The first step in getting started in the finance module is to create a Book (or Fund, depending on your wording choice - see our article Books and Funds). While most churches won't have the need to create multiple books, your church may be in a situation where additional books are needed to keep track of a different associated, but separate entity, such as a school or daycare. Creating an additional book to keep this information separated from your church's regular finances is a good way to track this information.
- To add a new book, open the Finance module, click on "Accounts" and then click "Books".
- Click the "Add" button at the bottom of the grid.
- In the window that appears, choose a number for this book. You can use any unused number between 01 and 99 for your book.
- In the Book name field, put in the name of your book. It's a good idea to name your book something that represents the entity as a whole, such as the name of your church, or the name of your school.
- If there are any notes you want to add about this book, click the "Note" button, and then type in any notes you have for this book. Click "Save" in the window that appears to save your notes.
- Click "Save" to create your book.
Once a book has been created, the options to make changes to the book itself are limited, but you can change a couple of things:
- To edit a book, open the Finance module, click on "Accounts" and then click "Books".
- Click on the book you want to make changes to and then click "Edit" at the bottom of the grid.
- In the window that appears, you can change the name of the Book in the "Book name" field. The Number cannot be changed. You can also add or edit a note by clicking the "Note" button.
- Click "Save" to save the changes to your book.