All Your QuickBooks Questions In One Spot! 

Church accounting poses its unique challenges, but QuickBooks for Churches and Nonprofits will guide you through the specific necessities of using QuickBooks accounting software for nonprofits. Even if you have no accounting knowledge, this book will banish your frustration and improve your bookkeeping.

What you will learn:

The step-by-step instructions and detailed illustrations will describe how to:

• Design a chart of accounts for churches that will yield the information you need

• Establish internal accounting procedures and controls to safeguard the money

• Record tithes, stock donations, and related incoming cash flow

• Send year-end donor acknowledgments

• Track investment gains and losses

• Calculate payroll without relying on an outside service

• Record stock donations

• How to record a mortgage

• Track member for fundraisers and mission trips

Unsure if you want QuickBooks Online or a desktop version?

Check out my blog post, Which QuickBooks Does my Nonprofit Need or watch this video to help determine which system will help your church or nonprofit thrive:

QuickBooks for Nonprofits and Churches-A Step-By-Step Guide to the Pro, Premier, & Nonprofit Versions covers the latest QuickBooks release.  If you are looking for help with QuickBooks Online accounting software for nonprofits, check out QuickBooks Online for Nonprofits & Churches.

Bundle other books and resources to save time and money getting your nonprofit or church set up properly and understanding all those IRS rules. Click here for the nonprofit add-ons and here for the religious organizations' options.

Lisa London, CPA, understands that not everyone thinks like an accountant. That's why she started The Accountant Beside You series to assist non-accountants in untangling the financial knots that come with running a small business, church, or nonprofit organization. She walks readers through the process of setting up QuickBooks from a chart of accounts custom-designed for churches to running the reports for the year-end and preparing for an audit. Take control of your organization's finances with The Accountant Beside You!

Contents

Chapter 1   QuickBooks, Fund Accounting, & Internal Controls              1

Chapter 2  Acquainting Yourself with QuickBooks              7

1. Layout of the Program 7

2. Backing Up. The Most Crucial Part of this Process!!! 10

3. Restoring the Data 14

Chapter 3   Getting Started 16

1. Required Information 16

2. Express Start 16

3. Preferences 19

Chapter 4  Designing the Nonprofit Chart of Accounts 28

1. Designing 28

2. Numbering Structure 28

3. Naming  30

4. How to Upload  30

5. Adding New  33

6. Tracking Restricted Cash 37

7. Enter Chart of Accounts 38

8. Editing, Deleting, and Hiding  38

9. Beginning Balances 41

Chapter 5  Tracking Grants & Programs       44

1. Classes vs. Jobs 44

2. Recording the Beginning Balance Entry 48

Chapter 6  Tracking the Transactions-Items 52

1. Types of Services 52

2. Basic Item List: Donations, Expenses, & Volunteers 53

3. Setting Up New Items 54

4. Using Items to Allocate Expenses 55

5. Tracking Volunteer Hours through Items 55

6. Fixed Asset Item List 56

Chapter 7    Setting Up Donors and Vendors  59

1. Setting up Members and Other Donors 59

2. Custom Fields 64

3. Job Entry-Specific Grants or Contracts 66

4. Other Member Information 66

5. Attaching Files to Your Member’s Account 69

6. Setting Up Vendors (The People You Pay) 70

Chapter 8   Importing Donors & Vendors from Files      74

1. Getting Members from Email Contacts 74

2. Spreadsheet Method: Importing w/Multiple List Entries 80

Chapter 9  Recording the Money Coming In              85

1. Accounting Controls for Receipts 85

2. Entering Donations 88

3. Entering Cash Receipts 93

4. Entering Donations from a Separate Donor Base 93

5. Pledges Made and Paid 94

6. Emailing Donor Invoices 97

7. Receipt of Restricted Funds 98

8. Miscellaneous Receipts 99

9. Pass-Through Collections 101

10. Undeposited Funds 103

11. Recurring Donations from Credit Cards 106

Chapter 10    Recording the Money Going Out              108

1. Cash vs. Accrual Methods 108

2. Internal Controls for Paying Bills 108

3. Controls for Electronic Payments 110

4. Entering Bills 111

5. Copy/Paste Line Items 113

6. Recurring Bills 114

7. Editing and Deleting Invoices 116

8. Bills Entry Main Menu 117

9. Paying Bills 117

10. Tracking Amounts Owed to Parent Organizations 119

11. Online Banking Payments 120

12. Write Checks 120

13. Handwritten Checks 122

14. Bank Drafts 123

15. Entering Credit Card Receipts 124

16. Credits Received from Vendors 125

17. Automatic Allocation of Expenses 127

Chapter 11  Entering Payroll 130

1. Recording Payroll from a Payroll Service 130

2. Preparing Payroll In-House 133

3. Employee Setup 135

4. Generating Payroll 146

5. Payroll liability payments 150

Chapter 12   Using Bank Feeds            152

1. Understanding Bank Feeds 152

2. Bank Feed Rules 153

3. Cash Transfers 156

Chapter 13   Reconciling the Bank      159

1. Internal Controls & Bank Reconciliations 159

2. Returned Checks 159

3. Voiding a Check 161

4. Reconciling the Bank Account 163

5. Reconciling Petty Cash 168

Chapter 14    Designing & Running Reports     169

1. Types of Reports 169

2. Navigating the Reports Center 170

3. Defining the Parameters 171

4. Most Useful Reports 180

5. Exporting Reports to a Spreadsheet 184

6. Other Miscellaneous Reports 187

Chapter 15    Planning the Budget       189

1. The Budget Process 189

2. Entering Your Budget 191

3. Forecasts 197

4. Cash Flow Projector 199

Chapter 16   Closing Out Month End and Year End              202

1. Reviewing your transactions 202

2. Month & *Year-End Checklist 203

3. Allocate Fund Balances 207

4. Restricted versus Unrestricted Cash 208

5. Year-End Adjusting Entries 210

6. Board Reports 210

7. Year-End Closing 210

8. Year-End Donor Acknowledgments 211

9. Other Year-End Requirements 215

10. 1099 Filings 215

11. File W-2s for Employees 219

Chapter 17      How Do I Handle…???    221

1. How Do I Handle …? 221

2. Mission Trips or Member-Specific Accounts 221

3. Fundraisers 224

4. In-Kind Donations 225

5. Volunteer Hours 226

6. Show a Reserve on the Income Statement 230

7. Inter-fund Transfers 232

8. Donations of Stock 233

9. Investment Gains and Losses 235

10. How Do I …??? 236

11. Set Up Multiple-Users and Passwords 236

12. Send an Accountant Copy 241

13. Record a Mortgage 243

14. Send a Thank You from the Receipts Screen 245

15. Using the purchase order option on grants 250

16. Merge duplicated donor or vendor accounts 252

17. What About …..? 252

18. Reports I Need for an Audit 252

19. Tax Stuff 253

Index                  255

Book Information

Title QuickBooks For Churches &  Nonprofits

Author Lisa London, CPA

ISNI 0000 0004 5059 7909

ISBN 978-1-945561-95-5

Library of Congress Number 2019916525

Published November 2019 by Deep River Press, Inc.

Copyright 2019 Deep River Press, Inc. 

Pages 259

Order Information

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