for the school year, and the QuickBooks export processes only those amounts that have not already been included in a previous export and flagged by the system. Exports from Tuition will include a contribution posting for each fund on the tuition statement. New Report Options in the Date Range Contribution Report let you display all contributions posted, only contributions posted in batches, or only contributions that were posted without a batch. The Contribution Posting screen has a new Utilities menu with an Export Into QuickBooks option. Lockbox Templates Fund Field Label Changed to COA_ID This lookup table, found in the lockbox templates, is now labeled COA_ID. Lockbox Templates Include Account# and COA_ID Fields Account # and COA_ID are now available as options on the lockbox templates to allow greater flexibility in mapping data from lockbox files. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

8 8 Lockbox Processes by COA_ID and Account# Prior versions limited lockbox processing to map transactions by COA_ID only. Transactions can now be processed by Account# as well as by COA_ID. Lockbox Report Batch and FundID Column Formats Improved The Batch and FundID columns in prior versions displayed in Lockbox Reports using a long number data type. Version displays these columns using a text/ string data type for an improved format. Lockbox Contribution Parish Report Displays COA_ID or Account# Prior versions of ParishSOFT displayed only the COA_ID on this report. Now, the report displays either the COA_ID or the Account#. Utilities Menu Options Updated (see pages for details) The options in the Utilities menu have been updated to the following: envelope file to OSV envelope file to Other Envelope Vendors Export Envelope File to Disk Export to CMS Fund Accounting The options to envelope files have been renamed and were called Export envelope file... in prior versions. The option to Export Envelope File to Disk is a new option under the Utilities menu and was formerly located in the Envelope Utilities screen in ParishSOFT Reports. (version ) Lockbox Imports Enhanced for Multiple Pledges The system will now prompt you to match any contributions being imported from a bank data file to the correct pledge if the family has made multiple pledges to a particular fund. Pledge IDs Assigned to Lockbox Imports This update corrects an issue that prevented the system from assigning pledge IDs to imported contributions. Non-tax Deductible Contributions Import Through Lockbox Transactions to funds that are not taxdeductible now import successfully through the lockbox processing. Reports (3.7.12) Batch Enhancements for QuickBooks Integration New Report Options in the Date Range Contribution Report let you display all contributions posted, only contributions posted in batches, or only contributions that were posted without a batch. Envelope Export Updates (see pages for details) At the request of our partner Our Sunday Visitor (OSV), we have updated the format for the envelope lists that we export for OSV and for other envelope vendors to the following format: envelope number, lastname, tagname, mailing name, address1, address2, city, state, ZIP, and ZIP Plus.

9 GETTING STARTED CHAPTER 1

10 10 Introduction The Offering & Pledges Module lets you manage contributions, pledges, and tithes with ease. All Offering & Pledges transactions are attributed to specific families and to your chart of accounts. About this Manual This manual documents the tasks that you must complete as you set up and manage the Offering & Pledges program. Tasks include such functions as: Add Family and Member Information Add Funds to Chart of Accounts Add Pledges Post Contributions and Payments Print Family Contribution History Send Statements The instructions in this manual assume that you have completed the items in the following checklist. Offering & Pledges Module User Checklist First-Time Users Before you begin, ensure that your administrator has completed the following items. Install ParishSOFT software and set up users and permissions. Transfer database from previous system or begin new database. Map out in detail your chart of accounts with account numbers and descriptions per your diocesan chart of accounts or your accounting software. If you are setting up Offering & Pledges for the first time, review the tasks in the Set Up Offering & Pledges section on page 16. Complete the tasks for this process in the recommended sequence. Experienced Users If you already have family information and funds within your chart of accounts set up in ParishSOFT, use the Contents or Index pages to search for the task you wish to complete.

11 GETTING STARTED, CHAPTER 1 11 Run Offering & Pledges Module Once you have installed ParishSOFT s Offering & Pledges Module, you may open the program from your workstation using one of the following methods. Double-click on your Offering & Pledges icon on your desktop (icon is created during install.) Log In to Offering & Pledges Module Each time you run a ParishSOFT module, the system will ask you to log on. 1. From the Login screen, select your Username from the lookup table (set up by your administrator). 2. Type your Password (lower-case). Click Start menu > [All] Programs > ParishSOFT > Offering & Pledges. From your Start menu s Program Shortcuts, click Offering & Pledges. Create a Shortcut If this is your first time logging on, enter pass as your password. Then, click Change Your Password. To add a shortcut to your Start menu or Desktop for any ParishSOFT application, complete the following steps. The specific procedure may vary slightly depending on your operating system. 1. Minimize all applications on your desktop. 2. Click Start > Program Files > ParishSOFT. 3. Click and drag from the ParishSOFT application to your Start menu or Desktop. Follow any prompts given by your system. Type your New Password; then type it again in the Verify field (for security purposes, do not use pass ). OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

12 12 3. Click OK to open the main Offering & Pledges screen. Note the ***Successful Logon*** in the lower-left corner of your Offering & Pledges screen. Forget Your Password? If you forget your password, ask your system administrator to reset your password to the default: pass. Then be sure to change your password to protect the security of your parish data. U.S. Parishes Update New ParishSOFT users may be asked to perform a onetime system update for U.S. Catholic parishes. If you are asked to run such an update, click Yes. The update will take a few minutes to complete. Your First Look at the Offering & Pledges Module The Offering & Pledges Module opens to the Offering & Pledges screen shown left. The Online Banking button will be enabled only for users who have licensed the Electronic Giving Module.

13 GETTING STARTED, CHAPTER 1 13 Find the Answers You Need In Your Software and User Guides The screens within the Offering & Pledges Module contain helpful tips that you can view by holding your mouse pointer over a button or field. This user guide is also available online from within the program. Click File menu > Offering & Pledges User Guide to open a searchable PDF version of this manual. Search the document for topics (e.g., post contribution or pledge) using Acrobat TM Reader s Search button, or link directly to any Bookmark topic. Click any Bookmark to link directly to the relevant text Click Search. Type the text you need. Click Search. Your search results will display with links to the relevant text. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

14 14 PDF files are readable from Adobe s free Acrobat Reader software, available at ParishSOFT Online Resources In addition to user guides, offers many tools to help you find the answers you need. Query Library Get instant access to queries that we ve built for other users. Customize those queries as you like to get just the report you need. Complete instructions are available... just log in at and click the ParishSOFT Query Library link.

15 GETTING STARTED, CHAPTER 1 15 ParishSOFT Forums Put collaboration to work for you. Use ParishSOFT forums to discuss business practices, get insights on ministry strategies, ask a question about your software, or post any other topic that might benefit you. Register today at Technical Notes and FAQs Find quick answers to common questions... just log in at and click the Technical Notes & FAQs link. End-of-Year FAQs We know you have much to do at year-end, so... we ve made it easy to get the answers you need on-demand... just log in at support and click the End-of-Year FAQs link. Choose the topic you need. For even more help with end-of-year processing, we offer a fast-paced, 90-minute End-of-Year Essentials training course (click the Training link on for available dates and online registration). You can also download the complete training guide any time from the Training Manuals link (see below). Training Training courses are available in many formats that let you learn the way you want, when you want, at the pace that is right for you. Register for courses any time at Contact Support Our outstanding support team is available per the terms of your software license agreement. us at support@parishsoft.com or complete the form available on support under the Contact Support link. Call us toll-free at OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

16 16 Set Up Offering & Pledges Program ParishSOFT s Offering & Pledges Module handles both regular contributions and the income received for pledges, tithes, and capital campaigns. If you are setting up your ParishSOFT Offering & Pledges program for the first time, please use the processes listed below as your guide. to illustrate the core requirements of the Offering & Pledges Module. For example, you must have funds set up in your chart of accounts before you can post payments or contributions from members. Once your database is set up, you will complete these tasks in the order that makes sense in your organization. For regular contributions from the families and members in your church, use the Regular Contributions Setup Process. For pledge campaigns, use the Pledges and Capital Campaign Setup Process on page 17. Regular Contributions Setup Process This manual documents each of the following tasks in the regular contributions setup process: 1. Add Family and Member Information, pages 25, Add Funds to Chart of Accounts, page Post Contributions and Payments, pages Run Reports, page 116, Appendix A. The process steps for setting up an offering and pledges program are listed sequentially Begin Regular Contributions Setup Process Add Family and Member Information Add Funds to Chart of Accounts Post Contributions and Payments Run Reports End Regular Contributions Setup Process

17 GETTING STARTED, CHAPTER 1 17 Pledges and Capital Campaigns Setup Process This manual documents the following process for managing pledges and capital campaigns. 1. Add Fund(s) to Chart of Accounts, page Add Pledge(s) (includes amount, payment schedule, and statement schedule), page Create Pledge/Contribution Statements for pledging members, Appendix A, page Post Pledge Payments without a Batch, page Run Reports, Appendix A, page 116. The process steps for setting up an offering and pledges program are listed sequentially to illustrate the core requirements of the Offering & Pledges Module. For example, you must have funds set up in your chart of accounts before you can add member pledges to that fund. Begin Pledge or Capital Campaign Setup Add Fund(s) to Chart of Accounts Add Pledge(s) Create Pledge/Contribution Statements Post Payments to Pledge(s) Run Reports End Pledge or Capital Campaign Setup Once your database is set up, you will complete these tasks in the order that makes sense in your organization. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

18 18 Back Up Your ParishSOFT Database ParishSOFT provides a Backup utility to protect your data. Regular internal and offsite backups provide you with the means to recover data in the event of data loss or damage. Check with your parish System Administrator to determine who is responsible for performing regular system backups and to choose a backup schedule for your organization. Recommended Backup Practices Use Scheduled System Backups to run regular backups of your database. Minimum recommended backup schedule is one system backup per week to an external, offsite location. Check the location where the backup file is being stored as well as your Backup History on a regular basis to ensure the backup is performing properly. Run regular backups to an external location to protect against any natural disasters or other property loss. External locations may include removable media (i.e., ZIP disk or CD-R) that you store offsite or ParishSOFT s secure FTP server. Document your ParishSOFT backup policies and locations with your other internal office procedures. Database File Name and Location PSData.mdb is the main database file that contains all parish data. This file can be located on a single computer, a computer that doubles as a workstation and a network server, or a dedicated file server within your network. Your PSData.mdb file s location depends on the type of system installation and database load you have completed. On a properly installed and configured ParishSOFT system, the backup utility will automatically detect the location of the PSData.mdb file. Click the About menu from the main window of your application to see the location of your PSData.mdb file. Network System Backups If you are using a network installation of ParishSOFT, any workstation on the network that has access to the ParishSOFT applications can back up the database for all users. Each backup will create a zipped duplicate of your PSData.mdb file. The file will be stored in the file path or FTP location that you specified in the Database Backup Scheduler screen.

19 GETTING STARTED, CHAPTER 1 19 Run Scheduled System Backups When you schedule your database to perform automated system backups, both your local computer and the system that has the main PSData.mdb file must be running for the backup to complete successfully. If you are running a network installation of ParishSOFT, your PSData.mdb file may be stored on a system other than your own (see Database Name and Location on page 18). Use the following procedure to schedule automatic system backups. 4. On the ParishSOFT System Info screen, c lick the Perform Backup button to open the Database Backup and Scheduler screen. Your backup location may differ from this example. 1. Click About menu > ParishSOFT System Info. 5. Select your Data Backup Schedule by checking the days of the week on which you wish to run backups. Backups will default to the drive letter of your ParishSOFT installation. Backup folders will be created automatically for each day of the week, e.g., [Your database location]\parishsoft\backup\monday. 2. Check the Assign box > Yes to assign a computer to be the Master. The Master performs auto backups and synchronization (if applicable, with your diocese). The Master can be yours or another computer on your network and must be powered up to run scheduled system backups. 3. Click Yes to start pssyncbackup, and then minimize the pssyncbackup application. 6. If you wish to back up to ParishSOFT s FTP server, check the FTP box. You must also have your FTP Backup Parameters intact and WebCONNECT must be online these parameters populate during your installation. 7. Check the Enable Auto-Run Backup on Master Computer box to allow backups to run automatically. 8. Click Close to save your backup schedule. ParishSOFT will create a zipped duplicate of your PSData.mdb file on the weekday, time, and file path or FTP location that you specified in the Database Backup and Scheduler screen. When you first set up your OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

20 20 backup schedule, check the backup folders and your Backup History to ensure that your backups are running successfully. Periodic checks will ensure that your backups are running regularly. Run Immediate Backup Complete the following procedure to run an immediate backup of your ParishSOFT database. 1. Click About menu > ParishSOFT System Info > Perform Backup button to open the Database Backup and Scheduler screen. 2. Click the Backup Now button. Your PSData.mdb file will be immediately copied into a zip file (e.g., PSBackup.zip) and stored in the file path or FTP location specified in the Database Backup and Scheduler screen for the current weekday. Your backup location may differ from this example. The Backup History displays the backup log. 2. Click the FTP Backup tab. The URL address should be parishbackup.com. A change to the FTP backup information in one module will transfer to all other ParishSOFT modules in your system. Enable WebCONNECT Either Online or Offline will display at the top-center of your WebCONNECT Management screen to indicate whether WebCONNECT is enabled or disabled. If WebCONNECT is already Online, click the Close button. If WebCONNECT is Offline, click the Enable/Disable WebCONNECT button. Set FTP Backup Parameters Your ParishSOFT software installs with FTP backup parameters already established. You can view your FTP Backup parameters in the following location. Your ParishSOFT system must be configured with the correct FTP backup server information and be powered-up and online to run a successful scheduled or immediate backup to the FTP site. 1. Click About menu > ParishSOFT System Info > WebCONNECT Setup button.

21 GETTING STARTED, CHAPTER 1 21 Privileges for Users ParishSOFT gives Parish Administrators the tools to maintain a system that permits access and protects sensitive information where needed. Any given user will have only those rights that the administrator chooses to grant. Your ability to access data in ParishSOFT modules depends upon the user privileges established for your login. Your parish has one or more Parish Administrators who set up logins and control privilege assignments. This Administrator has Privileges to All Data. This User Can Update Family Records and Time & Talent Ministry Assignments He Cannot Access Any Contributions or Banking Data. Only users with Parish Administrator privileges can grant access rights to other users within your parish. Parish Administrators can view all data in your ParishSOFT database. View Your User Privileges 1. Click the Staff menu. 2. Click View Your Privileges. Checkmarks indicate privileges assigned to your login. Security of Contributions and Banking Information Access to family banking information is available only to users who have the Edit Bank Accounts privilege assigned to their logins. Family Giving History and Member History records are available only to users who have the View Giving History privilege assigned to their logins. Any parish banking information (an account associated with a particular fund) is available only to users who are Parish Administrators. In addition, family and parish banking information, credit card data, and security verification numbers (e.g., CVV or SVC code on the back of a credit card) are encrypted within the database using strict security protocols. Fund Permissions Administrators assign fund permissions separately from other, general login permissions. See Set Fund Permissions, page 52, for more information. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

22 22 Tuition Permissions Administrators check the Tuition box to grant users access to any tuition-designated funds. Individual funds can be designated Tuition funds by checking the Tuition Fund box in the Fund Details. See Add Funds to Chart of Accounts, page 55, for instructions. Request User Privileges Users who try to perform functions for which they do not have privileges will receive a message from the system indicating that they are not authorized to perform this function. If you need privileges not currently assigned to your login, please contact your Parish Administrator to request access. System Security For the security of your data, we recommend the following practices: Grant only the required privileges not every staff member needs access to contributions and banking information. Give Edit/Add rights only to those responsible for managing the organizations and members in the database. Require users to change their passwords from the default of pass; and safeguard all passwords. Disable privileges for anyone who resigns or should no longer have access to your data (click Manage Staff List > check the Acct Disabled box). Never share logins.

23 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS CHAPTER 2

24 24 Family and Member Information Data Structure Overview The family hierarchy shown below illustrates how family and family member information is organized within the ParishSOFT database. Within a family, each family member gets her own record of general personal information, sacraments, and student records. Family information is the foundation of your ParishSOFT database. Family and family member data that you set up in ParishSOFT s Family Information screens carry over into all other ParishSOFT modules. Database Management Tips Because family and member information impacts all other ParishSOFT functions, consistent, accurate data entry for each family and member will ensure that you get the most from your ParishSOFT software. Establish a style for your member and family records document this style for your staff so that the many people who add information to your database will do so consistently. Styles can make your data and reports look more professional. For example, decide whether to use an ampersand or the word and in your mailing name. Decide whether to use courtesy titles like Mr. and Ms. in member records. Ask your parish staff to contact members if registration information is incomplete or missing. Complete records will save you time in the long run. Parishes use the Religious Education Module to manage student records and tuition; Time & Talent for ministries, volunteers, and scheduling; Offering & Pledges for contributions; and Electronic Giving for EFT contributions.

25 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 25 Add New Family Families and members must exist in your ParishSOFT database before you can record their contributions or pledges. The following procedure is required only if you have licensed the Offering & Pledges Module without the Family Directory Module AND have not yet set up family and member records in your database. If you have licensed both the Family Directory Module and Offering & Pledges Module, you may add families and members to your database from either module. If you have already set up family and member records in your database, you may skip this task and turn to Add Fund(s) to Chart of Accounts, page 55. If you are using ParishSOFT s Family Directory Module, and have already added families and members to your database, turn to Add Funds to Chart of Accounts, page 55. criteria will display in the list view below the Select the Family/ Member field. (Diocesan records are searched only if your parish is synchronizing with the diocese.) When you set up family information, you will enter parent names and the information required to communicate with the family via telephone, mail, and . Create New Family Record 1. From the Membership Pledge Records screen, click the Add button located top-left of the screen (or use the Families menu > Add New Family option). The Families screen will open. 2. Click the New Family button located bottom-left of the Families screen. 3. Enter the last name, first name, or city (or partial data) in the corresponding fields on the Find Family screen. 4. Click the Submit Search Criteria button. Families within the parish or diocese who match your search 5. When no search match is found, click the Create New Family button. Click Yes to create a new local family record in your database. The Family Information screen will open. When a search match is found: a. Non-Synchronizing Parishes: double-click the family name to view and edit the record. b. Synchronizing Parishes: select the family name and click the Add to This Parish button. The family will be imported as Unregistered in your parish (unless you check the Register Selected Family... box located top right of the Find Family screen). OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

26 26 6. Enter family information (see Family Information Screen Data Field Descriptions on the following page for guidelines). 7. Click Update > Yes to save the new family s record and create member record(s). 8. Complete each family member s information; add any additional family members. See pages for instructions on completing individual member records and adding new family members. Color Coding in Search Results When you search for a family to add to your database, the family names that display in your search results are coded by color on the Find Families screen: green family is registered and in your local database pink family is not registered but is in your local database This manual lists screen fields in <Tab> order. In any ParishSOFT screen, click in the upper-left-most field and < Tab> through the screen fields for fastest data entry. black family data are not local (i.e., from elsewhere in the diocese). If your search results return a matching family displayed in either green or pink, they already exist in your database; and there is no need to add them. A family name displayed in black has a record that is local in another parish in your diocese. See Import Family from Diocese, page 31, for more information on importing a family record. Family Information Screen Data Field Descriptions Each data field on the Family Information screen is described below in < Tab> order. Decision-making guidelines are provided for many of the data fields. To begin, click in the Last Name field in the upper left corner of the screen, < Tab> through each field and enter all available, applicable data on the new family member. Family Name(s) Family ID ParishSOFT automatically assigns the next sequential Family ID number. Last Name Last name for the family record.

