Finance: first steps for the treasurer

The Finance module is your church's record of money by fund: what came in, what went out and how much each fund holds. It doesn't move money, and it doesn't replace your bank or your accountant. This guide takes you from an empty module to your starting balances.

Before you start: this module is built for churches in Poland. Amounts are always in PLN, whatever you choose under Currency in Settings → General → Profile. That setting covers forms and emails, not Finance. If your church's language isn't Polish, accounts and funds get English names, but the chart and the tax documents still follow Polish practice. There is no version in another currency today.

1. Check that the module is on

Go to Settings → General → Modules. Finance is on by default. If someone has switched it off, Finance and My giving are gone from the menu for everyone. The data stays and comes back when you switch it on. This takes Church settings: Manage.

2. Give people access

The Owner has Finance access from the start. The Administrator has none. Everyone else gets them through a role: they're checkboxes in the Finance row of Settings → Roles & permissions.

• Bookkeeping (treasurer): everything, including entries, documents, settings and the month-end close.
• Offering counting: counting only. The person sees the collections they started, with no balances, ledger or donor history.
• Board reports: read-only access to the dashboard, ledger, reports, budget, donors and documents.
• Auditor access: the same reading access, plus the Change log.
• Donor amounts: shows amounts next to donors' names. It's separate on purpose, so someone can keep the books without seeing who gave what. The Owner sees these amounts too, and opening a donor's history is recorded in the Change log.

To create a treasurer role:

1. Settings → Roles & permissions → New role.
2. Type a Name (e.g. “Treasurer”). In Based on, choose the role the person has now, then click Create.
3. In the new role's column, tick Bookkeeping (treasurer) and, if your church decides so, Donor amounts. Click Save changes.
4. In Settings → Members, change the person's role in the Role column.

A person has one role, so that role must hold everything they do. That's why you start from their current one. You can't grant more than you have, so the first treasurer role is usually created by the Owner. More about roles: Your team in WorshipPro.

You can't add a Finance permission to one person without a role. If Settings → General → Users lists anything under Finance permissions, you can only Revoke it there.

Two-step sign-in is required. Anyone with any Finance permission, including Offering counting, must turn on 2FA. They have 14 days from getting the permission. After that, Finance is locked for them until they turn it on, while the rest of their account keeps working. The banner button Turn on 2FA in account settings takes them there. More: Security and privacy.

3. Activate accounting

Open Admin → Finance and click Activate accounting. Only someone with Bookkeeping (treasurer) sees this button. Others see a note that the treasurer hasn't set up finances yet.

WorshipPro installs 54 accounts and four funds: General, Missions, Building and Benevolence. Then you see the Dashboard. The tabs at the top group the screens: Everyday, Bank, Reports & budget, Donors & documents and Settings.

4. Look through the chart of accounts

Open Settings → Chart of accounts, the one inside Finance. Numbers starting with 1 show where the money is (cash, bank), 2 are liabilities, 3 are funds, 4 income and 5 expenses.

To add an account, click New account, fill in No., Name and Kind, then Save. Numbers can't repeat.

Two things to watch for:

• The archive icon acts on the first click, without asking, and there's no button to bring the account back. The main accounts have no icon.
• You can't rename an account on the web.

5. Funds

A fund is money set aside for a purpose. Balances are on the Dashboard, in the Fund balances card.

New fund at the top of the Dashboard asks only for a Name. On the web, a fund you add this way is saved as Religious worship for tax relief and isn't linked to an account in the chart, and you can't change either later.

Fund transfer moves a balance between funds: From, To, Amount (PLN), Date and Resolution no. It works between the four starting funds. With a fund you added yourself, it ends in an error, because both funds need a linked account.

6. Bank account and cash box

Open Settings → Bank accounts & cash. Use Add bank account (Name and IBAN) and Add cash box (Name). With one of each, entries find them on their own. With several, WorshipPro can't tell which one you mean and uses the general cash or bank account from the chart.

Show on the giving page under a bank account publishes it. Leave it unticked for now: Giving page and QR codes.

The KSeF item is for Polish e-invoices. Saving a KSeF token isn't available yet, so this guide doesn't cover it.

7. How periods work

Each month is a period. It appears with its first entry and stays open until you close it. In a closed month you can't add or change anything, including attachments. Corrections go into an open month as a reversal. Only the most recently closed month can be reopened, using the open padlock in the Ledger.

Close months with Reports & budget → Month-end close, not with the small padlocks in the Ledger. A padlock closes the month on one click, with no question and no checks. More: Reports, budget and annual donor statements.

8. Enter the opening balance

Start from what each fund really holds on your start date.

1. Everyday → Ledger → New transaction.
2. Date: the last day before you start, e.g. 31 December.
3. Type: Opening balance. Description: e.g. “Opening balance”.
4. Account: the fund's own account: 3010 General, 3020 Missions, 3030 Building or 3040 Benevolence.
5. Choose the Fund, type the Amount (PLN) and click Save.

Repeat for each fund that holds money. The total in Fund balances should match your cash and bank on that day.

Why the earlier date: reports show entries dated before their From date as Opening, and later ones as Income. The earlier month then counts as open, so Month-end close will ask you to close it first.

Entered a wrong amount? There's no edit button in the Ledger. Click the Reverse arrow in the row, confirm, and enter it again. The original stays, next to an entry marked “(reversal)”. Nothing is deleted, and a reversal can't be reversed.

Once you have entries, the Dashboard shows what's waiting: open collections, months to close and deadlines. Each item links to the right screen.

What's next

• Donors, collections and counting with two people
• Reports, budget and annual donor statements