Creating and Editing Accounts

Before you can begin entering transactions into ChurchTrac, you'll need to create one or more bank accounts. Usually, a bank account will be a checking, savings, money market account, a credit card account, loan account, or something similar. For most accounts, you will receive a monthly statement from your bank or credit card company.

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Creating Accounts

Step 1: Add a new Account

Click "Add" to set up a new checking, savings, credit, or another account. The following window will be displayed:

Step 2: Asset or Liability

Create a unique name for the account like "Credit Union Checking." Then designate the type of account. Choose "Asset" if this is a bank account, property, or something else that you own. Choose "Liability" if it is a loan, mortgage, credit card, or another type of account showing money you owe.

Accounts will be grouped by Asset or Liability on your Balance Sheets, Income Statements, and other reports.

Step 3: Beginning balance and date

Next enter the beginning balance and beginning date, matching your bank statement.

Step 4: Select Category and Fund

Select the category (i.e. General Offering) and the fund (i.e. General Fund) to which you want your beginning balance applied.

All done!

Once you've entered your new account's basic information, according to the instructions above, click the "Create Account" button. Your new account will be displayed in the list of accounts. When you create a new account, the beginning balance transaction will be created automatically on the account register screen. An "R" will appear next to your Beginning balance transaction showing that it has been reconciled. A "c" will appear next to transactions that have been marked as cleared but not reconciled.

Editing Accounts

There are occasions where you may need to edit the name or the status of an account. To do this, go to the Accounts Screen and select the pencil icon to the right of the account name.

Deleting Accounts

Occasionally, you may need to delete an account. To do this, go to the Accounts Screen and select the pencil icon to the right of the account name. Under the options you have a red button stating "Delete This Account".

Tips

Funds are not Accounts

You should not add "Funds" as bank accounts here. To learn the difference between the two, please read our Basic Terminology and Examples. To learn about how to set up a Fund, see our article on Creating and Editing Funds.

Also, do not use the word 'Fund' when naming your accounts. This will prevent confusing it with a true Fund.

Make sure beginning balances match

When creating a new account, it is strongly recommended that you locate a recent bank statement and enter the opening balance from your bank statement in the Beginning Balance field. As an example, you may want to begin entering transactions starting on January 1. However, your bank statement may not begin on January 1. In this case, go back to the previous statement and create your account using the Beginning Balance and Beginning Date from that statement. Do not create an account with a start date or balance that does not match the start date and beginning balance from a bank or credit card statement. Otherwise, your account may not reconcile or balance properly.

Splitting the beginning balance

If you need to split your opening balance between two or more categories or funds, you'll need to edit the Beginning Balance transaction AFTER you create this account.