27 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 27 First Names First Names of the primary adult(s) in the household (e.g., Brian and Catherine). Note: edits to one name field will not result in automatic changes to other name fields. Mailing Name ParishSOFT automatically combines the First Name(s) field with the last name. Edit as needed. Address ParishSOFT lets you store up to three addresses per family: home, mailing, and other. Click the Home, Mailing, or Other tab to enter each respective address. You designate which address is the primary one. Informal Name Use Auto Fill for first and last names, or type the informal name per your parish style. Formal Salutation Use Auto Fill for courtesy titles (e.g., Mr. and Mrs. Amos), or type the salutation per your style (e.g., Brian and Catherine Amos). Informal Salutation Use Auto Fill for full first names (e.g., Brian and Catherine), or type the desired salutation per your style (e.g., Brian & Cathy). Auto Fill Click to populate the Informal Name, Formal Salutation, and Informal Salutation automatically using the default styles. The screen below shows fields populated using Auto Fill. Primary Address Defaults to Home. The address selected in this field will be the one used in reports and mailings. Options are available for the following. Home family residence address Mailing post office box or alternate mailing location Other summer home, temporary move, or snowbird address (i.e., for those who spend the winter in warmer climates). Use this option when a family wants mail sent to an address other than its home or mailing address. Address Enter the street address on line #1. Enter any additional address data on line #2. ZIP Enter the ZIP Code. The city, state, and area code will automatically display once you press <Tab>. Find Postal Code Locates U.S. city, county, state, and ZIP Code information based on your search criteria. Click the Find Postal Code button to open the City Lookup screen. Enter your search criteria into the like-named fields, OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

28 28 and then click Search. Your search results will display on the City Lookup screen. Click to select the desired data, and click Accept to populate the address fields of your Family Information screen. City ParishSOFT automatically enters the city to match the ZIP Code. Area Code Defaults for the ZIP Code entered. Edit if needed. Phone Family s phone number. Enter the last seven digits of the phone number without area code, then press < Tab>. ParishSOFT automatically converts the phone number to the XXX-XXX-XXXX format, and adds the Area Code. Phone and Primary Phone The phone number entered with the Home Address will default as the primary phone for the family and all members. You may edit this number on the Family Information screen and apply your change to all family member records if you wish. Edits to this field do not carry backward to the Phone field. Emerg. Ph. Emergency phone number and extension. Desc Description for the emergency phone number (e.g., Cathy s cell). address for the family. Individual addresses are available for each family member in member records. Non-registered families may have active members who are available to participate in ministries and education programs. Active and ActOther members are available for ministries and education programs and are included in the reports for those modules. Family Status Family Group Options available from this lookup table include: Active the default Family Group status. Active families are those in which one or more members is also designated with an active status. Inactive a family is inactive when all members are designated with a status of either inactive or deceased. See Family Member Screen Data Field Descriptions, page 34. Ministers Only family member works at this parish, but the family is active in another parish. Moved family has moved. Religious Ed Only family participates only in religious education program. Family may or may not be registered. Staff staff member with no other family members in the family record. Currently Registered Family Selected by default when adding a new family. Uncheck this box if the family is not formally registered with your parish. Currently registered families are included in all reporting. Unregistered families are not included in Family Directory or Census reports.

29 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 29 Membership Date/Unregistered Date Defaults to date when family information was entered in database. Edit if necessary. When you unregister a family, this field stores the Unregistered Date. If the family later registers in your parish, the original Membership Date will be restored. Parish of Registration Parish in which the family is registered. If a family is registered in another parish, your edit rights will be restricted to the records that your parish creates and owns (i.e., envelope numbers, Time & Talent scheduling, Contributions, and Student Record). The parish of registration displays in the Registered column on your Family Directory screen. Notes The notes section has five tabs for you to add and view information about the family. Notes tabs are available to users who have the permissions listed in the Restrictions column in the table shown right. Family Photo Find Photo Lets you browse your hard drive, CD, or other area for the family s picture. Click OK to transfer the picture to the Photographs folder in your ParishSOFT directory. Enlarge Displays the family s picture in more detail. Remove Deletes the picture from the family s record. Publish Flags Use these fields to keep designated family information unlisted. Uncheck one or more of the publish flags if the family wishes to keep its phone, , or address unlisted. Parishes that synchronize must publish all or none (i.e., uncheck all boxes) to make unlisted family data unavailable to other Tab Notes Pastoral WorkGroups Health Info Log File Uses and Restrictions of Notes Tab Use General information about the family. Pastoral staff's confidential notes about the family. Displays workgroups to which the family belongs. Health insurance information for the family. Lists when family record was last updated. Restrictions Available to users who have permission to view the Family Directory. Available only to the following users: pastor, associate pastor, deacon, pastoral associate, pastoral administrator, DRE, director of youth ministry, director RCIA, music minister, or principal. Available to users who have permission to view the Family Directory. Available to users who have permission to view the Family Directory. See Manage Staff List, in the Quick Start and Install Guide. Not editable. parishes in your diocese. You cannot publish the name but not the phone number if you are a synchronizing parish. (red) Data that your members wish to remain unpublished display on screen with the text in red. This is the default screen display setting for your unpublished family records. Normal data display in the same fashion as published data. Unpublished phone, , and address information is not distinguished from any other data in your system when you apply the Normal setting. Invisible data do not display within your family records. This setting identifies at a glance which families have unpublished information in their records. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

30 30 Banking Information Edit Bank Info Users with privileges to Edit Bank Accounts click this button to open the Family Banking Information screen, where they can add family bank account number and routing information or credit card information. Licensed Electronic Giving Module users may check the Automatic Withdrawal Enabled box to enable Auto Withdrawal. Envelope Number Send Contrib. Env. Check box to indicate contribution envelopes should be sent by mail. All registered and unregistered families with a checked Envelopes box will be included in your Envelope Report and Envelope Export. Env. # This field populates when you type an integer (i.e., number) into the field, click the Next Avail Envelope # button, or choose a Skipped Envelopes number. No alphabetical characters or symbols are allowed. Member envelope numbers are available from the Offering tab in the member record (see page 40). Diocesan ID Diocesan identification number or code. This field populates automatically for AIM users who are synchronizing data with their diocese therefore, the AIM-licensed parish may not edit this field. Annual Gift $ Annual tithing amount pledged by the family. Skipped Envelopes Click to view skipped envelope numbers. Giving History Displays the selected family s giving history for the current year, by fund, and for the lifetime of the family. Records are visible only to users with View Giving History privileges. Map Code Geographical code of up to 30 alphanumeric characters that identifies the family s home address. Third-party vendors offer mapping programs that analyze your membership addresses and code them by location. info@parishsoft.com for referral information. Last Updated Displays date of the last record update. Save/Create Record When your data entry is complete, or when you want to save, click the Update button on the lower-right corner of the Family Information screen. Update creates the family record in the ParishSOFT database. Click Yes to create member records for the family member or members whose first names you entered on the Family Information screen. Complete the Records for New Family Members The member record(s) you create using the Add New Family procedure will have only name and phone number data. Click the tab of each primary adult member of the family. See page 34 for guidelines on how to complete the fields in the member record. Use the Add Family Member procedure on page 34 to add any additional family members to the family record. Edit Family Record To edit a family record, open the record, click the Families tab, and make any necessary changes. Click Update to save. Related Tasks Add Family Member, page 34. Search for Family, page 46.

31 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 31 Import Family from Diocese criteria will display in the list box below the Select the Family/ Member field. This functionality is available only to parishes that synchronize with their dioceses. When you Add a New Family to your database, ParishSOFT searches your local parish and your diocesan databases to see if the family record already exists. If a match is found, you may import the record into your local parish database. If no match is found, you may add the new family. Benefits of Diocesan Import Use this timesaving feature to add a family and member records without having to enter data. You can add the new family as either registered or unregistered in your parish. Family and member information and sacrament records are imported on-demand directly into your database. This utility allows family and member records to be transferred and/or shared across the diocese. It also helps to keep duplicate family records out of the diocesan database. No confidential financial or student records, account information, envelope numbers, or time and talent ministry records will be imported. Import Family 1. From the Families screen, click the New Family button to open the Find Family screen. 2. Enter the family last name, first name, or city (or partial data) in the corresponding data fields on the Find Family screen. 3. Click the Submit Search Criteria button. Families within the parish or diocese who match your search 4. When a search match is found, click to select the record you wish to import. Then click the Add to This Parish button. When no search match is found, click the Create New Family button, then click Yes to create a new local family record in your database. 5. Decide whether you wish to register this family in your parish. Selected families will import as Unregistered unless you check the Register selected family to this Parish box located top right of the Find Family screen. Checking the box adds the selected family as Registered in your parish and unregisters the family in its previous parish. 6. Click the Add To This Parish button. Note that this button is available only when the family is not already in your parish database. 7. Open the family record and edit any family or member information as needed. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

32 32 Color Coding in Search Results When you search for a family on the Find Families screen, the family names that display in your search results are coded by color: green family is registered and in your local database pink family is not registered but is in your local database black family data are not local (i.e., from elsewhere in the diocese). If your search results return a matching family displayed in either green or pink, they already exist in your database, and there is no need to add them. A family name displayed in black is registered in another parish in your diocese. Edits to Consider Remember that if the family has moved from another parish, the address, phone numbers, and information may need to be updated. The envelope numbers will be zeroed out when you import the family s records from another parish. If you wish to assign an envelope number, click the Next Avail Envelope # button (on the Family Information screen for families and on the member Offering tab for members). Data Availability for Synchronizing Parishes If you have an online Internet connection with your diocesan server, you will benefit from on-demand movement of data through the parishes within your diocese. For example, when you import a family s record from another parish, it will be available to you (i.e., synchronized) immediately. If you are making ParishSOFT database updates without an online Internet connection, your changes will show up at your diocese only after the next scheduled or ondemand synchronization occurs. Your system administrator can run an on-demand synchronization from the master AIM computer if necessary. View Diocesan Import Records If your imported family does not display immediately on your screen, click the View Families Recently Updated button on your Find Family screen to open a list of families recently updated from the diocese. Data synchronization speed is dependent upon the speed of your parish s connection to the diocesan server and network bandwidth. Imported family data will display once synchronization completes. Do NOT make multiple attempts to import a family s record. If you choose to leave your newly imported family as not registered, the family record will display the name of the parish of registration in the Registered? field, visible from the Family List. You may register a family in your parish at any time by checking the Currently Registered Family box on the Family Information screen.

33 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 33 Ownership of Imported Records When you import a family s record and it remains unregistered, you cannot edit any census or sacramental information about the family or its members. You can, however, create your own parish records for envelope numbers, time & talent ministry assignments, contributions, banking, and student records these records are saved locally to your parish database and are NOT shared with other parishes via synchronization. Thus, when a family is registered in one parish but participates in another, each parish can track and report on its separate and privately-held student records, contributions, and ministry assignments. If You Import a Family s Record in Error If you have imported a family s record and registered them in your parish in error, you must contact the family s home parish and ask them to open that family s record and check the Currently Registered Family box to re-establish that family s registration in that parish. You can then delete that family from your database. The parish of registration will continue to OWN the family census records and member sacrament records; and any changes made by that parish office to those records will be synchronized, updated, and shared (per the record s Publish Flags settings) at the diocesan level with other parishes that have a shared interest in that family s data. To gain full ownership of a family record, just make them registered in your parish (check the Currently Registered Family box). Registering an imported family in your parish changes its registration status to unregistered in their former parish and makes your record the prevailing record for diocesan updates and synchronization. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

34 34 Add Family Member Families can acquire new members in many ways. Birth, adoption, custody changes, or parents moving in with children are a few common examples. When a family grows, so must its family record in your parish database. When you add a family member, you will enter individual membership status, name, birth date, contact information, and sacrament records. In addition, each member can have her own student record, envelope number, contribution record, and ministry records Create Family Member Record From the Family Information screen, complete the following steps: 1. Open the family record. (From the Membership Pledge Records screen, click the Add button to open the Families screen. Search for and select the family, and click the Family Details button.) 2. Click the Members tab. 3. Click the Add button. 4. Click Yes to confirm that you wish to add a new member to the selected family s record. 5. Enter member information (see Family Member Data Field Descriptions, beginning on this page for more information). 6. Click Update to save or click Close to save and exit the record. Edit Family/Member Record To edit a member record, just open the family record, click the Members tab, select the member s name, and make any necessary changes. Click Close to save and exit. In any record, click the Families and Members tabs to toggle between the family and member records as needed. Family Member Screen Data Field Descriptions Member data fields are described below in <Tab> order. Fields listed with a preceding asterisk are available only if applicable (e.g., date of death is available only if member is deceased). Beginning with the Status field in the upper left corner of the screen, tab through each field and enter all available, applicable data for the new family member. Status Active default status. Member is available for ministries and education programs. Inactive member is registered but is not active in parish. Inactive members are not available for ministries or education programs. Deceased member name is not available for ministries and education programs. Deceased status keeps deceased member s record with the family record. See page 42, for other updates required for deceased members and their families. ActOther member is of a different faith but is available to participate in parish activities, ministries, or education programs. Unknown status not known.

35 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 35 *Religion Members of your parish are assumed to be Catholic unless designated otherwise, so this field is available only if the member s status is Inactive or ActOther. To edit the religion, choose another option from the alphabetical list. Religion is a configurable lookup table (see Manage Lookup Tables, page 48 to edit the options in the list). *Date Deceased Field is available only if member s status is Deceased. Enter the date of member s death. Gender Type <M> for Male or < F> for Female. Birth Date Enter member s date of birth. ParishSOFT accepts several date formats (including jul or 7/4/96) and converts them to MM- DD-YYYY (e.g., equals July 4, 1996). The member s age is automatically calculated according to the birth date. Role For diocesan reporting, ParishSOFT requires that at least one adult in the family be designated either Head or Husband or Wife. A family may have two adults, both designated heads of family. For members other than head, husband, or wife, determine each member s role by thinking in terms of his or her relationship to the primary adults in the household. For example, a parent who lives with a son and daughter-in-law would be designated Mother or Father. Options include: blank (no title), Adult, Daughter, Father, Foster Daughter, Foster Son, Grandchild, Granddaughter, Grandfather, Grandmother, Grandson, Head, Husband, Mother, Son, Stepchild, Unknown, or Wife. Name (Title, First, Goes By, Middle, Last, Suffix): Title defaults to Mr. and Mrs. when you Add New Family and enter two primary adults in the First Names field on the Family Information screen. Choose one of the following options from the lookup table: blank (no title), Brother, Deacon, Dr., Fr., Save mouse clicks with keyboard shortcuts. In any lookup table, type the first letter of the list option you need, then <Tab>. When two or more options begin with one letter (i.e., grandmother, grandfather), type <G> until the correct option is highlighted in the list. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

36 36 Judge, Master, Miss, Mr., Mrs., Ms., Reverend, and Sr. Title is a configurable lookup table. See Manage Lookup Tables on page 48 to edit the options in the Member Titles list. Goes by member s nickname (e.g., legal first name is Robert but member uses Rob). Suffix choose an option if applicable (e.g., Jr., MD, PhD, Sr). Suffix is a configurable lookup table. See Manage Lookup Tables, page 48, to edit the options in the Member Suffix list. In families where members have different last names, note that each member screen provides a field for the member s last name. A member s last name will default to the last name entered for the family (see table below), but you may edit as appropriate. For example, if John Smith and Mary Cooley have two children (e.g., Billy Smith and Susie Cooley), ParishSOFT allows you to enter the correct last names for Mary and Susie. Family Last Name Smith Default Member Last Names John Smith Mary Billy Smith Smith Susie Smith Address address for member. Edit Member Last Names as Required Okay Mary Coole y Okay Susie Coole y *Special Needs? Check box to indicate that a special need exists. Enter a description of the special need (e.g., allergy, handicap, requires wheelchair access) in the field that appears to the right of the check box (field appears only when box is checked).

37 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 37 General Info The General Info tab provides a screen to enter contact numbers (with extensions, if applicable), career and education information, native language, and a photo of the family member. Descriptions of the fields available on the General Info screen are listed below. Contact Information The home phone defaults from the number entered on the Families screen. Enter other applicable contact numbers and extensions for the member. this Member Click to open an form addressed to the selected family member. Username This field was added to accommodate webbased registrations and functionality available in future product releases. Username and password will eventually allow your members to do ministry scheduling and other tasks directly from ParishSOFT. Change User Password Click to assign a password to a member or to change an existing password. Vendor Integration ID ParishSOFT provides this field to allow users to connect their ParishSOFT records to a system provided by another vendor. Your parish can use this field for general storage if needed. This field is not editable to synchronizing parishes. First Language Type <E> for English. Or type the first letter of another language to scroll through the languages available from the alphabetical lookup table. Language is a configurable lookup table. See Manage Lookup Tables on page 48 to edit the list options. Find Photo Lets you browse your hard drive, CD, or other area for the member s picture. Click OK to transfer the picture to the Photographs folder in your ParishSOFT directory. Enlarge Displays a larger photo. Remove Deletes the picture from the member s record. Career Type Member s profession. For children, enter Student or leave this field blank per your parish style. Career type is a configurable lookup table. See Manage Lookup Tables on page 48 to edit the list options. Details Type the member s employer or any other information per your parish s database management style. Grad Year ParishSOFT calculates the high school graduation year of the member based on date of birth. Edit if needed. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

38 38 Grade Calculates based on the Grad Year. Grade advances to the next grade on July 1 of each year. If you want your students grades to advance on a different date, please contact ParishSOFT support at (866) for instructions on editing your ChangeOverDate entry. School Select the name of the school from the lookup table. See Manage Lookup Tables on page 48 to edit the list options. Education Select any option (e.g., Bachelors, High School, Masters). Edit the options in this configurable lookup table using the Manage Lookup Tables procedure on page 48. SS Num For privacy and security purposes, ParishSOFT recommends that you enter only the last 4 digits of a member s social security number. AuxID Student identification number or code per your parish style. Notes General notes about the member. Click Update to save. records as required by Catholic canon law for each member of your parish by clicking the Edit/View Sacramental Details button. See Populate Sacraments for Your Members in ParishSOFT s Family Directory Module User Guide for step-by-step instructions on viewing and editing sacramental details for your members. Time & Talent Time & Talent information is available to those parishes that have purchased ParishSOFT s Time & Talent Module to manage ministries and ministry scheduling. This screen will display ministries in which the selected member is involved. You can add, edit, and delete ministries from a member record from this screen. See your Time & Talent Module User Guide for stepby-step instructions. Sacraments The Sacraments tab, available from each member s record, displays summary information for the sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation, as well as the RCIA Process. You can track complete sacramental

39 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 39 Student Record The Student Record interfaces with ParishSOFT s Religious Education Module and displays any Religious Education programs in which the member is involved. The record also displays the member s transcript, listing past classes in which the student has been enrolled. The Student Record is also where a student s catechist can enter information about his Knowledge, Attitude, Grade Point, Attendance, and whether to promote him to the next grade in the following year. Users of the Religious Education Module may enroll a student in a class, change class registration, or delete classes from student records using the Add, Edit, and Delete buttons on this screen. If you are using the Religious Education Module to manage your religious education program, please see your Religious Education Module User Guide for step-by-step instructions on registering students in classes and entering and managing student record data. Only staff members with permission to edit/ view the Religious Education information will see this tab. It will be hidden from other staff members. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

40 40 Offering The Offering tab gives you a place to assign individual member envelope numbers and view a member s contribution history. Descriptions of the fields available from the Offering tab are listed below. Send Contribution Envelopes Check the box if the member should receive envelopes by mail. All members with a checked Envelopes box will be included in your Envelope Report and Envelope Export. Envelope Number This field populates when you type an integer (i.e., number) into the field, click the Next Avail Envelope # button, or choose a Skipped Envelopes number. No alphabetical characters or symbols are allowed. Giving History For users with logins that have the View Giving History Privilege assigned, this button displays the selected member s giving history for the current year, by fund, and for the lifetime of the member.

