Accountant Guide

Overview

This chapter is for whoever handles your church's finances — treasurer, accountant, or bookkeeper. You'll use the Accounting section the most: Income, Expense, Pledge Campaigns, Donations, and Reports.

Setting up your accounting categories

Before recording any income or expense, set up your categories. This makes reports clear and consistent.

Categories and subcategories

• Open Account Settings from the Accounting section.
• Click Main Sources to create top-level categories: "Tithes & Offerings," "Designated Giving," "Operating Expenses," etc.
• Inside each main source, add Subcategories (or "Funds"): General Fund, Building Fund, Missions, Youth Ministry, Rent, Utilities, etc.
• Use Transaction Types to define payment methods: Cash, Check, Credit Card, ACH/Bank Transfer.

Note: You can edit categories any time, but existing income/expense records won't change — they keep the category name they were saved with.

Recording income (contributions)

Income covers all money coming in: tithes, offerings, designated gifts, event payments, and online donations.

Adding a single contribution

• Open Income from the Accounting section.
• Click "+ Add Income".
• Pick the contributor from the searchable dropdown — start typing their name. For one-time visitors who aren't church members, tick "Guest" and type the name.
• Choose the fund/subcategory and the date.
• Choose the transaction type (cash, check, etc.) and reference number (e.g., check number).
• Enter the amount.
• Add a note if helpful.
• Click Save.

Recurring income

For members who give the same amount on the same day every month, you can mark a contribution as Recurring. The system will create the next entry automatically.

Tip: When Stripe is connected, online donations are recorded automatically. You don't need to enter them by hand.

Recording expenses

Expenses cover everything going out: rent, utilities, salaries, supplies, missions support, equipment.

• Open Expense from the Accounting section.
• Click "+ Add Expense".
• Enter the date, amount, and category.
• Type the vendor name (or pick from previous vendors).
• Attach a receipt by uploading a photo or PDF.
• Click Save.

Use Recurring Expense for predictable monthly bills — the system creates the entries automatically.

Pledge Campaigns

A pledge campaign is a fundraising drive where members commit a total amount over time — building fund, missions trip, capital campaign. The system tracks who pledged, how much they've given, and how much remains.

Creating a campaign

• Open Pledges from the Accounting section.
• Click "+ New Campaign".
• Name the campaign (e.g., "Building Fund 2026").
• Choose the Subcategory (Fund). Contributions to this fund will automatically credit member pledges.
• Set a Target Amount and an optional End Date.
• Add a description so members know what they're pledging toward.
• Set Status to Active.
• Click Save.

Adding member pledges

• Open the campaign by clicking Manage Pledges.
• Click "+ Add Pledge".
• Search for the member (or type a guest name).
• Enter the pledged amount and an optional monthly cadence.
• Add notes if helpful.
• Save.

From now on, any income you record from that member, tagged to the campaign's fund, will automatically be applied to their pledge balance. You can see real-time progress on each campaign card: pledged, collected, pending, percent complete.

Online and text donations

Once Stripe is connected (your administrator handles this), members and visitors can give online through:

• Your public donation page (linked from your website or printed bulletin).
• Recurring giving subscriptions — members can set up monthly gifts that run automatically.
• Event payments — registration fees and tickets.
• Text-to-give — donors text a code to a number and complete giving from their phone.

Every online donation appears in your Income list with a Stripe reference. Receipts are emailed to the donor automatically.

Reports

All reports live under Accounting → Report.

Every report can be printed or downloaded as PDF/Excel.

Tip: Generate the Tax Report at year-end (January is ideal) and email statements to all giving members. They'll need it for their tax return.

Reviewing online donations

The Donation Review page lists every online donation from Stripe with its status. Use it to:

• Verify donations posted correctly.
• Match a Stripe payout to the contributions it covered.
• Resend a receipt if a donor lost theirs.