You will need the Accounting Settings permission to perform this action.
Your chart of accounts is the foundation of your organization’s finances and is naturally the first thing you would set up in an accounting system. All money going in and out are categorized into these accounts. Every organization is different, but there are common accounts that you likely will use.
One Church uses fund accounting which is a method used by nonprofit organizations to prioritize accountability. It lets you track all money going in and out of each fund separately and helps you make sure money is being used for the appropriate purposes. This also means you can have a single bank account for the church, and One Church helps you to keep track of how much money is going in and out for each fund (i.e. General Fund, Building Fund, Program Fund, etc.). No need to have a separate bank account per fund.
To manage your chart of accounts, go to Accounts > Settings from the left hand menu.
This screen is split into two sections: Funds and Accounts. See this article for more information on setting up your funds.
To add a new account, click on the "Add Account" button or to edit an existing account, click on the name in the table. A pop up will appear with the following fields:
Type
Required. The type of account this is. Possible values are:
Asset: something you own
Can be used as a register account or accounts receivable
Examples include checking account, savings account, accounts receivable, etc.
Liability: what you owe others
Can be used as a register account or accounts payable
Examples include credit cards, loans, accounts payable, etc.
Income: money you get from all sources
Examples include contributions income, grants income, bank interest earned, etc.
Expense: money you spend
Examples include salary, rent, bank fees, etc.
You may be wondering why equity type is not included in this list. This is because equity accounts are created by adding a fund. See this article for more information on creating funds.
Category
Required. Allows you to categorize what kind of account it is beyond the type. Each type has a different list of categories and new ones can be created by clicking on the cog menu to the right of the dropdown.
Number
Required. All accounts in the system have a number. It is highly recommended to be consistent and choose a numbering scheme that matches the account type. All the accounts that come with the system come with the following scheme. Unless you have a preference, it is recommended you maintain the same format.
Asset accounts are numbered in the 1000 range
Liability accounts are numbered in the 2000 range
Equity accounts are numbered in the 3000 range
Income accounts are numbered in the 4000 range
Expense accounts are numbered in the 5000+ range
Special Usage
Certain accounts can be optionally labeled for use in other areas of the system.
Cash Account - indicates this account has a balance and contains money you own. Should only be used for bank accounts such as checking account, savings account, etc.
Credit Card Account - indicates this account has a balance and contains money you owe. Should only be used for liability accounts such as credit cards.
Accounts Receivable - indicates this account should store money that others owe the church. This will result in this account being available when creating new receivables.
Accounts Payable - indicates this account should store money that the church owes others. This will result in this account being available when creating new payables.
Note: only accounts labeled Cash Account or Credit Card Account will appear in your register for data entry (Accounting > Entry from left hand menu).
Description
Brief description for this account.
Default Fund
This will be the fund selected by default during data entry when this account is chosen. Can always be overridden. Defaults to General Fund.
Active?
Whether this account is active or inactive. If inactive, will not appear in other parts of the system by default.
Sub-Account
Whether this account is a sub account of another. If checked, the system will show a dropdown for you to choose what the parent account is. Both the sub account and parent account must be of the same type. For example, Asset accounts can only have other Asset accounts as sub accounts.
Starting Balances
For each fund, optionally indicate the starting balance as well as the date these starting balance apply to. This section will only appear if the account type is Asset or Liability. Any funds that are not included in this account can be left blank.
Once finished, click on the "Save" button at the bottom to finished creating or editing the account.
Deleting an Account
To delete an account, use the menu at the end of the row in the account listing table and choose "Delete."
If you don't have that option, it's because that account is currently in use in the general ledger. In that case, you can deactivate it instead to have it not appear in other parts of the software.
Tip: you can also bulk delete by using the checkboxes in the first column of the table to select the accounts to delete and then going to Bulk Actions > Delete. If there is no checkbox, the account cannot be deleted for the same reason described above.
Merging an Account
To merge an account, use the menu at the end of the row in the account listing table and choose "Merge With."