41 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 41 Import Family Member and click the Search button. To accommodate the dynamic nature of parish families, ParishSOFT provides an import function that lets you move a family member to another family within the database. Import is useful for the following circumstances: Member grows into adulthood and moves to her own residence. Member marries. Married couple separates. Child member experiences a custody change. Import Member Into Family Complete the following steps to import a member record to another existing family s record in the database. 1. Open the family record for the family that will receive the new member record. 2. Click the Members tab. 3. Click the Import button to open the Members screen. 4. Type the name of the member you wish to import in the Search field, 5. Select the member s name and click the Accept button. 6. Click Yes on the popup screen if you are sure you want to import the selected member into the family. When you click Yes on the popup screen (step #6 above), the complete member record will be imported into the family. Click the tab containing the imported member s first name, and edit any member information if necessary (e.g., home phone, last name, etc.). Related Tasks Edit Family/Member Record, page 34. Search for Family, page 46. When an adult child transitions to her own family, you can use the existing member data to create a new family record you need not re-enter any data. Add New Family to create a new family record. When asked to create member records, click Yes. Then Import the member record(s) using the procedure on this page. When done, Remove the one or two duplicate, incomplete member records that were created automatically for the family. To open a family record, click Manage Membership Pledge Records > Add Family. Select the family record and click the Family Details button. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

42 42 When a Member Dies Church membership records have historic value, so when a member of your parish dies, his member information must be kept in the database. The family and member records of the deceased and his spouse can easily be edited to reflect the change in membership status. Member and family records of the deceased should not be removed or deleted from your Family Directory. Change Deceased Member Status 5. Click the Sacraments tab > Edit/ View Sacramental Details button > Funeral tab. Enter funeral information. 6. Click the Offering tab and uncheck Send Contribution Envelopes. The deceased status keeps a member s record with the family information but removes the deceased from the list of available active members. Deceased members are no longer included in parish census or mailings. Be sure to edit the family record to remove the deceased member s name from all family name fields (see the following page for instructions), so that it does not appear on mail sent to the family. 1. Open the deceased member s record in the Family Information screen. 2. Click the member Status field in the upper-left of the member record on the Family Information screen. Edit Records of a Surviving Spouse 1. Open the surviving spouse s member record in the Family Information screen. 2. Click the Sacraments tab for the surviving spouse. 3. Change the Status to Deceased. Press <Tab>. This designator leaves the member record in the database, but the member name is not made available for ministries and education programs. 4. Enter the date of death in the Date Deceased field, which appears to the right of the deceased Status field. 3. Click the Edit/View Sacramental Details button. 4. Click the Matrimony button on the Sacramental Details screen. The Matrimony screen will open. 5. Set the marital Status to Widowed.

43 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 43 Edit Family Information of a Deceased Member If the Family Record Contains Surviving Family Members Use this procedure to edit the deceased member s family record and ensure that mailings to the family do not include the name of the deceased. 1. Open the deceased member s family record on the Family Information screen. 2. Edit all name fields as needed to remove the name of the deceased member. If There are No Surviving Members in the Family Record 1. Open the deceased member s family record on the Family Information screen. 2. Click the arrow in the Family Group lookup table located in the lower-left of the Family Information screen. 3. Click Inactive to change the Family Group status. 4. Uncheck the Currently Registered Family field to move this family record from Registered to Unregistered status. 5. Uncheck the Send Contribution Envelopes box to remove the family from your Envelope Report and Envelope Export. The family record will remain in the Unregistered membership for the parish, but the family will no longer be included in parish census and mailings. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

44 44 Register/Unregister Family About Registered and Unregistered Designations A registered family is formally registered with your parish. Currently registered families are included in all reporting and in diocesan family count and census statistics. In the majority of U.S. dioceses, a family can be registered in only one parish at a time. An unregistered family has either not formally registered, is officially registered in another parish, or has family members who are all deceased. All of the unregistered family and member information remains in the unregistered families area of your ParishSOFT database for historical purposes. Register/Unregister a Family from Family Record Complete the following steps to open a family record and change a family s registration status. 1. On the Families screen, double-click on the name of the family whose record you wish to edit. 2. Click to Uncheck the Currently Registered Family box to give the family an unregistered status; or check the Currently Registered Family box to make the family registered. Unregistered families with active members are prime candidates for growing your parish membership. Proactive communication could generate new memberships for your parish and result in more accurate member and census data. 3. Click Yes to confirm that you wish to change the registration status for this family. 4. The system will prompt you to change all individual family member status descriptions to Inactive for unregistered families or to Active for newly registered families. Click Yes if you wish to change all individual family member status descriptions. Click No to leave individual member status designations unchanged. 5. Change the Family Group status as needed (see page 28 for a description of the options in the list). 6. Click Update > Close to save your family/member record changes. ParishSOFT will record today s date in the Unregistered Date field. 7. Remove the family from any workgroups. Edit student records as needed for any members who have left Religious Ed classes (click the member s Student Record tab). If any family members served in ministries, edit your Time & Talent ministers as needed (click the member s Time and Talent tab). Unchecked Currently Registered Family box indicates an unregistered family. A checked box indicates a registered family.

45 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 45 Register/Unregister a Family from Family List Right-click on a family name in the Family List and select Mark Family Registered/ Not Registered. You will not be required to click through a popup screen to confirm your change. The text that displays above the Selected Family s name and address in the upper-right corner of your screen will change immediately to either Registered or Not Registered. status allows a deceased member s record to remain in family information. See When a Member Dies, page 42, for database updates required for deceased members and their families. ActOther member is of a different faith but participates in parish activities/parish life. ActOther members are available for ministries or education programs. Unknown status not known. Several combinations are possible for Family Group status, Member Status, and Registration status. Only Active or ActOther members are available for ministries and education programs (applicable for users of the Religious Education and Time & Talent Modules). Interaction of Registration, Member, and Group Statuses The Registered and Unregistered status designations apply to an entire family record. Individuals within a family are also separately assigned one of the following status designations: Active default status. Indicates that member is available for ministries and education programs. Inactive member is registered but is not active in parish. Inactive members are not available for ministries or education programs. It is possible, however, to have an active member within an unregistered family. Use this combination for a family whose members participate in your parish but are registered in another parish. A common example of this is a family registered in St. Mary whose children attend religious education at St. Joseph. Individual member status is independent and takes precedence over a family s registration or the Family Group status. Family Group status options are described on page 28. Deceased member name is not made available for ministries and education programs. Deceased OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

46 46 Search for Family ParishSOFT provides search utilities to let you quickly locate families within your database. The Offering & Pledges Module provides three screens from which you can search and find family names: Membership Pledge Records, Contribution Posting, and Families. Examples of searches within each of those screens are provided in the instructions below. Search from Membership Pledge Records Screen Family searches on the Membership Pledge Records screen are performed on a selected fund basis, so the system will search only the list of families who have pledged to the selected fund. 1. Select the Pledge Fund containing the list of pledging families that you wish to search. 2. Click in the blank field above the Families of Selected Fund list. 3. Type your search criteria, last name, followed by first name, until that name is selected (i.e., highlighted on screen). The example shown on the Membership Pledge Records screen (above) shows William & Kathryn Gabriel have been located from the list of pledging families. Search from Contribution Posting Screen Searches from the Contribution Posting screen are performed on the entire ParishSOFT database by the default setting of Last Name or by the filters you set prior to your search. Search by Name or Envelope Number 1. Choose a Search Category (i.e., Last Name, Envelope #, Diocesan ID). 2. Choose a Membership Filter (i.e., registered, not registered, or both). 3. Type your search criteria in the text field above the Membership Filter (i.e., Last Name, Envelope #, or Diocesan ID). 4. Choose the correct name from the search results shown in the list view. The example shown on the Contribution Posting screen (right) shows the Gabriel family has been located from the database of both registered and not registered families. No selected match means that no family record for your search criteria exists in the filtered database. No selected match means that no family pledge record exists for the selected fund.

47 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 47 Search from Families Screen Searches from the Families screen are performed on the entire ParishSOFT database. Users apply a membership filter to the database to search by family name for families who are either registered, not registered, or both (i.e., searches both registered and not registered families). 1. Select one of the following Membership Filters from the dropdown menu: registered, not registered, or both. Search for Sacrament Sponsor, Witness, or Parent Searches from the Sacramental Details screen are performed on the entire database from any member s Sacramental Details. 1. From the member record s Sacraments tab, click Edit/View Sacramental Details. The Sacramental Details screen will open. 2. Click the button located next to the Sacramental Details field of your choice to open the Sacrament Member Search lookup screen. 2. Click in the Search by Last Name field above the Membership Filter selection. 3. Type your search criteria, last name, followed by first name, until that name is selected (i.e., highlighted on screen). No selected match means that no family record for your search criteria exists in the filtered database. 3. Type the person s last name. 4. Click the Search button. 5. If a match exists, double-click the person s name to add her to your selected Sacramental Details field. To open the Families screen, click Manage Membership Pledge Records > Add Family button. The Search by Last Name field is located in the upper-left of your screen. If no match exists, type the name of the person into the Sponsor, Witness, or Parent field. Note that if you are searching for a Celebrant who is not in your database, you must add the Celebrant s name to the lookup table, then return to the member s sacrament record and choose the name using the search button. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

48 48 Manage Lookup Tables ParishSOFT provides a Lookup Table management utility that lets you configure the options in the following lookup tables in your software: Career Types Celebrants Contribution Types Education Ethnicity Faith of Baptism Family Groups Gift Solicitation Languages Member Suffix Member Titles Religions Schools Staff Type Lookup tables for synchronizing parishes are owned and managed by the diocese. If you are synchronizing data with your diocese, you cannot change any of the diocesan-controlled tables; you can, however, add new options to your lookup tables. Edit Lookup Table Records You can edit lookup tables from two locations in the application: the Family Information screen s Members tab or from the About menu. 1. From the Offering & Pledges screen, click About > ParishSOFT System Info > Lookup Tables to open the Lookup Tables screen. From the Family Information screen s Members tab, click the Manage Lookups button. 2. Click to select the name of the lookup table you wish to edit from the list of lookup tables, located in the upper-left of the Lookup Tables screen. Add, Merge, or Delete records using the procedures that follow.

49 FAMILY AND MEMBER RECORDS, CHAPTER 2 49 The top row in the Lookup Table Records is the default selection for a particular lookup table, or drop-down list. When you edit lookup tables, leave the top row blank to avoid populating data fields with erroneous default selections. 4. Click Yes to confirm the move. Add Lookup Table Record To add a lookup table record: 1. Click Add. 2. Type the name of the new lookup table record in the Add/Edit Lookup Record screen. 3. Click OK. 4. Click Update to save. Merge Lookup Table Records Merge replaces one record with another in all member records in your database. This function is useful for replacing a duplicate record, a misspelled record, or a record whose description needs editing. ParishSOFT recommends you merge records prior to deleting a record from a lookup table. The figure below illustrates merging and replacing the career type Fireman with Firefighter/EMS. To merge lookup table records: 1. Click on the Lookup Table Record you wish to merge (before you ultimately delete the record). 2. Click in the Move to field lookup table to select the Lookup Table Record that will receive the data. 3. Click the Merge Records button. 5. Click OK to exit the Records were merged successfully! popup screen. 6. Delete the record whose data you just merged using the procedure described below. Delete Lookup Table Record Before you delete a lookup table record, ParishSOFT recommends that you first merge that record with another so that the data within member or family records will be updated. To delete a lookup table record: 1. Select the record you wish to delete from the Lookup Table Records data, located on the left side of the Lookup Tables screen. 2. Click the Delete button, and click Yes to confirm. 3. To merge this record with another, click Yes and follow the procedure in the previous section to merge records. If you have already merged records, click No. 4. Click Yes to permanently delete the record from the database. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

50 50 Members Create an message addressed to your selected family or member. The this Member button is available to you only if the selected member has an address in the database. First Time Users If you are using your ParishSOFT for the first time, set up your user name, password, and pop3 our outgoing mail server. These parameters will copy into your Staff Details. Your password is secure and will not be available to your system administrator be sure to record your password in a secure location. Ports ParishSOFT sends mail using Port 587 first. If the send fails, ParishSOFT will then try Port 25. a Member 1. From your member record, click this Member to open a ParishSOFT message addressed to the selected family member. 4. Type your message text. 5. Click the button to the right of the Attach field if you wish to attach a file to your Click Send. Edit Recipients To view or edit the recipients of an message: 1. Click the View Recipients button, located upper-right of your ParishSOFT Check the CC box if you wish to receive a copy of your Check the Personalized Message box to add a personal greeting to each recipient by Tag Name and/ or Last Name (e.g., Hello Bill Abbey). 2. Double-click on any address to check or uncheck names on your recipients list. Then click the Update button to save the changes to your recipients list. Checked names will receive your message; unchecked names will not receive your message.

51 CHART OF ACCOUNTS FUND MANAGEMENT CHAPTER 3

52 52 Manage Funds and Banking Information Security of Fund and Banking Information Access to Funds is restricted to Parish Administrators and users who have fund permissions assigned to their logins. See Set Fund Permissions, below, for more information. Set Fund Permissions Administrators can use the following procedure to grant Fund Permissions to other users of your ParishSOFT products. 1. From your Offering & Pledges Module s Funds screen, click the Set Fund Permissions button. Access to Parish Bank Account information is restricted to users who have Parish Administrator privileges assigned to their logins. For more information, see Privileges for Users, page 21. The Set Fund Permissions screen will open. 2. The list on the left under Available Staff Members shows the names of any users who have login rights to your ParishSOFT applications but do not have permission to access funds or perform any fund-related tasks in your database. The list on the right under Staff Members Granted > Grant permission to selected individual >> Grant permission to all < Remove permission from selected individual << Remove permission from all

53 CHART OF ACCOUNTS FUND MANAGEMENT, CHAPTER 3 53 Permission shows the names of users who have permission to access church funds these users can post contributions, manage pledges or batches, update fund details, or run any fund-based reports. 3. To grant permission to funds, select the name on the left and click the button. The name will be moved into the list of Staff Members Granted Permission. Users with System Administrator privileges will have access to all funds even if their user names do not appear in the list of Staff Members Granted Permission. Users who do not have Fund Permissions will receive messages like those shown below if they attempt to access funds, post pledges, or post contributions without the required login credentials. 4. To remove permission from a user s login, select the name on the right and click the button. Click the Refresh Display button any time during the permission edit process to reload and refresh the permissions displayed on the Set Fund Permission screen. Refresh Display shows a final view of your desired changes before you actually save them. Click the Update button to save your changes, or you can exit the screen to close without saving any changes. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

54 54 Open Funds Screen Complete the following steps to add a fund to your chart of accounts. To open the Funds screen, click the Add/Edit/Delete Funds button located at the top of your Offering & Pledges screen. The Funds screen will open. A selected fund that is set up for Electronic Giving will display the lightning bolt icon, with the text ***Online Banking Enabled***. Funds display in the list view click any column header to sort the list by that category. If a fund has an associated bank account, the Account # will display here (this screen is visible only to Administrators). Click the button to Add, Edit, or Delete a selected fund.

55 CHART OF ACCOUNTS FUND MANAGEMENT, CHAPTER 3 55 Add Funds to Chart of Accounts Parish Administrators use this procedure to set up Chart of Accounts Funds in the Offering & Pledges program. The fund Account Numbers match your accounting program s chart of accounts. Once you have created a fund, pledges and contributions can be posted to that fund. Complete the following steps to add a fund to your chart of accounts. 1. From the Funds screen, click the Add button to create a new fund in your chart of accounts. 4. If applicable, enter the QuickBooks Account Number associated with the fund. 5. Check the Tax Deduct box if contributions to this fund are tax deductible. 6. Check the Tuition box if the fund is to be used with the Tuition utility, available in the Religious Education Module. 7. Check the Enforce Pledge Requirement box if contributions to this fund must be posted to a pledge. 8. Enter the Fund Description (e.g., Offering). 9. Click Update > OK to save your new fund. Click Yes to grant fund permissions to all users with existing Contrib rights, or click No to assign privileges to particular users using the Set Fund Permissions button. The new fund will appear in the list view. 2. Enter your unique numeric identifier in the Account Number field [replace the text (New) with your account number]. 3. If applicable, enter the Diocesan Acct# for the fund. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

56 56 Fund Add/Edit Screen Data Field Descriptions Each data field on the Fund Add screen is described below in < Tab> order. Decisionmaking guidelines are provided for many of the data fields. To begin, click in the Account Number field in the upper left corner of the screen, < Tab> through each field and enter all available, applicable data for the new fund. Fund Details Account Number Enter fund s account number per your accounting system s chart of accounts. Diocesan Acct # Account number of the diocesan fund. QuickBooks Account Number Corresponding QuickBooks account number for this fund. This value defaults to your ParishSOFT account number. Select Bank Account for Online Banking Licensed Electronic Giving Module users can enable one or more funds for online banking transactions. See the Electronic Giving Module User Guide (available on for information on collecting and posting payments electronically from your software. Parish Bank Account Parish or school account into which contributions or payments to the selected fund will be deposited. You may electronically deposit income from a single fund to one checking account. Add Bank Account Opens the Parish Banking Information screen, which provides fields for bank information, auto deposit enabling, Fiserv ID, and account description. Click the Update button to save the online banking information. See the Electronic Giving User Guide for complete instructions. Tax Deduct Determine whether contributions to the fund are tax deductible per IRS regulations. Contributions and payments to tax deductible funds will appear on family contribution statements. A checked Tax Deduct box indicates that contributions to the fund are tax-exempt. An unchecked box indicates that contributions to the fund are taxable. Tuition Fund Tuition-designated funds can be accessed by users with the Tuition privilege assigned to their logins. See Tuition Permissions, on page 22 for more information. Enforce Pledge Requirement Check to designate this fund as pledge-based and require all contributions to be posted to a pledge. Fund Description Unique, descriptive name for the fund (e.g., Sunday Collection, Memorials).

