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Contributions

NOTE: You must have the Finance role in order to view and work in Contributions. Also, before contributions can be entered, the Funds must be created. (see article on Funds)

You will process your offering in what we refer to as Bundles. You can have one bundle for the entire week’s offering or many bundles. A bundle is just a handful or a group of contributions that will be processed together. Keeping the bundle to roughly 50-75 individual contributions makes it much easier to find mistakes if you don’t balance. A bundle is also the BVCMS record of a group of contributions where you will record the specific information about that group – contribution date, deposit date, totals, and fund (note, this is just to allow you to set a default fund for the bundle. You can assign any open fund to any individual contribution when you enter the contribution.

Process the offering:

To process (count) your offering, start by creating groups (bundles) of contributions (roughly fifty per bundle) and get a grand total for each Bundle as well as a total for your Cash, Checks, and Coins separately.

Record Contributions in BVCMS:

  • Create Bundles in BVCMS by selecting Bundles under the Contributions heading
  • Select Create new Bundle and enter the following information (the Bundle Status will be Open):
  • Contribution date The default is the previous Sunday's date. If you are entering contributions that need to have a different contribution date, be sure to enter that in the bundle header before you enter the individual contributions. This is the date the church received the contribution.
  • Bundle Type – select from the drop down menu This is only as a reference for those churches with preprinted envelopes from an envelope service. If this does not apply, then just select whatever you prefer.
    • Preprinted Envelopes
    • Generic Envelopes (i.e. pew envelopes that are handwritten)
    • Loose Checks and Cash
    • On-Line (this will be discussed in a separate post)
  • Deposit Date – this is the date the money will go to the bank
  • Total Cash, Total Checks , Total Coin Enter a zero in any of the fields if not applicable.
  • Fund Select the primary fund as the default that will be used as you enter individual contributions. It can be changed for each contribution as needed.
  • Click Update
  • Write the Bundle ID# on the calculator tape as a reference.
  • If you have more bundles, click Create New Bundle and follow the same procedures as above until Bundles have all been created.

Once all bundles have been created in BVCMS, you can process the actual bank deposits.

You can generate the Deposit Report which will create a report for that day's deposits with the following information (with one row per Bundle) : Bundle ID#, Bundle Total, Totals for Checks, Cash and Coins with a grand total at the bottom of each column.

To generate the Deposit Report:

Go to the Bundles page, click the Deposit Date for any of the bundles you are depositing that day. You can use this report to help you create deposit slips for each of the bundles and as a bank bag report.

Enter Individual Contributions

After all the bundles have been created in BVCMS and the bank deposits have been made, you are ready to enter the contributions on the records of the contributors. We recommend sending the money to the bank and entering contributions using the envelopes (or other source document, such as copies of the checks if there are no envelopes)

  • Go to the Bundles page
  • Click the Edit link beside the bundle. Only Open bundles are editable in PostBundle. You can also click the PostBundle (edit) link if you are on the Bundle page.
  • This opens the PostBundle page and displays the bundle header information
  • Enter the People ID # in the PeopleID field (See Search for a Person below if you do not have an ID #)
  • Tab once and verify that the name that has populated the Name field is correct
  • Enter the dollar amount of the contribution in the Amount field
  • Tab three times - unless you need to change the Fund or add something in the Notes (such as a check #).
  • If you need to change the Fund, just click on the arrow, select the correct Fund and tab to the next field.
  • Notes – if you want to enter a note (such as a check #) you can, but it is not required.
  • Tab to move to the next row.
    NOTE: If a person gives one check with contributions to more than one fund, enter each contribution separately - one entry per fund, using the same People ID #. 
  • Enter the next People ID # and continue as above until all envelopes in that bundle have been entered
  • The Total Items must match the total of the Bundle (in the header section) before the bundle can be closed

NOTE: On PostBundle, the names will appear listed in reverse order from your tape...i.e. each new name is added at the top of the list. However, on the Bundle page the names are listed in the order in which you entered them...i.e. the same order as on the tape.

NOTE: You can leave this page and return to finish. You just will not be able to close the bundle until the totals match.

NOTE: You can also leave a contribution unassigned, leave PostBundle and return to assign the contributor. You will not be able to close a bundle with an unassigned contribution, though.

If this bundle has mixed funds, click on the Fund link at the top of the PostBundle page to view the Fund Total Report in order to verify the fund totals for that Bundle.

Search for a Person

  • If there is not an envelope number, you can easily search for the person by name
  • Enter the last name followed by a comma - Smith, John (last comma space first)
  • As you type, a drop down list will appear
  • Click on the correct person. This will populate the People ID field and the name field.
  • Tab and enter the Amount
  • Tab 3 times and proceed as above

NOTE: If you are unable to find the correct person, leave the name field blank and enter all the other information. Once you tab through the Notes (and your cursor is on the next line), you will see a Select link in the PeopleID field for the contribution you just entered. Click Select to access the Search/Add Dialog and follow the normal procedure to find the person or add a new person. Once you Commit and Add, the contribution will be posted to that person's record.

If you begin typing a name that is not in the database, a 'Name Not Found' pop-up will appear

If you do not enter an amount, a pop-up will appear 'Contribution - cannot post, no amount'

You can hover over the name to see more information regarding that person - people ID, age and address.

Contributions are posted to the donor's record as you enter them in PostBundle. PostBundle can be edited as long as the bundle status is 'open.'

Close Bundles

When all contributions have been entered and the Bundle Total matches the Total Items, close the bundles as follows:

  • Go to Bundles (under Contributions)
  • Click the link for the bundle you wish to close (the link is the Bundle ID #)
  • Click Edit
  • Change the Bundle Status from Open to Closed
  • Click Update
  • Continue until all bundles have been closed

See the post on Contribution Statements

FAQs

How do I find the summary totals to post into the general ledger?

Run the Totals by Fund report to get these number.

What if the Bundle Total is incorrect in the Bundle Header and my Bundle won't balance? Can it be fixed?

Yes. A person with Admin role can Edit the Bundle in BVCMS and correct the total. Then the Bundle can be edited using PostBundle.

How do I record a contribution when the person gives one check with different amounts going to different funds?

Enter the first contribution selecting the fund and entering the amoutn for that fund. Then press the Split button. This will duplicate the contrbituions. Just click in the amoung field and adjust that and then select the fund. 

How can I make a correction if a contribution gets recorded to the wrong person?

  • If the bundle is still open, just go to the bundle, click PostBundle (edit), edit the specific contribution and select the correct donor to replace the incorrect one.
  • If the bundle is closed, go to the individual's record and find the contribution. Then click Reverse. This will create another entry the removes the contribution from their record. Then create a new bundle for that one contribution, using the same deposit date as the original contribution. Using PostBundle, edit the bundle to record the details - i.e. the correct donor. 

Can I print an individual contribution statement without having to run all the statements?

Yes. Go to the person's record, click Contributions (under Other Management), and then click Statement. Select the date range and click OK. This will generate as a PDF file.

How do I account for the loose cash that we get in the offering when we don’t know who gave it?

Create a new record in the database with a name something like Loose Change. Then you assign all the unidentifiable contributions to that record.

What if I don't get any data when I generate the Totals by Fund report?

You need to close the bundles for that data range.

Is there a way to record that a check was returned for insufficient funds?

Yes. Here's what to do with a returned check.

Is there a way to record and track Pledges?

Yes. See the Pledge article as well as the article Online Pledges..