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doowrenum
Level 1

Entering Member Donations

I would like to know if there is a way to just add what the members donated without effecting our current balances. My Church used Roll Call to track member donations and then used QB to track everything else. Now they want to use QB to track everything. We have about 8 weeks of donations to enter but all the deposits have already been made.

Thank You

Solved
Best answer July 06, 2021

Best Answers
Rubielyn_J
QuickBooks Team

Entering Member Donations

Thanks for getting back to this thread, @doowrenum. Let me add some insights about the account type to use for clearing accounts in QuickBooks. 

 

Normally, when setting up a clearing account, it is best to use a bank account type because of the following reasons: 

 

  • You can pay into a bank account via Receive Payments or Make Deposits.
  • You can pay out of a bank account via Write Checks or Pay Bills.
  • A bank account appears on the balance sheet.
  • To designate an expense to overhead or class using a zero check, you must use a bank account as your Clearing account.

 

If you wish to use the income account, you'll not be able to select the transactions for clearing. With this, I suggest consulting an accountant for other ways on how to handle this. 

 

Additionally, let me share this resource to better understand the accounts used in QuickBooks: Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks.

 

Fill me in if you have other concerns with selecting an account type to use in QuickBooks. I'll be happy to lend a helping hand. Have a nice day ahead.

View solution in original post

3 Comments 3
Jen_D
Moderator

Entering Member Donations

Glad you visited the QuickBooks Community, @doowrenum,

 

Let me share some insights and help you handle the member's donation in QuickBooks Desktop. Please note that adding entries in QuickBooks will always affect the account balances. Cash inflow and outflow will increase or decrease the balance in the registers and will be reported on financial reports.

 

  1. Go to Lists,  then select Item List.
  2. On the Item List window, select Item then New, then select New Item.
  3. Use a service item named donations with the donation income account selected on the item screen.

  4. Fill out the item fields.

  5. Use Custom Fields to add your own customized fields.
  6. Press Save.

 

Then, you can enter sales receipt or invoice to record the donation. The account used on the service item will determine which account register it gets posted to. To avoid affecting your account balances or post the deposit twice, you can use use a journal entry and add a clearing account.

 

To create a clearing or wash account, use these steps:

 

  1. Go to the Lists menu, then select Chart of Accounts.
  2. From the Account ▼dropdown, select New.
  3. Pick an account type, then select Continue.
  4. Complete the account details.
  5. Select Save & Close.

 

After creating the journal entry, you can make the clearing account inactive, so the system will zero out its balance. Here's how:

 

  1. Go to the Lists menu, then select Chart of Accounts.
  2. Right-click on the account you want to make inactive, then select Edit Account.
  3. Select the Account is inactive checkbox.
  4. Press Save & Close.

 

Learn how to manage your chart of accounts, using this link: Add, edit, or delete accounts in QuickBooks Desktop

 

If you have other questions or concerns with adding member donations, please post them here. I'll be right here to help you further. Have a good one!

doowrenum
Level 1

Entering Member Donations

So since we have to record past donations and we are using cash instead of accrual, should the clearing account type be an income account?

Rubielyn_J
QuickBooks Team

Entering Member Donations

Thanks for getting back to this thread, @doowrenum. Let me add some insights about the account type to use for clearing accounts in QuickBooks. 

 

Normally, when setting up a clearing account, it is best to use a bank account type because of the following reasons: 

 

  • You can pay into a bank account via Receive Payments or Make Deposits.
  • You can pay out of a bank account via Write Checks or Pay Bills.
  • A bank account appears on the balance sheet.
  • To designate an expense to overhead or class using a zero check, you must use a bank account as your Clearing account.

 

If you wish to use the income account, you'll not be able to select the transactions for clearing. With this, I suggest consulting an accountant for other ways on how to handle this. 

 

Additionally, let me share this resource to better understand the accounts used in QuickBooks: Learn about the chart of accounts in QuickBooks.

 

Fill me in if you have other concerns with selecting an account type to use in QuickBooks. I'll be happy to lend a helping hand. Have a nice day ahead.

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