57 CHART OF ACCOUNTS FUND MANAGEMENT, CHAPTER 3 57 Edit Bank Account Opens the Parish Banking Information screen so that you can change any options for the selected Parish Bank Account or Delete a bank account (deletes are permitted only if the account is not affiliated with any funds). Click Update to save changes. Banking Data Validation The Parish Banking Information fields are validated according to industry standards. Bank Account rules include: No spaces, special characters or alphabetic characters are permitted in routing numbers or account numbers. Routing number must be 9 digits. Routing number must begin with a 0, 1, 2 or 3. Account Numbers must contain from 4 to 17 digits. Hint text reminds the user that the routing number must come from a check and not a deposit slip. Helpful, context-sensitive tips display in red at the bottom of the screen to assist staff in completing the data fields correctly. Error messages identify any account information that doesn t conform to industry standards. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

58 58 Edit Fund To edit the description, tax deductibility status, or online banking information associated with a fund, complete the following steps: 1. From the Funds screen, click to select the fund you wish to edit. Fund selected in list view. Edit Restrictions for Synchronizing Parishes Synchronizing parishes cannot edit any AIM Campaign funds. These special fund types are managed by the diocese. See Enter Diocesan Pledges..., page 69, for details. Delete Fund The system lets you delete a fund only if no contribution or pledge records are associated with that fund. Delete a fund only if it has been entered in error using the following steps: 1. From the Funds screen, click to select the fund you wish to delete from the funds list. 2. Click the Delete button, and click Yes to permanently delete the selected fund from your chart of accounts. 2. Click the Edit button to open the Fund Edit screen. 3. Edit the fund details as needed. The field names will display in red if a change has been made to that field. 4. Click the Update button, located bottom-left of the Funds screen, to save. (The Update button will be active if a change has been made.)

59 CHART OF ACCOUNTS FUND MANAGEMENT, CHAPTER 3 59 Sort Funds in Chart of Accounts Your funds are sorted by Chart of Account number. Like other ParishSOFT screens, you can click on any column header in your list of funds to sort temporarily by Fund Description, Tax Deductability, QuickBooks Acct. #, etc. You can also click and drag to reposition columns. The sample Funds screen shown below was sorted alphabetically by fund description. Click on the Chart of Acct. # column header or click the Close to return to the default sort setting. Click on any column header to sort the funds list to your preference. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

60 60 Print List View Your Funds screen has a printer icon that lets you generate a configurable report of your Chart of Accounts funds. Click this button to create an instant report preview of the data that is currently visible on your screen. What you see on-screen (i.e., within the scroll bars of your current list view) is what prints in your report. 1. Display and sort your Funds screen as desired. (Click any column header to sort.) 2. Click the Printer icon to open a print preview of your report. 3. Click the Configuration button to select only certain columns or to add a title, change fonts, or adjust page setup options. Click OK to preview your list. 4. Print your list. Configure the List View Report Once you ve created your list view report preview, you can click the Configuration button to give your report the look you like. The fields on the Configuration screen are described below. Configuration Screen Data Field Descriptions Orientation Defaults to Landscape. Change this setting to Portrait if you have columns that would fit better on a Portrait page. Items Font Change the font of your report data from the default of Arial Narrow, Regular style, 8 point size to any of the available options if desired. Title Enter a title for your report. Font Select a font for the report title. Align Select the report title alignment option. Headers Align, Bold, Italic Defaults to Left alignment for your column headers. Other options include Center or Right alignment. Bold and Italic provide type style options for your column headers. Page Numbers Page numbers print by default (e.g., Page 1). If desired, use this field to edit the text that displays before your page number. Font Change the font of your report data from the default of Times New Roman, Italic style, 16 point size to any of the available options if desired. Align Select the page number alignment option. Select the Columns to Print Click on any column title to remove or add any columns in your report. Select All Click to select all columns to print. Deselect All Click to deselect all columns to print.

61 PLEDGES AND CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS CHAPTER 4

62 62 Manage Pledges ParishSOFT s Offering & Pledges Module lets you schedule, track, and report pledges, tithes, and payments for capital campaigns within your church or school. Open Membership Pledge Records Create and manage pledges from the Membership Pledge Records screen. To access this screen, do the following. From the main Offering & Pledges screen, click the Manage Membership Pledge Records button to open the Membership Pledge Records screen. Navigate the Membership Pledge Records Screen The example screen below displays families who have pledged to a sample fund. Use the Membership Pledge Records screen to manage pledge amounts, payment schedules, pledging families, and contribution posting. Manage Pledges to Diocesan Funds If your parish is synchronizing data with your diocese and you need to post pledges to a diocesan fund, please see Enter Diocesan Pledges from Your Synchronizing Parish, page 69. Selected fund from chart of accounts. Click on family name (in list at left of screen below) to display pledge record data. List of families who have pledged to selected fund. Online Banking setup for optional Electronic Giving Module. Create multiple pledges for a family/fund combination Update button saves changes and becomes active only when edits have been made. Post contributions or view lifetime Pledge Payment History directly from Membership Pledge Records screen.

63 PLEDGES & CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS, CHAPTER 4 63 Add a Pledge Pledges are made to particular funds, so before you can set up pledge schedules for families within your parish database, you must have the appropriate fund set up within your chart of accounts. For instructions on adding a new fund, see Add Fund(s) to Chart of Accounts on page 55. If your pledge fund is already set up, use the instructions that follow to enter one pledge record at a time into your database. To create multiple pledges at one time, use the Add Empty Pledge Records... procedure on page 71 to create $0 pledge records for every registered family in your database. If you are a synchronizing parish posting pledges to a diocesan-managed fund, please see Enter Diocesan Pledges from Your Synchronizing Parish, page 69, for special instructions. Once your pledge is entered, you can post subsequent contributions to it (see pages 79, 82) and print statements (see Appendix A). Create New Pledge Choose Family, Set Pledge Dates 1. From the Membership Pledge Records screen, select the Pledge Fund to which the family wishes to pledge (this field is located at the top of the screen). 2. Click the Add button and select the name of the pledging family from the family list, and click the Select this Family button. 3. Click in the Pledge Date field and type the date, or click the arrow and select the pledge date from the calendar. Press <Tab>. 4. Enter the 1 st Pmt Date, and press <Tab>. 5. If the family has made a down payment, enter that amount in the Down Payment field, and press < Tab>. The example screen (below-right) shows a pledge created in the demo database when a family pledged $600 to the Bishops Overseas Appeal. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

64 64 Calculate Payments and Schedule from Total Pledge Amount Use this procedure if the family has pledged a total amount to the fund (e.g., pay a total of $600 in monthly payments over 12 months). 1. Enter the total amount pledged (including down payment) in the Total Pledged field. 2. Select a payment schedule from the Due lookup table. 3. Enter the number of months Over which the family wishes to pay. If the family is paying using Electronic Giving, ensure the ACH Date, Payment Schedule, and months to Process ACH Transactions accurately reflect the family s desired payment plan. 4. Click the Calc Payment button to calculate payment amounts based on the pledge total and pledge schedule that you have entered. Calculate Total Pledged Based on Desired Payment Plan Use this procedure if the family has pledged specific payment (e.g., pay $50 monthly for 12 months). 1. Leave the Total Pledged Field blank. 2. Select a payment schedule from the Due lookup table. 3. Enter the number of months Over which the family wishes to pay. If the family is paying using Electronic Giving, ensure the ACH Date, Payment Schedule, and months to Process ACH Transactions accurately reflect the family s desired payment plan. 4. Click the Calc Total Pledge Amt button to calculate the Total Pledged based on the desired payment amount and schedule. 5. Click the Post Payment button to save the new pledge record. 5. Click the Post Payment button to save the new pledge record. All pledges are posted with a down payment of either $0 or the amount that you enter in the Down Payment field. The posting date = the Pledge Date. Save/Post a New Pledge Using the Post Payment button

65 PLEDGES & CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS, CHAPTER 4 65 Add Multiple Pledges for Family/Fund Combination Use this procedure to create multiple pledges for a given combination of family and fund. 1. From the Membership Pledge Records screen, select the Pledge Fund. 2. Select the name of the family making the additional pledge to the fund. 3. Click the Add Additional Pledge button, and click Yes to confirm. 4. Populate the pledge details as usual and click Post Payment to save the new pledge record. When a family has multiple pledges to the selected Fund, their family name will display twice in the list of pledging families. Click the name to view the pledge details. Add Pledge to Individual Family Member Use this procedure to set up a pledge from an individual member rather than a family. 1. From the Membership Pledge Records screen, select the Pledge Fund. 2. Click the Add button and select the name of the pledging family from the family list, and click the Select this Family button. 3. Choose the family member from the Posting for Family Member lookup table (located below the Pledge Date fields). Options in this list will include Entire Family and the first name of each family member. 4. Populate the pledge details as usual and click Post Payment to save the new pledge record. If a family and/or its members has multiple pledges to the selected Fund, their family name will display multiple times in the list of pledging families. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

66 66 Press Calc Payment or Calc Total Pledge Amt each time you edit pledge amounts or payment schedules. Membership Pledge Records Data Field Descriptions Data fields from the Membership Pledge Records screen are described below in the order in which they should be completed. Pledge Fund Fund from parish or school chart of accounts to which family is pledging or making payments. Add Link to family list, containing family and member records within your ParishSOFT database. Use Add to select the name of the family who is pledging to the selected fund or to create new family and member records in your database. Posting for Family Member This field defaults to the value Entire Family. If the pledge is for an individual family member, select her first name from this lookup table. ACH Date Date on which Electronic Giving transaction will occur. Choose from either the first, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, or 25th of the month. This field is available only for those families who have online banking information set up in the database. If a lightning bolt icon displays next to the Setup Online Banking button, the selected family is enabled for Electronic Giving. If your selected family s ACH Date field is dimmed, the family s account and/ or the selected fund is not enabled for Electronic Giving. Pledge Date Use one of the following guidelines consistently for your pledges: (1.) Date on which the family made their pledge or committed to pay, or (2.) Date when the parish began the campaign. The pledge date is also the date of the down payment posting. 1st Pmt Date Date of the first scheduled payment to the fund (after any down payment). Down Payment Dollar amount of check received with pledge. The down payment is automatically posted on the pledge date as a contribution to the fund. Pledges with no down payment reflect a $0 posting on the pledge date. In your statements and reports, the down payment is tracked apart from any pledge payment installments (i.e., the down payment does not count as the first installment payment to a pledge). Env#, Family, and Address Data from the family record populate these fields when you add a family to a pledge fund or when you select a family from the list of pledging families.

67 PLEDGES & CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS, CHAPTER 4 67 Total Pledged Total dollar amount that the family owes to the fund, including the down payment. Total Paid Amount calculates automatically by adding the down payment amount to any subsequent payments. Amount updates automatically when scheduled payments are posted. Calc Total Pledge Amt Calculate the Total Pledged based on the desired payment amount and schedule. For example, if a family wants to contribute $50 each month for 12 months, their total pledged will calculate at $600. Pledge Install Payment Amount [unnamed field] Balance Amount calculates automatically by deducting the down payment amount plus any subsequent payments from the total amount pledged. Payment Schedule Due Frequency of payments. Choose an option from the lookup table: Annually, Bimonthly (every 2 months), Biweekly (every 2 weeks), Monthly, One Time, Pending, Quarterly, Semi-Annually (2x/year), Semi-Monthly (2x/month), Weekly. Defaults to Monthly if an ACH Date is selected. Over Number of months over which the family wishes to pay, or number of months per the payment terms of the fund. Calc Payment Divides the number of months over which the family wishes (or is required) to pay by the frequency of payments (specified in the Due field). Also recalculates payments following edits to payment information. If the number of months is less than the payment frequency, the payment amount calculates as the total balance due. For example, if a family pays quarterly and pledges $100 over 12 months, their payments will calculate at $25 per month. If a family pays quarterly and owes $100 over a two-month timeframe, their payment will calculate at $100. For pledges where the Total Pledged is known, this field displays the results of the calculation made by clicking the Calc Payment button (i.e., payment installment based on Total Pledged). When a family has pledged a specific payment amount and schedule, enter the desired payment amount here and click Calc Total Pledge Amt to calculate Total Pledged based on payment amount and schedule. Limit ACH Withdrawals to Total Pledge Amount If this box is checked, Electronic Giving transactions will be processed only if a balance exists for a pledge. If you uncheck this box, ParishSOFT will process ongoing transactions, disregarding any amount in the Balance field for the pledge. Use this feature for your families who wish to make ongoing electronic contributions to a fund. Ensure that the Payment Schedule and months to Process ACH Transactions checkboxes accurately reflect the family s desired payment plan. Send Statements or Process ACH Transactions This field is called Send Statements for pledges from families not paying via ACH. It is called Process ACH Transactions for families who have an ACH Date set for their pledge payments. Check the desired months to indicate when statements should be OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

68 68 generated and sent to the family or, if enabled for Electronic Giving, when transactions should be processed. Statements or Electronic Giving transactions are NOT generated for unchecked months. Select All Places a check in the box of every calendar month under the Process ACH Transactions or Send Statements field. Deselect All Unchecks every calendar month under the Process ACH Transactions or Send Statements field. Post Payment Payment Date Date of posting. Defaults to current date. Postings on the Membership Pledge Records screen must occur after the Pledge Date and either on or after the date in the 1st Pmt Date field. Any payments posted prior to the Pledge Date will not be saved to the pledge record. Users may post payments prior to the date in the 1st Pmt Date field only from the Contribution Postings screen. See Post Contributions and Payments for instructions. Payment Amount Amount of payment to be posted. Calculates automatically per the pledge total, balance due, and payment schedule. Payment Type Choose from Cash, Credit, Soft Gifts, Stock Gifts, or Matching Gifts. Check # Record check number of payment. Comments Space for note, which will display in the Payment History field on the bottomright of the Membership Pledge Records screen. Post Payment Click to post a payment to the fund. The Post Payment button found on the Membership Pledge Records screen is equivalent to the Post Contributions function performed from the Contribution Posting screen in the Offering & Pledges Module. ParishSOFT lets you post pledge payments from either screen for your convenience. Pledge Pmt History Displays the Family Postings to Pledge Fund screen, which lists lifetime payment history for the selected family and selected fund. Posted payments may be deleted and payment amounts may be edited from this screen. To edit, select the posting, doubleclick in the Amount field, and edit the amount. Click OK to save changes to amount. Payment History Displays history of posted payments for the selected family for the current year. Setup Online Banking Users with privileges to Edit Bank Accounts click this button to open the Family Banking Information screen, where they can add the selected family s banking information and enable the family for Electronic Giving. Add Additional Pledge Creates a new pledge for a family that has already has one or more existing pledges to the selected fund. Select the family name, then click the Add Additional Pledge button.

69 PLEDGES & CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS, CHAPTER 4 69 Enter Diocesan Pledges from Your Synchronizing Parish This functionality is available only to parishes that synchronize. Parishes can post pledges to diocesan funds only if their diocese has made one or more designated AIM Campaign funds available to its parishes through synchronization using a custom query from ParishSOFT. If you have been asked by your diocese to enter pledges as part of a diocesan-managed AIM Campaign pledge campaign, the pledges and contributions posted by your parish to a diocesan AIM Campaign fund will synchronize back up to the diocese. Pledges to AIM Campaign funds have some special requirements: Down payments must be posted to a batch. The ACH Date field that lets families pay their pledges via Electronic Giving is not available for pledges to AIM Campaign funds. Create Batch and Post Diocesan Pledges 1. Select the AIM Campaign Pledge Fund. The AIM Campaign Batch field should display below your Posting to Family Member field. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

70 70 2. Click Batches menu > New Batch. Reconcile Your Batch 1. From the Membership Pledge Records screen, click Batches menu > View Batch List. The View List of Batches screen will open. 3. Type the description for your batch and click OK. ParishSOFT will assign a batch number that will precede your batch description text. 4. Enter the Final Batch Amount$ and click OK. This amount should be a total of all pledge Down Payments you will post. (Pledge totals are not included in the Batch amount.) 5. Click the Add button and select the name of the pledging family from the family list. 2. Click to select the batch you created for your diocesan pledge entries. If your Decl. Amt. field displays a $0 amount, your posted Down Payments reconcile with the Final Batch Amount$. If the Decl. Amt. field displays any non- $0 amount, there is an error in one or more posted Down Payment amounts or in the Final Batch Amount$. 3. Click the Print Posted Contributions for Selected Batch button. 6. Enter the complete Pledge Record Data (see pages for detailed instructions). 7. Click Post Payment to save the pledge record and post any Down Payment. Reconcile your batch using the procedure below. 4. Click the Print icon to send your report to your printer. 5. If your batch reconciles, attach the report to your batch of pledges. If the batch does not reconcile, correct the error and rerun the report. See Correct a Posting in Open Batch or No Batch, page 93; or Edit Batch Total, page 83, for instructions. 6. Close the reconciled batch see page 84 for instructions.

71 PLEDGES & CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS, CHAPTER 4 71 Add Empty Pledge Records for All Registered Families Use this shortcut in your church-wide pledge campaigns to eliminate the process of searching for family names, one at a time, and creating their pledge records individually. This procedure generates a pledge record for $0 for each registered family in your database who does not already have a pledge for the selected fund. As you receive pledge cards from families, you can quickly enter the pledge amounts and payment schedules. 1. Select the Pledge Fund on your Membership Pledge Records screen. selected family has a pledge for $0 for the fund if the family submits a pledge, simply update the payment and schedule fields as needed. What Happens if Pledges Already Exist for This Fund? If you have already created pledge records for some families, it is safe to Add Empty Pledge Records to your fund. Any existing pledges will be left intact and unchanged from their original state. Non-Pledging Families Families who do not pledge will simply show in your records with a $0 pledge. If you wish, you can delete those non-pledging families from the pledge fund. 2. Click the Add Empty Pledge Records for All Registered Families button. 3. Click Yes. 4. Edit the Pledge Date or click OK to accept today s date for the $0 pledges. All family pledges will have the Pledge Date that you specify in this field. The names of families with pledge records will populate the list on the left side of your Membership Pledge Records screen. The example screen shown lists the families set up with pledges to the Parish Endowment fund. The OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

72 72 Adjust a Pledge Use the pledge Adjustment to track any changes in original Total Pledged amounts. Pledge Adjustments will be reflected on pledge reports, such as statements and projections, and they will update the Balance due in the pledge record. 1. Open the pledge record you wish to update. Record Pledge Notes The Pledge Notes field tracks any adjustments that have been made to a pledge. ParishSOFT populates the Pledge Notes automatically with pertinent pledge adjustment information. When multiple adjustments to pledges are made, notes regarding the latest adjustment will be added to the bottom of the text field. 2. Click the Adjustment button. You can edit the Pledge Notes field to add any other important information that you wish to store with the pledge record. 3. Enter the revised Total Pledged amount. For example, if the original pledge was $500, and the family wishes to change that amount to $400, you would enter $400 as your Pledge Adjustment. You can also record and track pledge increases in this manner. 4. Click OK. 5. The Balance will update to reflect the calculation of (Balance = [Total Pledged - Total Paid] +/- Adjustment). 6. ParishSOFT will populate the Pledge Notes field to document the update to the pledge (e.g., Pledge Adjustment: $ on 01/28/09 8:21:24 AM).

73 PLEDGES & CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS, CHAPTER 4 73 Edit Pledge If a change in pledge amount, payment schedule, or Electronic Giving payment information is required, ParishSOFT lets you make those edits easily. The system then recalculates balances and payments for you when you press the Calc Payment button. 1. From the main Offering & Pledges Module screen, click the Manage Membership Pledge Records button to open the Membership Pledge Records screen (shown bottom-right). 6. Click the Update button to save your changes to the pledge record. The Update button will be available once you have made changes to the pledge. See page 66 for explanations of the data fields on the Membership Pledge Records screen. Fields You Cannot Edit Manually Fields in gray (i.e., envelope #, address information, total paid, and balance) cannot be edited. ParishSOFT automatically calculates the total paid based on posted payments; balance is calculated based on total pledged less posted payments. The address and envelope number populate from the family record ( Family Information screen). 2. Click to select the Pledge Fund from the lookup table at the top of the Membership Pledge Records screen. 3. Click to select the name of the pledging family from the family list on the left. 4. Edit pledge details as needed. 5. If the family pledged a total amount, click the Calc Payment button, or if the family pledged a specific installment amount, click Calc Total Pledge Amt. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

74 74 Delete Pledge If a pledge is entered in error, ParishSOFT lets you easily delete the pledge record. If a family has canceled their pledge, ParishSOFT recommends that you edit the total pledge amount to zero, recalculate payments, and leave the pledge record in the system. See Edit Pledge on the previous page for instructions. Delete Family from Pledge Fund Use the Delete Pledge procedure (left) to remove a family from a pledge fund, provided the family s pledge was entered in error. If the family has changed its pledge amount or payment commitment, edit the pledge data using the Edit Pledge procedure, page From the Membership Pledge Records screen, select the Pledge Fund from the lookup table at the top of the Membership Pledge Records screen. 2. Click to select the name of the pledging family from the family list on the left. 3. Click the Delete button to remove the family from the list of pledging families. 4. Click Yes to permanently delete the family s pledge record, or click No to cancel. The family s pledge record for your selected fund will be deleted from the database. Any posted payments or contributions will remain in the database as a permanent part of the family s contribution record. See page 66 for explanations of the data fields on the Membership Pledge Records screen.

75 PLEDGES & CAPITAL CAMPAIGNS, CHAPTER 4 75 View Family Giving History Click the Families menu > Family Giving History from the Membership Pledge Records screen. Family Giving History and Member History records are available only to users who have the View Giving History privilege assigned to their logins. See Privileges for Users, page 21, for more information. The Family Giving History screen has several viewing options that let you choose any combination of the following: Fund One Fund All Funds Year One Year All Years Click the Families menu > Family Giving History from the Contribution Posting screen. The Family Giving History screen is available from several areas in your software. Click the Giving History button on the Family Information screen. Select Print Options. Choose a specific year or All years. Choose a specific fund or All funds. Enter a Diocesan Target Goal Amount, Solicitation Info. View Tax Deductible or Nondeductible Funds. Click & drag from any corner to resize this screen. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

76 {Intentionally Blank}

77 POSTING CHAPTER 5

78 78 General Contribution Posting Guidelines When you receive payments or contributions, you must enter those amounts in your ParishSOFT database to post them to the proper funds and families. ParishSOFT offers batch and non-batch posting options. Batch posting is recommended for all contributions, credits and correcting entries because it provides for easier reconciliations, greater transparency, and better safeguarding of your church finances. Batch posting is recommended for export of ParishSOFT contributions into QuickBooks. Batch posting is required for posting to a diocesan-managed AIM Campaign fund (synchronizing parishes only). ParishSOFT recommends the following procedure for maximum accuracy and fastest data entry in posting. 1. Sort contributions by date, then by fund. Clip to separate by date and fund. You may include multiple posting dates in a single batch ParishSOFT lets you change the posting date for an individual entry as needed. 2. Create one or more new batch(es) for your contributions. 3. Enter dollar amounts in the Contribution Posting screen using the Post by Batch procedure listed on the following page. 4. Print report of your daily postings (see Reconcile Your Batch, page 83). 5. Match Posted Contributions Report of daily postings to deposits (see page 83). 6. Export your postings to your accounting program (e.g., CMS Fund Accounting, QuickBooks, spreadsheet or CSV) see pages

79 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 79 Posting by Family Member To post a payment from a specific family member, choose the member s name from the list. Members are grouped within the list by family last name. Your contribution reports will include all individual family member contributions in the family year-to-date totals. Families with Multiple Pledges Viewing Payment History Year-to-date contribution history is available from the Contribution Posting screen. Just select a family from the family list and click the Family YTD Contributions button. The Family Year-to-Date Contribution screen, shown below, will open, displaying posted financial contributions and payments in chronological order with the most recent postings listed at the bottom. If a family has multiple pledges to the selected Fund, you will be asked to choose the pledge to which contributions should be applied when you post. Click OK, double click the appropriate pledge record, and click Yes to save the posting. Posting Pledge Payments ParishSOFT lets you post pledge payments from either the Contribution Posting screen or directly from the Membership Pledge Records screen in which the pledge record is stored. The Post Payment button found on the Membership Pledge Records screen is functionally equivalent to Saving posted contributions on the Contribution Posting screen. The Contribution Posting screen lets you post pledge payments without any of the pledge date or first payment date restrictions that the Membership Pledge Records screen includes. Any payments posted prior to the date in the Pledge Date field will not be saved to the pledge record. Payments posted after the date in the Pledge Date field will be saved to the pledge record. You can edit posted payment amounts from this screen. See Correct a Posting in Open Batch or No Batch on page 93 for instructions. Rapid Check Number Entry Rapid Check Number Entry lets you post using the shortest possible loop of data fields that includes Check # data entry. For more information, see Set Data Entry Field Order for Posting on page 81. To use this feature, just check the Rapid Check Number Entry box located midright of the Contribution Posting screen. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

80 80 Set Posting Preferences The Preferences menu offers three options: Default to last contribution amount for the selected family Show members in list Include Memo field in entry order A check next to an option indicates that the option is enabled. No checkmark indicates that the option is not enabled. Default to Last Contribution Amount When your families or members tend to contribute the same amount with each gift, you can set your posting preferences so that the last contribution amount posted to that family or member automatically populates the Amount($) field. 1. From the Contribution Posting screen, post the first amount as usual. 2. Click the Preferences menu > Default to last contribution amount for the selected family. 3. Continue posting as usual. You can override the auto-populated amount if a family or member contributes a different dollar amount just edit the numbers in the Amount($) field as needed. Turn Off Default Amount Setting To disable the automatic contribution amount, choose your Preferences menu > Default to last contribution amount to deselect it. This option should now display under the Preferences menu without a preceding checkmark. Show Members in List This setting determines whether the family list view in your Contribution Posting screen includes just family names or family names and individual member names. Click Preferences > Show Members in List to enable (i.e., check) or disable this option. Include Memo Field in Entry Order Use this menu option to specify whether to include or exclude the Memo field in the data entry < Tab> order on your Contribution Posting screen. To change this setting, click Preference > Include Memo Field in Entry Order. This option displays under the Preferences menu with a preceding checkmark when Memo is included in the < Tab> order; no checkmark indicates that the < Tab> order will skip the Memo field during posting.

81 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 81 Get Fastest Data Entry with Rapid Check Number Rapid check number entry lets you post using the shortest possible loop of data fields while still including the Check # field (and, optionally, the Memo field) in your data entry. To use this feature, just check the Rapid Check Number Entry box located midright of the Contribution Posting screen. Then use your <Enter> or <Tab> key to move through the Amount($), Check #, and Save fields. See the table on this page for additional data entry options. Set Data Entry Field Order for Posting Use the Preferences menu and the Rapid Check Number Entry setting to customize your data entry to post transactions using the sequence and method that works best for you. The table below describes the various ways that you can set your data entry field <Tab> and < Enter> sequences using the Rapid Check Number Entry and Memo field options. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

82 82 Post by Batch All parishes should use batches to post pledge payments, contributions, credits and correcting entries because they provides for easier reconciliations, greater transparency, and better safeguarding of your church finances. Batch posting is recommended for export of ParishSOFT contributions into QuickBooks. Batch posting is required for posting to a diocesan-managed AIM Campaign fund (synchronizing parishes only). Use the procedures in this section to Create a New Batch, Post Contributions to a Batch, and Reconcile Your Batch. Create a New Batch 1. Click the Post Contributions button to open the Contribution Posting screen. 2. Click Batch Processing > New Batch. Post Contributions to a Batch The following procedure can be used to post any type of contribution. If the family or individual member has made a pledge to the selected Chart of Account Fund, pledge balances will be adjusted automatically. 1. On your Contribution Posting screen, click the arrow in the Chart of Account Fund lookup table and select the fund for your contribution posting. 2. Enter your Posting Date. This field will default to today s date. Edit if necessary. 3. Select your Batch # from the lookup table. 4. Enter postings by family or member and Save. Use the Search by last name, envelope number, or Diocesan ID to locate and select the contributing family or individual member. 5. Repeat until you have entered all contributions from your batch and your Declining Balance equals $0. The example screen below shows a $50 contribution from the Harris family ready to be saved and posted to batch # Type a Batch Description, the Final Batch Amount$, select the Batch Open Date, and click OK. ParishSOFT assigns a batch number that will precede your batch description. (If you sort offertory by Mass, include the Mass time in the description.) Post contributions to your batch using the following procedure.

83 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 83 Reconcile Your Batch The Declining Balance will adjust as you save each entry. You total posted contributions must result in a $0 Declining Balance. If your Declining Balance equals $0, you are ready to close your batch see the instructions on the following page. If you have a dollar amount in your Declining Balance field when you have finished posting, you must determine whether the error is in the Batch Total $ or in a posted entry or entries. Print a report of the posted contributions for your batch using the following procedure. Edit Batch Total 1. From your Contribution Postings screen, click in the Batch Processing > View List of Batches. 2. Click to select the desired batch. 3. Click in the Final Amt field and edit the dollar amount. 4. Click Update to save your changes. 1. Click Batch Processing > View Batch List. The View List of Batches screen will open. 2. Click to select the batch description you wish to investigate. 3. Click the Print Posted Contributions for Selected Batch button. See an example of this report below. 4. Click the Print icon to send your report to your printer. Compare your posted contributions report with your stack of contributions and determine where the differences are. Edit any postings that need corrections (see Correct a Posting in Open Batch or No Batch, page 93) or edit the Batch Total $ using the following procedure. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

84 84 Close a Batch A batch must be reconciled to a Declining Balance of $0 before you can close it. Once a batch has been closed, you cannot edit any batch details or any posted contribution data. Closed batches CANNOT be reopened. To close a batch, choose the procedure appropriate for the screen you are currently viewing. From your Contribution Postings screen, select the desired batch. Click Batch Processing > Close Batch. Click Update to save. Closed batches are not available for selection from the Batch # lookup table on the Contribution Postings screen. You can view and print detailed contribution reports for all open and closed batches at any time by clicking Batch Processing > View Batch List. Related Tasks Correct a Posting When Batch is Closed, page 92 Correct a Posting in Open Batch or No Batch, page 93 Manage Batches, page 96 From your View List of Batches screen, click the Status drop-down and choose Closed. Click Update to save.

85 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 85 Post Non-Cash Contributions Many parishes create a special fund to manage donations of non-cash items like goods and stock. If you do not already have a fund created for Non-Cash Contributions, a user with Parish Administrator privileges will need to create one (from your main Offering & Pledges Module screen, click the Add/Edit/Delete Funds button). 1. From the main Offering and Pledges screen and click the Post Contributions button. 3. Set the Payment type as needed (e.g., Stock, Soft Gifts). 4. Post as usual, entering the dollar value of the non-cash donation into the Amount field. 5. Type a note about the donation in either the Memo or Check# field. 6. <Enter> to the Save button and press <Enter> again to post. Repeat as needed to post the remaining contributions in the batch. 2. Select the Non-Cash Donations Fund, Posting Date, and Batch#. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

86 86 Post Matching Contributions The Payment type field offers a Matching Gifts selection that lets you designate any matching contributions made by a corporate or other business entity. To post a matching gift, complete the following steps. 1. From the Contribution Posting screen, select the Fund, Posting Date, and Batch#. 2. Enter the contribution details, selecting Matching Gifts as the Payment type. 3. Record a note about the matching contribution in the Memo field. 4. Click Save to post the contribution.

87 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 87 Post One Payment to Multiple Funds When a family contributes to more than one fund in a single payment, you can use the following procedure to post to the appropriate funds. 1. On the Contribution Posting screen, select the Chart of Account Fund, Posting Date, and Batch#. 2. Search by envelope number or family name and select the family making the contribution. 3. Type the first Amount($) you wish to post to the selected Fund. 4. Type the check number in the Check # field. 5. Press <Enter> TWICE if you have Rapid Check Number Entry checked; or THREE times if you have it unchecked) to save/post your entry. 6. Press <Enter> once again to move your cursor back to the Amount($) field and type the amount of the next contribution. 7. Choose the Chart of Account Fund appropriate for this contribution amount. 8. Type the same check number in the Check# field and Save to post your entry. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

88 88 Post Loose Cash Create Family Record for Loose Cash ParishSOFT recommends that you add a family to your parish database named Loose Cash or Anonymous to provide a way to post and report on loose plate collections. To add a Loose Cash family to your database, complete the following steps. 1. From the Contribution Posting screen, right click on the family list and select Add New Family. Post Loose Cash Contributions 1. On the Contribution Posting screen, select the Chart of Account Fund, Posting Date, and Batch#. 2. Select the Loose Cash family. 3. Type the loose cash total in the Amount($) field. 4. Save to post your entry (use your <Enter> key or click your mouse to save). 2. Search for Loose Cash and click the Create New Family button. 3. Populate the Last Name and First Name fields on the Family Information screen and Close to save. (Click Yes when asked to Create Member Records Now?, then Close.)

89 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 89 Non-Batch Contribution Postings The ParishSOFT system permits the posting of pledge installment payments and other contributions outside of the recommended batch controls. This section provides instructions for posting non-batch contributions using the Membership Pledge Records screen and the Contribution Posting screen. Pledge payment postings, whether posted within or outside of a batch, will update pledge balances automatically, as well as credit the appropriate funds and families in your ParishSOFT database. For instructions on posting pledge payments by batch, please see Post by Batch, page 82. Before You Post ParishSOFT recommends the following procedure for maximum accuracy and fastest data entry in posting: Post Pledge Payment from the Pledge Record Use this procedure to post any non-batch pledge payments on the Pledge screen. 1. Click the Manage Membership Pledge Records button to open the Membership Pledge Records screen. 2. Select the Pledge Fund to which the first batch of payments will be posted. 3. Select the name of the contributing family from the family list. Families/ members with multiple pledges will display multiple times in this list. 4. The Payment Date will default to today s date. Click to select a different date if needed. Postings must occur after the Pledge Date and either on or after the date in the 1st Pmt Date field. Any payments posted prior to the Pledge Date will not be saved to the pledge record. 1. Sort contributions and payments by date, then by fund. Clip to separate by fund. 2. Enter payments using the following Post Pledge Payment from the Pledge Record procedure. Payment Date and Payment Amount. Post Payment. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

90 90 5. The Payment Amount field will display the installment payment amount. The actual payment received may be different edit the Payment Amount if needed to match the family s payment. 6. Type the check number of other payment note in the Comments field. 7. Click the Post Payment button to post your entry. 8. Return to step 2 and repeat for each of the remaining pledge payments. If your pledge payments include contributions to more than one fund, be sure to edit the fund name in the Pledge Fund field as needed. Once you have posted the pledge payment, the Payment History field on the Membership Pledge Records screen will update with the date, amount, and comments. The screens shown below illustrate an example in which two payments have been posted, leaving a balance due of $ After you post a payment, the Total Paid, Balance due, and payment history are updated in the pledge record. ParishSOFT lets you post non-batch pledge payments only from the Membership Pledge Records screen. The Post Payment button found on the Membership Pledge Records screen is functionally equivalent to Saving posted contributions on the Contribution Posting screen. Batch postings are not allowed on the Membership Pledge Records screen, except for synchronizing parishes posting to diocesan-managed AIM Campaign funds. To post pledge payments using batches, please see Post by Batch, page 82. Posting Pledge Payments with Other Contributions ParishSOFT lets you post pledge payments from either the Contribution Posting screen or directly from the Membership Pledge Records screen in which the pledge record is stored. When you post pledge payments from the Contribution Posting screen, you can post those payments using Batches (see page 82). The Post Payment button found on the Membership Pledge Records screen is functionally equivalent to Saving posted contributions on the Contribution Posting screen. Posting dates, amounts, and comments display here in the Payment History field.

91 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 91 Post Contributions Without a Batch Use this procedure to post any non-batch contributions payments on the Contribution Posting screen. 1. Click the Post Contributions button to open the Contribution Posting screen. 2. Select the Chart of Account Fund to which the first sorted stack of payments will be posted, and press <Tab>. 3. Select the Posting Date, and press <Tab>. 4. Select the name of the contributing family or member, and press < Tab>. 5. Enter the Amount of the payment, Payment type (cash or credit), Check #, and, if applicable, and Memo. Press your <Enter> key to move between fields. 6. <Enter> to the Save button, and press <Enter> again to post. 7. Repeat for each of the remaining payments. Be sure to edit the Fund and Posting Date as needed. After You Post 1. Print your daily postings using the Date Range Contribution Report or the Daily Postings export available from the Contribution Posting screen. 2. Match Contribution Report of daily postings to deposits. 3. Export postings to your accounting software see Export Postings, pages Related Tasks Edit a Posting, page 93. Export Postings to Accounting Software pages Post by Batch, page 82. Post to AIM Campaign Funds, page 113. Print Contribution Reports, Appendix A, page OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

92 92 Correct a Posting When Batch is Closed If a payment or contribution amount has been posted incorrectly, and the original posting was made to a batch that is now closed, use the following procedure to post the credit using a negative amount, and, if necessary, to post the correct payment. Credit an Incorrect Posting 1. From the Contribution Posting screen, select the fund of the incorrect posting. 2. Click Batch Processing > New Batch. 3. Type a Batch Description, the Final Batch Amount$, select the Batch Open Date, and click Add. ParishSOFT assigns a batch number that will precede your batch description. Post Correcting Entry If you need to post the correct payment, use the following procedure to create another batch to post the correct entry. 1. From the Contribution Posting screen, select the correct fund for the posting(s). 2. Click Batch Processing > New Batch. 3. Type a Batch Description, the Final Batch Amount$, select the Batch Open Date, and click Add. ParishSOFT assigns a batch number that will precede your batch description. 4. Post the positive payment amount(s). 4. Post the negative amount(s) to credit the original, incorrect posting. The posting is now made to the correct fund using the correct date, and once the Declining Balance equals $0, you can close the batch.

93 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 93 Correct a Posting in Open Batch or No Batch 3. Select the transaction and click the Edit Selected Contributions button at the bottom of the screen. If a payment or contribution amount has been posted incorrectly, and the posting is not in a closed batch, users with Edit/Add Contributions permissions can edit one transaction or bulk edit a group of selected transactions. Edit One Posting Use this procedure to edit the date, fund, amount, check number, or contribution memo of one contribution entry. 1. On the Contribution Postings screen, click the Edit Contributions button. 2. Filter the list view using the options at the top of the Edit Contributions screen and click Search to display the transaction(s) you wish to edit. 4. Edit the transaction details as needed, enter a Reason for the change for audit documentation purposes, and click Save And Exit. 5. Verify your changes and, if correct, click Yes to apply the update to the database. Click OK on the popup. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

94 94 Bulk Edit Multiple Postings Bulk edit is a fast, easy way to fix several transactions that have been posted using the wrong date or fund. 1. On the Contribution Postings screen, click the Edit Contributions button. 2. Filter the list view using the options at the top of the Edit Contributions screen and click Search to display the transaction(s) you wish to edit. 3. Select the transactions you wish to edit, using the <Ctrl> key + mouse click or the Select All Contributions button and click the Edit Selected Contributions button at the bottom of the screen. 4. Edit the Date or Fund as needed, enter a Reason for the change for audit documentation purposes, and click Save And Exit. 5. Verify your changes and, if correct, click Yes to apply the update to the database. Click OK on the popup. Related Tasks Delete a Posting, page 99. Delete Last Posted Entry, page 101.

95 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 95 Process a Nonsufficient Funds (NSF) Check Create a Batch for the NSF 1. From the Contribution Posting screen, select the Fund and Date of the original posting. 2. Click Batch Processing menu > New Batch. Post the NSF Amount to the NSF Batch 1. Select the Chart of Account Fund and Posting Date of the original check. 2. Select the NSF batch from the Batch # lookup table. 3. Enter the negative amount in the Amount($) field. 4. Enter postings by family or member and Save. Repeat until you have entered all contributions from your batch and your Declining Balance equals $0. 3. Type a Batch Description, the Final Batch Amount$, select the Batch Open Date, and click Add. ParishSOFT assigns a batch number that will precede your batch description. 5. Enter NSF and the NSF check number in the Check # field. 6. Save (use your <Enter> key or click your mouse to save) to post. 4. Click OK. Post a NSF check as a negative amount to a NSF batch. Use the date of the original check posting. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

96 96 Manage Batches You can specify which batches are available for posting and how closed, open, and hidden batches display on your View List of Batches screen. View Batches By Date Range You can filter your list of batches by date range on the View List of Batches screen. Just enter start/ end dates in the By Date Range fields and click the Go button to refresh your list view. Only those batches created during your specified timeframe will display in the list view. To remove a date range and return to the full list view, click the View All button. 2. Type the End Date in mm/dd/yyyy format and click OK. Hide Batches Use this feature to apply a Hidden state to batches. This feature lets you remove batches from the list of batches available to accept postings without having to change the status of the batch to Closed. 1. Click the Hide Old Batches button. 3. Click Yes to change all Open batches older than your specified date to the Hidden status. Hidden batches are still visible in the list view on your View List of Batches screen. They are not available from any screen that permits contribution posting.

97 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 97 Change Batch Status Use this procedure to return a hidden batch to the Opened status or to Close a batch once it has been reconciled (i.e., balanced to zero). 1. On the View List of Batches screen, select a batch from the list view View Batch List You can view the list of batches or close a batch from two other locations in your software in addition to the View List of Batches screen. From the Membership Pledge Records screen, select the batch, click the Batches menu > View Batch List or Close Batch. 2. Change the Status as needed. Available batch statuses are: Opened, Closed, Hidden, and Submitted to AIM (only for parishes that synchronize with their dioceses). 3. Click Update to save. Once a batch has been closed, you cannot edit any batch details or any posted contribution data. Closed batches CANNOT be reopened. From your Contribution Postings screen, select the desired batch. Click Batch Processing > View Batch List or Close Batch. Click Update to save. The Membership Pledge Records and Contribution Posting screens also offer the option to Export Contributions for Selected Batch. See Export Postings, pages , for step-by-step instructions on exporting postings to your accounting program. Sort Columns in List View Like other list views in your software, you can click on any column header to sort your list of batches by any of the column categories. For example, click the Batch ID column to sort by ascending Batch ID number; click the column header again to sort by descending Batch ID number. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

98 98 Clone a Batch Use this procedure to clone a batch and its postings. If your parish is using a provider other than ParishSOFT to process your Electronic Giving transactions, you can use batch cloning to post recurring electronic contributions in bulk. 1. From your main Offering & Pledges screen, click the Post Contributions button. 2. Select Batch Processing menu > View Batch List. 3. Click the batch you wish to copy/clone. 4. Click the Clone/Copy Batch button > Yes to clone the selected batch and copy its postings. 5. Enter the new posting date for the batch and its associated posted contributions. 6. Enter the batch description (e.g., EFTOffertory ) usually the fund description with date) and click OK. 7. The batch transactions are now replicated and posted to the proper accounts using the date that you specified for the cloned batch. To view the cloned batch detail, select the batch name, and click Print Posted Contributions for Selected Batch.

99 POSTING, CHAPTER 5 99 Delete a Posting If a payment or contribution has been posted in error, and the posting is not in a closed batch, users with Delete Contributions privileges may delete the entry and repost if needed. Guidelines for Delete vs. Edit Delete a posting if the transaction was: Posted to wrong batch Credited to wrong family For other errors, you can simply edit the posting. Use the Edit Contributions button to change the date, fund, amount, check number, or contribution memo of any posted transaction that is not in a closed batch. See Correct a Posting in Open Batch or No Batch, on page 93 for instructions. How to Delete a Posting 1. On the Contribution Postings screen, click the Edit Contributions button. 2. Filter the list view using the options at the top of the Edit Contributions screen and click Search to display the transaction(s) you wish to delete. 3. Select the transaction(s) you wish to delete and click the Delete Selected Contributions button at the bottom of the screen. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

100 Click Yes on the popup. 5. Enter a Reason for the change for audit documentation purposes, and click OK. 6. Approve the Reason for the change, click OK, and proceed with the deletion by clicking Yes. 7. A final popup confirms that the selected transactions have been permanently deleted from your system. Click OK to close and return to the Edit Contributions screen. Other Delete Options 1. Click the Post Contributions button to open the Contribution Posting screen. Click OK on the posting date reminder screen. 2. Click either Daily Postings or select the applicable family and click the Family YTD Contributions button. 3. Click to select the payment you wish to delete. The example right shows Family Year-to-Date Contributions for the Amos family. Their payment of $45 is selected. 4. Click the Delete button. 5. Click OK to confirm that you wish to permanently delete the posting, or click Cancel. Re-post the entry if necessary using the appropriate posting procedure in Chapter 5 (pages 82 91).

101 POSTING, CHAPTER Delete Last Posted Entry If the last payment or contribution that you posted was entered in error, and the posting is not in a closed batch, you can delete just that entry directly from the Contribution Posting screen. 1. Verify the Last Entry listed on the bottom of the Contribution Posting screen is the one you wish to delete. 2. Click the Delete Last Entry button. 3. Click OK to confirm that you wish to permanently delete the posted entry. 4. Data from the posted entry will be set up for re-posting in the Amount, Date, and Fund fields on the Contribution Posting screen. Repost the entry if necessary. If no Last Entry detail is listed on the Contribution Posting screen, click the Daily Postings button to view today s entries. The last entry in the daily postings list is the last posted entry. Related Tasks Delete a Posting, page 99. Correct a Posting in Open Batch or No Batch, page 93. Post Contributions and Payments, pages Post Pledge Payments without a Batch, page 89. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

102 102 Import Postings from Lockbox If your church has licensed ParishSOFT s Import/Export utilities, you can save hours of posting time by importing contribution postings from your lockbox. The lockbox import lets you electronically post pledge and contribution records from your bank s data file rather than one at a time using the traditional, manual posting process. Lockbox import is ideal for churches that use a bank lockbox or an electronic giving provider other than ParishSOFT (e.g., Vanco, ParishPay, etc.). Templates with PS_ preceding the file name have been tested and proven fully functional with the relevant providers current lockbox data file formats. These files cannot be edited by any parish staff. This safeguard prevents staff from making inadvertent edits that could interrupt lockbox import functionality. Templates without PS_ preceding the file name can be deleted or edited to accommodate lockbox data file format changes from providers like Vanco and ParishPay. ParishSOFT may also update its PS_ templates to accommodate such changes to lockbox data file formats. ParishSOFT Templates ParishSOFT has developed several lockbox import templates that can be used to bring transactions processed through the following programs into ParishSOFT s Offering & Pledges Module: Online Giving ParishPay Vanco PS_OnlineGiving PS_ParishPay PS_Vanco The system also allows you to create new templates mapped specifically to the data files from your lockbox provider (e.g., your local banking institution). Instructions for creating new templates are provided on the following page.

103 POSTING, CHAPTER Compete One-Time, New Template Setup When you need to create a new template, a simple, one-time template setup maps data fields from your bank s data file to the ParishSOFT database. To set up a new template, complete the following steps: 1. From your Contribution Posting screen, click Batch Processing menu > Import Contributions from Lockbox. 2. Click the New button to create a new lockbox template. 3. Type the template name in the Lockbox Template field. 4. Click the Browse button, locate your bank s data file, and select it. This step will populate your Incoming File Data columns automatically with the column names from your bank s file. (Alternatively, you can view your bank s file in a separate window and manually type the exact column names into the Incoming File Data columns.) 5. Enter the Number of Mapped columns to create. This field determines the number of Incoming File Data fields that you can map to ParishSOFT database fields. 6. Bank data files may contain extraneous data that should not be imported, (e.g., text identifying the financial institution). Omit this information from your import by entering the number of lines to ignore in the Ignore the first line(s) (header lines) of incoming data field. Extraneous information in a data file is typically found at the top of the file. 7. Click the Browse button, locate your bank s data file, and select it. This step will populate your Incoming File Data columns automatically with the column names from your bank s file. (Alternatively, you can view your bank s file in a separate window and manually type the exact column names into the Incoming File Data columns.) 8. Enter the Number of Mapped columns to create. This field determines the number of Incoming File Data fields that you can map to ParishSOFT database fields. Once that template is saved, process your bank data file using the steps on the following page. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

104 104 Process Your Bank Data File to Post Electronically 1. From your Contribution Posting screen, click Batch Processing menu > Import Contributions from Lockbox. 2. Click in the Lockbox Template lookup field and select the template for your import. To set up a template, see instructions on the previous page. 5. Click the Browse button. Navigate to and select the data file you wish to import. 6. Click the Process button. During processing, ParishSOFT reads the data file and posts pledge and contribution records to the appropriate funds and families in your software-no manual posting is needed for records that import successfully. If there are any issues with records during the import process, you will receive a message that specifies the last error that occurred. You can then click the View Lockbox Report button to determine which records did not import. 3. If your template file does not specify a Fund or a Contribution Date for your import, choose the appropriate account from the Fund lookup table and set the Contribution Date. 4. Check the box labeled Place this fund/account into a batch.

105 POSTING, CHAPTER View Lockbox Report The Lockbox Report is a line item log file of the transactions that succeeded and those that failed during the processing of your bank's data file. Accurate records in your report will import successfully even if an error occurs elsewhere in the data import because of one (or more) inaccurate records. Common errors would include invalid Envelope numbers or Family IDs. To review your lockbox report, complete the following steps. 1. Click View Lockbox Report to view a Quick List of the report data. 2. Click the Close button to open a print preview of the report (see the example Lockbox Contribution Transaction Report shown below). Errors will be indicated with text that describes the error type. Successful transactions will display as line items without any error notations. The bottom of the report will list the Total Records processed, Total Errors, and the Total Successfully Processed. 3. Review your bank's data file and manually post any exceptions to the proper funds and families, making any corrections needed so that these contributions will process without error the next time you process a lockbox import from your bank. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

106 106 Export Postings to Accounting Program CMS Fund Accounting If you are a CMS Fund Accounting software user, you can create a comma-delimited file of your summary contribution information by date and chart of account ID. CMS can use this file to import financial information into its Fund Accounting application. 1. Click Utilities > Export to CMS Fund Accounting. 2. Enter the start date for your exported contribution data. A start date of 12/31/07, for example, will export postings from December 1, 2007 through the current date. 3. Click OK. A confirmation popup screen will tell you where your exported file was placed. Note the location and name of this file. 4. Click OK. 5. Use your CMS Fund Accounting procedures to import your posted contributions data into the software.

107 POSTING, CHAPTER QuickBooks ParishSOFT offers two options for exporting your Offering & Pledges postings to QuickBooks: Export from ParishSOFT Reports creates a file that can be imported into your QuickBooks software in a separate step. See page 107 for instructions. Export from the Utilities menu in the Contribution Postings screen writes selected contributions directly into your QuickBooks data file and does not require separate Import and Export steps. Instructions for this export are provided below. Export to QuickBooks from the Utilities Menu All transactions destined for QuickBooks export may be posted in batches, which can then be exported from ParishSOFT. Electronic Giving ACH transactions are automatically placed into a batch each time the parish Receives transactions. Tuition payments are automatically placed into a batch for the school year, and the QuickBooks export processes only those amounts that have not already been included in a previous export and flagged by the system. Exports from Tuition will include a contribution posting for each fund on the tuition statement. accounts receivable, income, or other current liability account types in QuickBooks. QuickBooks will record the amount in the Undeposited Funds (holding) account as well as in each individual account/fund in QuickBooks based upon what was selected and exported from ParishSOFT into QuickBooks from the export transaction(s). To export directly to your QuickBooks data file from the Contribution Postings screen, complete the following steps. 1. Run QuickBooks ParishSOFT must be able to establish a connection with QuickBooks in order to perform the transaction update. 2. Click the Utilities menu > Exports > Export into QuickBooks. 3. Click OK to verify that QuickBooks is running. 4. Select either a local (click Yes) or remote (click No) connection with QuickBooks. This process will transfer/export the funds from ParishSOFT into QuickBooks as either journal entry or receive payment transactions. Based on this, the accounts/funds that are being exported into QuickBooks must be set up as either OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

108 Specify the transactions you wish to export based on funds or batches. a. If by funds, enter the date range in the Start and End fields, and click the Display/Refresh Funds button. Select the funds to transfer into QuickBooks or click the Select All Funds button. The Selected Fund Totals will display the total amount of the funds selected. b. If by batches, filter the list view to display or omit batches that have already been transferred to QuickBooks. You can also choose to display either Open Batches or Closed Batches that were opened or closed during a particular date range. Click the Display/Refresh Funds button. Select the batches to transfer into QuickBooks or click the Select All Batches button. The Selected Batch Totals will display the total amount of the batches selected.

109 POSTING, CHAPTER Click the Export Into QuickBooks button to perform the online transfer/ export of the selected transactions into QuickBooks. in QuickBooks, and ParishSOFT will notify you with the following message: 7. Specify the default QuickBooks customer, clicking Yes for Parishioners or No to select a different customer. 8. Accept the log file name default by clicking Yes, or click No to rename the file. The system derives log file names from the current timestamp in yyyymmdd_hhmmss format (e.g., Updated_ _155042). 9. Once the export process is complete, the Undeposited Funds (holding) account plus each individual account/ fund that was selected will be updated ***Verify in QuickBooks that the funds transferred successfully. Errors During QuickBooks Export If the system encounters any errors such as an account that does not exist in QuickBooks or an account with the wrong Account Type, the system will notify you with error messages similar to those shown below. The export process will terminate and no data will be transferred to QuickBooks until the error is corrected and the Export process is run again. ParishSOFT does not transfer partial data to QuickBooks. Example export errors Account Query Error the system could not find a matching account in QuickBooks Account Setup Error the QuickBooks account type is set up incorrectly and must be changed to A/R, Income, or Other Current Liability. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

110 110 Viewing Log Files If you receive an error message, click on the View/Print Log Reports button to see which specific errors occurred. The example log file Updated_ _ shows three errors that we can correct in QuickBooks. Export Into QuickBooks Again Once the errors are corrected, select the same batch or fund transactions once again and click the Export Into QuickBooks button to resubmit. When your export completes successfully, your new log file will show no errors.

111 POSTING, CHAPTER Viewing the QuickBooks Funds for Deposit Report The report provides a summary by fund and by the associated contributions amount with a report total listed at the end of the report, and it is available from either the By Fund or By Batch processing option. To run this report, click the QuickBooks Funds for Deposit Report button in the lower left portion of the screen. The report example shown below is from a By Batch export. Note that the date range shown on the report will match the date range that we specified for our export. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

112 112 Spreadsheet or CSV 2. Choose an export option: You can export postings for a selected batch, today s date, or Family Year-to-Date Postings to an Excel TM or QuattroPro TM spreadsheet or to a.csv file. 1. From the Contribution Postings screen, click either the Family YTD Contributions (for selected family contributions) or the Daily Postings button (for all postings made today). a. To export to a.csv file, click the Create a CSV button. Specify the file path, type a name for your file, and click the Open button. From the View List of Batches screen, click the Print Posted Contributions for Selected Batch button or the Export Posted Contributions for Selected Batch to Spreadsheet button. Note the file path that displays in the message box, then click OK. b. To export to a new spreadsheet, click your spreadsheet icon again to view your selected posted contributions. or c. To export to an existing spreadsheet, click the Send report to an existing spreadsheet document radio button. Click the Browse button. Locate and select the existing spreadsheet file and click the Open button.

113 POSTING, CHAPTER Manage Postings to AIM Campaign Funds Post to AIM Campaign Funds Only parishes that synchronize can post contributions to diocesan AIM Campaign funds. If you have been asked by your diocese to post contributions as part of a diocesan-managed AIM pledge campaign, postings made by your parish to a diocesan AIM Campaign fund will synchronize back up to the diocese. All postings to AIM Campaign funds require batches. Submit AIM Batch to Diocese This functionality is only for parishes that are synchronizing with their dioceses. This utility allows parishes entering pledges locally to Diocesan AIM Campaign Funds to submit their AIM Campaign batch postings directly to the diocese. This process occurs automatically via the parish-to-diocese synchronization. AIM Campaign Funds batches are closed at the diocesan level and cannot be closed at the parish. Please contact ParishSOFT if your diocese wishes to employ this functionality. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

114 114 {Intentionally Blank}

115 REPORTS APPENDIX A

116 116 Standard Available Reports All standard reports that are available from the Offering & Pledges Module are listed below. To access these reports, click the Reports menu > ParishSOFT Reports. Select a report category as listed below. The index-style report tree shown below lists the standard report options that are available for each of the Offering & Pledges Reports Menu selections. Turn to the page number listed for instructions on creating each report. Examples of each report are provided. End-of-Year Checklist Update Snowbirds Audit Family Data Prior to Creating Any Statements Audit Funds for Accuracy Complete Postings for Previous Year Run Periodic Contribution Statements for Families Other End-of-Year Suggestions Contribution Reports Open the Contributions Menu Date Range Contribution Report Open the Date Range Contribution Reports Print Standard Report Print Detailed Report Print Detailed Report w/names Print Date Range Summary Report Print Mo-Qtr-Yr Summary Print Statements for One-Time Gifts Over $ Export a QuickBooks File Indiv Family Contrib Summary Create a Family Contribution Summary Report $0.00 Givers Menu Print $0.00 Givers Report Periodic Contribution Statements for Families Set Filter Options for Your Report Set Print Options and Choose Output for Your Report Contributions Detail Statements Contributions Summary Statements Average Per Sunday Statement Family Report Monthly Report Mailing Labels Print Pastor Report Pledge Report Contributions 3-Year Summary Contributions Monthly,Quarterly, Yearly 147 Contributions By Dollar Range Edit Body of Statement Text Unedited Templates

117 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 117 Pledge Reports Display Query All Pledges Print Report All Pledges Year Revenue Projection Year Revenue Projection Periodic Statement Past Due Report View/Print Month Report Print Statements Create Pledge Statements View/Print Labels Variance Report Variance Statements Variance Labels Multipledge Statements Envelope Utilities Check Envelope Data Before Sending to Your Envelope Provider Filter Families by Unregistered and Envelopes Categories Print and Review Envelope Report Envelopes to OSV or Other Provider Export Envelope File to Disk Client Requirements Envelope Number Maintenance Print Envelope Report Run Skipped Envelope Numbers Query 170 Custom Reports You can open an Access query view of any standard ParishSOFT report. From the query view, you can use Access to edit a report s appearance, change its content, or create a whole new, custom report. ParishSOFT s hands-on teletraining course on InDepth Reports takes you step-by-step through the process of manipulating and building custom reports. If you have not yet taken the InDepth Reports course, please visit to view the training schedule and register for the next available class. At the end of the class, you will be able to use Access to create reports using nearly any combination of data fields from your database. Display Access Query How Do I Customize My Reports? Export to Word or Excel Using OfficeLinks OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

118 118 Key Concepts Introduction ParishSOFT reports are easily manipulated to fit your parish s needs. This document provides instructions on how to generate reports from your ParishSOFT database. It also contains samples of the many reports that transform your data into useful forms, labels, and MailMerge documents. In addition to the standard reports shown in Appendix A, you can create your own custom reports using any of the Microsoft Access tables in your database. Open Reports Module To open family and member reports from the main Offering & Pledges screen: 1. Click the Reports button or menu option. 2. Click ParishSOFT Reports to open Main Reports Menu screen. 3. Select the desired reports menu option (e.g., Contribution Reports Menu, Pledge Reports Menu, or Utilities) and specify the report you wish to run, along with any filters that may apply. See examples in this appendix. Print Reports To print a report, generate the report that you want to print by clicking the appropriate buttons. From the Print Preview, complete the following steps. 1. Click File > Print. 2. Ensure the right printer is selected in the Name field at the top of the Print screen. 3. Click OK. Functions Available from Report Preview From a report Print Preview, you can Adjust the report view: zoom or view up to 6 pages on one screen Scroll forward or back to next consecutive page Scroll to first or last page of report Send report to a document or spreadsheet application using the Office Links tool Print whole or partial report to your printer. Report Formats You can print preview, print to hard-copy paper, or print-to-file any of the ParishSOFT Reports. Export formats for print-to-file include: Microsoft Access Word or Excel (using OfficeLinks) Text file (txt) Hypertext Markup Language (html) Rich Text Format (rtf)

119 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 119 Export Reports To export a report file to your document folder or a disk: 1. Click File > Export. 2. Select the Save As Type (e.g., html). 3. Choose the file path where you want to save your report file. 4. Type a name in the File Name field that will describe the report in a meaningful way. 5. Click Save. Close Reports Module Close Individual Report To close a report, click the X in the top right corner of the reports screen. Clicking on the X on the top right will close individual reports but will not close ParishSOFT Reports. Exit Reports Module To exit the ParishSOFT Reports Module, click Return to Main Menu or click the Close icon > Exit. Click Yes on the popup to close reports and return to your main application window. Export to Word or Excel Using OfficeLinks Create your report print preview in Access. Then click the Excel or Word icon to export your data to your selected format. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

120 120 End-of-Year Checklist These simple steps audit your records, help to ensure that your year-end Contribution Statements are as accurate as possible, and update addresses so that the statements are mailed to the right place. Update Snowbirds When families have Other addresses with From/To dates, the Snowbird Mailing Address Update scans those addresses and updates the Primary Addresses automatically. Audit Family Data Prior to Creating Any Statements This quick audit can save you time and money. Use this procedure to find and fix blank names or address fields in your family data before you mail any statements. 1. Click Reports > ParishSOFT Reports. 2. Click Census Menu > Family Filtering and Sorting. 3. Set Filters to: a. Registered? = Both b. Envelopes? = Both 4. Click the Show Results button. Your query will display. The Snowbird Update lets you ensure that mail (e.g., Contribution Statements) is directed to the right place even for families with seasonal or temporary addresses. 1. From your Family Directory Module, click Utilities > Update Snowbird Mailing Addresses to scan for snowbird mailing addresses in your database. 2. Click File > Refresh to refresh your Family Directory list view. 5. To find blank mailing names, click the Mailing Name column header, then click the Sort Ascending A-Z button to sort records alphabetically. Find and fix any blank Mailing Names in your Family Directory database. 6. To find blank Addresses, click the Address_1 column header, then click the sort Ascending A to Z button. Find and fix any blank Addresses in your database. 7. To find blank ZIP Codes, scroll to the right in your Query window and click the Zip column header, then click the sort Ascending A to Z button. Find and fix any blank ZIP Codes in your database. Your family data audit is complete!

121 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 121 Audit Funds for Accuracy A quick audit of your funds prior to creating any statements will ensure that fund names and tax-deductible status settings are accurate. Parish Administrators can update any fund details as needed using the following procedure. 1. From your Offering & Pledges Module s main window, click the Add/Edit/Delete Funds button. 2. From the Funds screen, select the Fund, and click Edit. 3. Update fund details as needed and click Update to save. Complete Postings for Previous Year Post all tax-deductible contributions received before December 31 with the correct donation date for example, only postings with 2009 dates will be included on 2009 contribution statements. 1. From your main Offering & Pledges screen, click the Post Contributions button. 2. Select the Fund and Posting Date. 3. Create a batch for your postings (sort and total your contributions first), then post your contributions as usual. See Post by Batch, page 82, for complete instructions. Your Funds audit is complete! OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

122 122 Run Periodic Contribution Statements for Families See page 134 for instructions. Other End-of-Year Suggestions Print the Registration Form for Registered Families (see Appendix A in your Family Directory User Guide) and include it with your year-end Contribution Statement to save postage. Edit the text in your contribution statement to ask your families to update their family and member information and return it to the parish office. Once your contribution year is closed, create an archival backup of your data and store it offsite. Set up any new funds that will be required for appeals that are planned for your new calendar year. See Add Funds to Chart of Accounts, page 55.

123 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 123 Contribution Reports Use the Contribution Reports Menu to create several different types of contribution statements and reports, Mail Merges, labels, Access queries, and pastor s reports. You can Export family directory or parish census roster data to either Microsoft Word TM or Excel TM for use in another application. Open the Contributions Menu 1. Click Reports > ParishSOFT Reports to open the Main Reports Menu screen. 2. Click the Contribution Reports Menu option to open the Contributions Menu screen. Choose from the options on the Contributions Menu to create the report you need. Samples of the reports and screen views that are available from the Contributions Menu are provided on the following pages. Your reports may vary from the samples shown based on the sorting options and data that you select for your reports. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

124 124 Date Range Contribution Report Use the Date Range Contribution Report filters and menu options to create the following standard reports: Contributions listed by date and envelope number. Contributions to selected funds with account details, subtotaled by fund and date; grand totaled for specified date range. Detailed report with contributors names. Summary by date and fund or by quarter. Statements for one-time gifts over $250. Display Access TM query of your selected contribution data (see page 167 for example). Export family directory or parish census roster data to either Microsoft Word or Excel for use in another application. Export data to QuickBooks file format. All reports are for a date range that you specify in mm-dd-yyyy format. For any report, you can select whether to include All Contributions, only those contributions in batches ( In Batches Only), or contributions Not in Batches. You can also select all tax deductible funds or choose any fund or group of funds from the list. Check the box to Print Check # on your report or statement. Open the Date Range Contribution Reports 1. To access the Date Range Contribution Reports menu from the Offering & Pledges screen, click Reports > Open ParishSOFT Reports > Contribution Reports Menu > Date Range Contribution Reports. 2. Enter the date range in the Search Beginning and Search Ending fields, using the mm-dd-yyyy format. 3. Select the type of Contributions Options to include in the report. 4. Click to select the funds you wish to include in your report data. Use the Select All Tax Deduct Funds button to choose all funds where contributions are tax deductible. 5. If you want check numbers included in your report data, check the Print Check # box. You are now ready to create your report, statement, query, or export file. Turn to the report examples beginning on the following page to see what each type of report looks like and how to create it.

125 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 125 Print Standard Report This report provides a list of contributions by date and envelope number. Any pledge records posted with $0 down payment amounts for the date/fund selected in your filter options will display as $0 postings in this report. From the Date Range Contribution Reports menu, edit or verify the Search Beginning and Search Ending dates. Choose the Contribution Options and Funds to include in the report. Click the Print Standard Report button. The sample below shows a standard Parish Contribution Report generated from the sample database. Page 2 [not shown], of the sample report lists a grand total of contributions for the date range specified. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

126 126 Print Detailed Report From the Date Range Contribution Reports menu, edit or verify the Search Beginning and Search Ending dates. Choose the Contribution Options and Funds to include in the report. Click the Print Detailed Report button. The example below shows the detailed Parish Contribution Report generated from the sample parish database. Contributions posted on each date are broken down by fund (i.e., account), then by envelope number. The last page of this report [not shown] lists a grand total of contributions for the specified date range.

127 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 127 Print Detailed Report w/names From the Date Range Contribution Reports menu, edit or verify the Search Beginning and Search Ending dates. Choose the Contribution Options and Funds to include in the report. Click the Detailed Report w/names button. The sample below shows the detailed Parish Contribution Report with contributor names and check numbers, generated from the database using sample data parameters. The end of this report lists a grand total of contributions for the specified date range. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

128 128 Print Date Range Summary Report From the Date Range Contribution Reports menu, edit or verify the Search Beginning and Search Ending dates.choose the Contribution Options and Funds to include in the report. Click the Print Date Range Summary Report button. The sample below shows a Contribution Report Summary generated from the database using sample data parameters. This report lists the total amount posted to each fund on each date. Total posted contributions for all selected funds for each date are listed. A grand total of contributions for the specified date range is listed at the end of this report.

129 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 129 Print Mo-Qtr-Yr Summary From the Date Range Contribution Reports screen, edit or verify the Search Beginning and Search Ending dates. Choose the Contribution Options and Funds to include in the report. Click the Print Mo- Qtr-Yr Summary button. The sample below shows the total contributions for the month, quarter, and year from a sample database. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

130 130 Print Statements for One-Time Gifts Over $250 The sample below shows the Contribution Report for one-time gifts over $250 generated from the database using sample filters. Edit or verify the Search Beginning and Search Ending dates. Choose the Contribution Options and Funds to include in the report. Click the Print Statements for One-Time Gifts Over $250 button on the Date Range Contribution Report screen to view a similar report in your database. Click the Office Links icon from any ParishSOFT Reports screen to export your results to your word processing or spreadsheet application.

131 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 131 Export a QuickBooks File ParishSOFT offers two options for exporting your Offering & Pledges postings to QuickBooks: 2. Click the Quickbooks Export File button. Export from the Utilities menu in the Contribution Postings screen writes selected contributions directly into your QuickBooks data file and does not require separate Import and Export steps. See page 107 for instructions. Export from ParishSOFT Reports creates a file that can be imported into your QuickBooks software in a separate step. Instructions for this export are provided below. 3. Click the Generate Quickbooks Export File button. Export from ParishSOFT Reports 1. From the Date Range Contribution Reports screen, enter your Search Beginning and Search Ending dates, and select the Contribution Options and Funds to include in the report. 4. Note the file path and file name on the screen above. Click OK. Your file is ready to import into QuickBooks. See also, Export Contributions to Accounting Program, QuickBooks, page 107. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

132 132 Indiv Family Contrib Summary Use this report to create a contribution summary for a particular family and date range. Search Ending fields at the bottom-left side of your screen. Create a Family Contribution Summary Report 1. To access the individual Family Contribution Report, click Reports > Open ParishSOFT Reports > Contribution Reports Menu > Indiv Family Contrib Summary. 4. Click the Print Report button to print a report similar to the example Family Contribution Report shown below. 2. Select the family name. 3. Enter the desired contribution dates in the Search Beginning and The report date displays in the footer at the bottom right of the report (not shown in the example below).

133 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 133 $0.00 Givers Menu Use this menu to create Zero Dollar Contributor reports and statements for a particular year and fund. 3. To print statements, click the Print $0.00 Givers Statements button. Print $0.00 Givers Report 1. From your main Reports menu, click Contribution Reports Menu > $0.00 Givers Menu > $0.00 Givers Menu. The Print $0.00 Givers Report button on the Zero Dollar Contributors screen generates a report like the sample shown at the bottom of this page. 2. Complete steps 1 through 4 on your Zero Dollar Contributors screen. Choose Contribution Year, Income Fund, Family Status, and click the Load Annual Placeholder Contribution Records button. The sample List of $0.00 Givers below provides the fund and year at the top of the report and lists the family names, contact information, envelope number, and membership date for any family who contributed $0 to the fund in the year you selected. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

134 134 Periodic Contribution Statements for Families Use this menu and its sorting options to create several types of IRS-compliant reports. You can also select the form you wish to include in the body of your report, edit that text, and save it to use again. Be sure to complete the End of Year Checklist on page 132 before you print your Contribution Statements. Set Filter Options for Your Report Use this procedure to select filter options for your Periodic Contribution Statements. Filter Option Data Field Descriptions are described in detail on the following page. 1. From your main Reports menu, click Contribution Reports Menu > Periodic Contribution Statements. 3. Set the following filter options: a. Beginning and Ending Period dates b. Registered, Non-Registered, or Both (Family Registration setting) c. Only Contributors or Only Non-Contributors (Contribution Levels) d. Choose one or more Funds e. Optional: Set a Min. and Max. Annual Contribution Amount; get reports for Everyone, Only This Family [select one], or Only This Member [select one]; or choose one or more Workgroups 4. Set Print Options and Choose Output for Your Report using the procedure on page Click the Access Key button.

135 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 135 Filter Option Data Field Descriptions Period Choose any date range you need by specifying Beginning and Ending dates. Date Range works only with contributions pledge records ignore the date range and instead are for the life of the pledge. Registration Status of Family Choose Both to get Registered and Non- Registered family data for tax purposes at year end. Choose Registered for contribution data on registered families (ideal for monthly or quarterly reports). Choose Non- Registered for contribution data on unregistered families. Contributors Choose Only Contributors to populate the Annual Contribution Min. field with $.01. Choose Only Non-Contributors to populate the Min. and Max. fields with $0. Leave both boxes unchecked to get records for both contributors and noncontributors. Family or Member Selections Choose Everyone for statements to all families, Only This Family to select a particular family from the lookup, or Only This Member to select a particular member from the lookup. Annual Contribution Amounts Enter specific Min. and Max. amounts if you wish to send different letters to those families who gave at different monetary ranges. Funds Your report will pull all tax-deductible funds by default unless you specify otherwise. Choose one or more Funds in any combination. When no fund is selected, or when you click the Show button, the report pulls records for all tax-deductible funds. The report will calculate faster if the SHOW button is not selected! To clear fund selections, click the None button. Include/Exclude Funds Use the Inc and Exc buttons to specify whether to include or exclude selected fund(s) from your report. By default, the Inc. button is selected to pull records for families that contributed to the selected fund. Exc. selects families that contributed to funds other than those funds selected. Workgroups Select one or more family Workgroups. This feature is ideal for parishes with very specific contribution reporting needs. For example, report on families with children enrolled in school to verify a specific tithing amount and determine appropriate discounts on school tuition. Workgroups has Include/Exclude options that let you, for example, select Inc. to filter statements to all those school families where the body of statement references their requirements. Then select Exc. to send a separate statement (with different statement body text) to the balance of the parish families. Sort By Last, First Envelope Number Zip, Last, First Membership ID Total Contributions (in ascending order) OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

136 136 2 or 3 Column Layout (for Detailed Statements) These radio buttons apply to the Detailed Statements only. The layout of the threecolumn report features a reduced font size and more column spacing than in prior versions. To select, click the 3 button. The two-column option accommodates a larger font size. This, however, will increase the number of pages in your statements. To select, click the 2 button. Print in Batches Batch options include 10, 25, 100, 250 or ALL. Choose a Print in Batches of option to track your progress as you print statements. Select Body of Statement Separate s tatements are available for Member Contribution Report ALL and Member Contribution Report Selected Family. These options apply respectively to the family selections All Families and select Only this Family to make it simple to tailor any statements that you create for a specific family. Report Header and Text Colors Report headers are titled and include the filters that were selected to run the report. You can specify the background and foreground colors for your report header. The default selection is background = white; foreground (i.e., text) = black to alleviate your ink cartridge budget. Many colors are available, so click the Rpt Header Colors field and reset them as you like. Include Pledge Information Check the Show Pledge Info box to include pledge information on either the Summary or the Detailed Statement. Pledge records will display on the report page below the contribution information on the statements. Pledge records will print for the Selected Funds. Pledge records that display on statements are for the LIFE OF THE PLEDGE and include start date of pledge, fund, amount pledged, amount contributed TO DATE FOR LIFE OF PLEDGE, Balance due on life of pledge, percent complete. Any $0 dollar pledges for your selected funds WILL appear on your statements. The process of creating the Zero dollar pledge records automatically posts a $0 contribution to the fund and family. Honor Send No Mail Option Check the Honor Do Not Send Mail Requests box to prevent statements from printing for those families that have requested Send No Mail. Your reports will display the family information (since reports are for internal parish use). Send No Mail families will be indicated on your reports with asterisks next to their names. Include IRS Disclaimer in Footer Check this box to include the following text in the footer of the contribution statement: No goods or services were provided by the church or its organizations in return for these contributions.

137 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 137 Set Print Options and Choose Output for Your Report Print Statements (Detail or Summary Statements) 1. Click the Select Body of Statement button and edit the text that will appear on the statements. Save changes and Close the window. 2. If you are printing Detail statements, choose either the 2 column or 3 column layout. 4. Uncheck the Honor Do Not Send Mail Requests box. 5. Click the Recalculate button to activate the buttons that print your statements. 6. Your statements are ready to print. Choose a Statement option from the list and click the Print Statement button. Examples of most statement types are provided on the following pages. 3. Check the Show Pledge Info box. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

138 138 Contributions Detail Statements The Detail Family Stmnt option on the Periodic Contribution Statements screen generates a report like the sample shown below. Detailed Contribution Statements list individual and total contributions for the family by fund, in date order. A grand total of contributions to all funds is provided. You may print statements directly from your ParishSOFT Reports screen, or click the Word or WordPerfect icon at the top of your screen to export your statements to your word processing program and print from there. Other detailed family statements include the Detail Family by Member Stmnt and the Detail Member Stmnt.

139 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 139 Contributions Summary Statements The Summary Family Stmnt option on the Periodic Contribution Statements screen generates a report like the sample shown below. The report lists a subtotal of contributions to each selected fund and a grand total for the selected period. See Edit Body of Statement Text on page 161 to edit and save the text in the body of the statement. Other summary family statements include the Summary Family by Member Stmnt and the Summary Member Stmnt. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

140 140 Average Per Sunday Statement The Average per Sunday Stmnt option on the Periodic Contribution Statements screen generates a report like the sample shown below. This report takes the total contributions for the selected time period and divides that total by the number of Sundays in that period to provide the average contribution per Sunday. This is an ideal report to use if you wish to show families their average Sunday Offertory contributions during specific timeframes, for example, during the summer months or through an entire year. To create this report, you would select just the Offertory fund (although you can select any combination of funds), click the Recalculate button, select Average per Sunday Stmnt, and click Print Statement. See Edit Body of Statement Text on page 161 to edit and save the text in the body of the statement.

141 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 141 Family Report The Family Report button on the Periodic Contribution Statements screen generates a report like the sample shown below. Family contributions are summarized by family and fund. Funds are subtotaled and then grand totaled for the selected filter options. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

142 142 Monthly Report The Monthly Report button on the Periodic Contribution Statements screen generates a report for your parish records like the sample shown below. This report lists family contributions broken down by month, by family, and by fund. More than one family s data will appear on a single page if the All Families button is checked. Uncheck and select a family name to print this report for a single, selected family.

143 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 143 Mailing Labels You can create the following types of mailing labels for your contribution statements: system will prompt you to choose whether to create labels just for individual contributors or for both individual contributions and family contributions that were not designated to specific family members. Mailing Labels: Families these labels are addressed to the family and use the Mailing Name Preference setting as specified in your About > ParishSOFT System Info > Preferences fields. Mailing Labels: Individual Members these labels are addressed to individual contributors and, optionally, families. The Both options generate standard, threeacross address labels like the samples shown below. Labels print based on the filter options selected on the Periodic Contribution Statements screen. Mailing Labels: Families Mailing Labels: Individual Members OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

144 144 Print Pastor Report The Pastor Report button on the Periodic Contribution Statements screen generates a report that lists grand total contributions by family for your selected filter options.

145 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 145 Pledge Report The Pledge Report button on the Periodic Contribution Statements screen generates a report like the sample shown below. Family pledge details, percentage of pledge paid, and total balance are listed for the selected filter options. Pledge records on all contribution reports are for the LIFE OF THE PLEDGE. Any Begining and Ending Period Dates are ignored. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

146 146 Contributions 3-Year Summary 2. Enter the Beginning Year for your report. The Ending Year field will populate automatically. Use the three-year summary report to compare contributions over a three-year period that you specify. 1. To access the 3-Year Contribution Report, click Contribution Reports Menu > Contributions 3- Year Summary. 3. Click the Contributions button to open your 3 Year Contribution Report. The sample report shown below lists a threeyear contribution history for 2005 through 2007.

147 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 147 Contributions Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly Use this quarterly report to compare contributions for a selected fund. 1. To access the 3-Year Contribution Report, click Contribution Reports Menu > Contributions Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly. 2. Enter the Year for your report. 3. Choose the Account. 4. Choose to list the report data by family or in a monthly, quarterly, yearly comparison format. 5. Click the Print Report button. Your Mailing Name Preference setting will determine the family name style (e.g., Mailing Name, Formal Salutation, etc.) used in this report. To change this setting, click About > ParishSOFT System Info. > Preferences button. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

148 148 Contributions By Dollar Range Use this quarterly report to compare contributions for a selected fund. 1. Click Contribution Reports Menu > Contributions By Dollar Range. 2. Choose the Chart of Account Fund for your report. 3. Enter Start and End Dates in mm/ dd/yyyy format. 4. Click the Print Report button.

149 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 149 Edit Body of Statement Text Before generating year-end contribution statements or pledge statements, you should customize the ParishSOFT template text provided with your software. Include a thank-you to your contributors, state the purpose of the report, and add a signature. 2. Select the template you wish to edit from the list at the top of the form and change the text. You can copy and paste into your template if you already have a document prepared in another application. ParishSOFT provides the following template forms for your statements: Monthly Pledge Statement $0 Givers Report Member Contribution Report All Member Contribution Report Selected Family Use the procedure below to edit these template forms and assign those edits to statements. 1. From the Pledges Menu or the Periodic Contribution Statements screen, click the Select Body of Statement button. 3. Click the Save button. Click the Close button. If you close without saving, your edits will be lost. Your edited statement text is now ready to use. Unedited Templates Any body of statement templates that you do not edit will display with undesirable text. If your statements contain any body text you want to change, use the previous procedure to edit the template. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

150 150 Pledge Reports Use the Pledge Reports Menu to create reports, monthly pledge statements, spreadsheets, and Mail Merges, or Access Queries on the pledge data in your system. Any pledge adjustments are included in the pledge report calculations. 1. Click Reports > Open ParishSOFT Reports > Pledge Reports Menu. 2. Select the Pledge Fund (e.g., Bishops Overseas Appeal). 3. Click Recalc Balances. 4. Check the Print All box to print statements for all families, or uncheck the Print All checkbox to select any name from the family list. The Pledges Menu screen will open. Set your parameters on the Pledges Menu screen, then click the Recalc Balances button before printing this or any other Pledge report or statement. 5. Select month and year. You are now ready to choose a statement, report, label, or query. Click the button for the data you wish to view. Examples of the reports available from the Pledges Menu screen begin on the following page.

151 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 151 Display Query All Pledges The Display Query All Pledges button opens an Access query view of the pledges for the selected fund. Complete the following steps to display your own pledge data query. 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund (e.g., Bishops Overseas Appeal) and click the Recalc Balances button. The sample below shows the family pledges for the Bishops Overseas Appeal fund in a sample parish database. From the query view, you can use Access to edit a report s appearance, change its content, or create a new custom report. To close the Query screen, click the X in the top right corner. 2. Click the Display Query All Pledges button. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

152 152 Print Report All Pledges The Print Report All Pledges button, located at the top of the Pledges Menu screen, creates a report of all pledges for the life of the selected fund. 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund (e.g., Bishops Overseas Appeal) and click the Recalc Balances button. The example report below lists pledge details for families Abbey through Butterman in the example database s Bishops Overseas Appeal fund. Family names, envelope numbers, pledge dates, start dates, initial payments, pledge amounts, pledge amounts paid, and balance due are all provided on this report. The end of the report includes a summary of the Total Pledges, Total Pledges Paid, and Balance Due for all pledges. 2. Click the Print Report All Pledges button to view your pledge report.

153 APPENDIX A: REPORTS Year Revenue Projection The Revenue 5 yr Projection button, located at the top of the Pledges Menu screen, creates a report of all the expected pledge revenues for the selected fund at 1 12, 12 24, 25 36, 37 48, 18, and month intervals. Pledge adjustments are included in all pledge report calculations. 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund (e.g., Bishops Overseas Appeal) and click the Recalc Balances button. 2. Click the Revenue 5 yr Projection button to view your expected pledge income from scheduled pledge commitments. The example report below lists expected payments for all families, along with their installment payment amount and payment schedule (i.e., in the Type column). The end of the report includes revenue totals for each period. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

154 154 2-Year Revenue Projection The Revenue 2 yr Projection button, located at the top of the Pledges Menu screen, creates a report of all the expected pledge revenues for the selected fund at 0 6, 7 12, 13 18, month intervals. Pledge adjustments are included in all pledge report calculations. 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund (e.g., Bishops Overseas Appeal) and click the Recalc Balances button. 2. Click the Revenue 2 yr Projection button to view your expected pledge income from scheduled pledge commitments. The example report below lists expected payments for all families, along with their installment payment amount and payment schedule (i.e., in the Type column). The end of the report includes revenue totals for each period.

155 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 155 Periodic Statement The Periodic Statement button, located at the center of the Pledges Menu screen, creates a report that lists the family s pledge commitment and year-to-date pledge payments for the selected fund. The example statement below shows the Thomas Brend family has made one payment of $41.67 toward a $750 pledge to the Bishops Overseas Appeal. 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund and click the Recalc Balances button. 2. Set the Month and Year. 3. Click the Periodic Statement button to view your statement. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

156 156 Past Due Report The Past Due Report button, located at the right-center of the Pledges Menu screen, creates a report that details the family s original pledge commitment and past due amount. 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund and click the Recalc Balances button. 2. Set the Month and Year. 3. Click the Periodic Statement button to view your statements. The example statement below shows the families with past due Parish Endowment pledge balances. With this information, we can contact the families as appropriate to remind them of payments due or to determine if a change in the pledge commitment is needed.

157 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 157 View/Print Month Report The View/Print Month Report button, located at the right-center of the Pledges Menu screen, creates a summary report of your monthly pledge activity. It lists each family who has a payment due in the selected month, along with their payment and pledge details. Use this report as checklist as you create your monthly pledge statements for families. The families listed on this report are scheduled to receive a statement this month. Compare your printed family statements with this report. Then keep this report as your record of which families received statements in a particular month. 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund and click the Recalc Balances button. 2. Set the Month and Year. 3. Click the View/Print Month Report button to see your report. The example statement below shows families who have pledge payments due in Dec 2008 (our selected month). The bottom of the report lists: Monthly Pledges Due (amount of revenue expected this month) Pledges Paid (actual revenue received this month) Balance Due (total of all pledge balances for families with payments due this month. The date of the report (though not shown in the example below) displays in the bottomleft of the page. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

158 158 Print Statements The Print Statements button creates a Monthly Pledge Statement. Statements are created for a family only when their Pledge Record has a check in the Send Statements month. For example, the Amos family has January checked, so when we create statements for January, this family will receive a pledge statement. Create Pledge Statements 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund and click the Recalc Balances button. 2. Set the Month and Year. 3. If desired, click the Select Body of Statement button, choose Monthly Pledge Statement from the list at the top of the screen, and change the text on your statement template. Click the Save button. 4. Click the Print Statements button to see your family statements. An unchecked month in the Pledge Record means that no statement will be generated. For example, in the screen excerpt below, the Wall family has no checkmark in May, so they will not receive a May statement. Each statement details the name of the fund, family envelope number, pledge date, amount pledged, amount paid, balance due, and installment amount for the selected month, fund, and family. Example Family Pledge Statement The example statement on the following page lets the Amos family know that their Bishops Overseas Appeal pledge payment of $ is due in January. The remittance portion at the bottom of the page gives the family a place to note their check number and amount enclosed. The remittance will fit nicely with the payment into a standard #10 business envelope.

159 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 159 OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

160 160 View/Print Labels Use this report to create standard threeacross address labels for your monthly family pledge statements. Like statements, labels are created for a family only when their Pledge Record has a check in the Send Statements month (see page 170 for screen examples) 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund, and click the Recalc Balances button. 2. Set the Month and Year. 3. Click the View/Print Labels button.

161 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 161 Variance Report Use this report to examine variances between expected pledge payments and actual pledge payment amounts. 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund and click the Recalc Balances button. 2. Set the Month and Year. 3. Click the Variance Report button. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

162 162 Variance Statements This report creates a pledge statement for every family that has made a pledge to the selected fund, regardless of statement months selected in the Pledge Record. 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund (e.g., Bishops Overseas Appeal) and click the Recalc Balances button. 2. Set the Month and Year. 3. Click the Variance Statements button. This statement uses the same Monthly Pledge Statement text that you create for your standard pledge statements/remittance forms. You can edit the body of the statement if desired (click the Select Body of Statement button, change text, and Save).

163 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 163 Variance Labels This report creates standard three-across address labels for each family that has made a pledge to the selected fund, regardless of statement months selected in the Pledge Record. Use these labels to mail the Variance Statements to your families. 1. On the Pledges Menu screen, select the Pledge Fund and click the Recalc Balances button. 2. Set the Month and Year. 3. Click the Variance Labels button. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

164 164 Multipledge Statements Multipledge statements are available for families with multiple pledges to one or more funds. You can create multipledge statements for all families or for one selected family that meets your selection criteria. 1. On the Pledges Menu, click the MultiPledge Monthly Stmt button. 2. Hold down your < Ctrl> key while you choose the Funds to include in the statement. 3. Click the Recalc Eligibility button. 4. Check the Print All box to create statements for all families that meet your specified criteria; or, to print a statement for just one family, uncheck Print All and choose the family name from the list. 5. Set the Payment Requested date in mm/dd/yy format. This date will display on the payment coupon portion of the statement following the text: Payment Requested By. 6. Click Select Body of Statement and choose and/or edit the text as needed for this statement. 7. Click Print Statements. The example statement on the following page shows two pledges made by the Adams family. Their payment coupon lists the amounts due for each pledge.

165 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 165 Example Multipledge Statement OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

166 166 Envelope Utilities Check Envelope Data Before Sending to Your Envelope Provider The envelope export will include all registered and unregistered families and members whose records have the Send Contribution Envelopes box checked. Review the envelope recipients in your database using one of the following methods to ensure that you do not send envelopes to families or members who should not receive them. Filter Families by Unregistered and Envelopes Categories 6. If the report includes families or members who should not receive envelopes, uncheck the Send Contribution Envelopes box(es) in the family and member records. Print and Review Envelope Report 1. The Envelope Report can be run from either of the following locations: a. From the Contribution Reports menu, click the Print Envelope Report option. 1. Click Reports > Open ParishSOFT Reports. 2. Click Census Menu > Family Filtering and Sorting. 3. Choose Non-Registered. 4. Choose Envelopes. b. From the Main Reports menu, click Utilities > Contribution Utilities > Envelope Utilities. 5. Click the Print Report button. 2. Click the Print Envelope Report button. 3. If the report includes families or members who should not receive envelopes, uncheck the Send Contribution Envelopes box(es) in the family and member records.

167 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 167 Envelopes to OSV or Other Provider From the Utilities menu in either the Offering & Pledges or Family Directory Modules, you can create an envelope data export file and attach it to an form in one step using the Export Envelope File utility. 1. Audit your envelope data using the procedure on the previous page. 2. Click the Utilities menu. 3. Choose either Envelope File to OSV, for an addressed to or choose Envelope File to Other Envelope Vendors, for an that you can address yourself. 4. If you receive a security warning, click Open. 5. ParishSOFT will export your envelope data to a spreadsheet and attach it to an form. T ype a message, if needed, and Send your message per the usual procedures of your application. Export Envelope File to Disk From the Utilities menu in either the Offering & Pledges or Family Directory Modules, you can create an envelope data export file that you can use as you like. 1. Click the Utilities menu > Export Envelope File to Disk. 2. Click the spreadsheet icon to open a spreadsheet view of your envelope data. 3. Save and name your file per the usual procedures of your spreadsheet application. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

168 168 Envelope Export Format Envelope data are exported using the following format: envelope number, lastname, tagname, mailing name, address1, address2, city, state, ZIP, and ZIP Plus. Client Requirements The utility available on the Envelope Utilities form requires that you have a MAPI-compliant default mail client, such as Outlook TM or Outlook Express TM, configured on your computer to send and receive your . If you try to create an message and receive an error message, please set up your client and try again. You may contact ParishSOFT support at (866) or support@parishsoft.com for assistance. Envelope Number Maintenance The Envelope Utilities menu available from ParishSOFT Reports lets you print a report of assigned envelope numbers or print a report of skipped envelope numbers. 1. Click Reports menu > ParishSOFT Reports > Utilities > Contribution Utilities. 2. Click Envelope Utilities to open the Envelope Utilities form. Use the instructions beginning on this page to export envelope data, print a report, or send an containing your exported envelope data.

169 APPENDIX A: REPORTS 169 Print Envelope Report From your Envelope Utilities form (or from the Contribution Reports menu), click the Print Envelope Report button to create a report of your families with envelope number assignments. A sample report of families in St. Demo parish is shown below. The standard report lists families in alphabetical order by last name, along with their envelope numbers and addresses. OFFERING & PLEDGES USER GUIDE

170 170 Run Skipped Envelope Numbers Query From your Envelope Utilities form, click the Run Skipped Sequence Update button to open an Access query view of the skipped envelope numbers in your database. Get Skipped Envelopes from Family Record You can view this same data directly from any family record s Family Information screen by clicking the Skipped Envelopes button. From the query view, you can use Access to edit a report s appearance, change its content, or create a whole new, custom report. A sample query of skipped envelopes in St. Demo parish is shown below.