Collections

The Collections section is for money that comes in through a place or an occasion rather than as one member's regular payment. The Friday collection, the donation box by the entrance, a house visit round and an event drive are the usual examples. You record what each collection brought in, and a promise to pay later is recorded the same way and waits until the money arrives.

Collection sources

Before you can record a collection, you create a collection source. A source is simply a named place or occasion the money comes from, for example "Entrance donation box" or "Friday collection". You set a source up once, then record collections against it as often as you need.

A source can be edited at any time. When a source is no longer in use, you can mark it inactive so it stops appearing on the recording screen, while its past collections stay in your records. A source can only be deleted if it has no recorded collections against it; if it has any, mark it inactive instead.

Opening a source

Tap a source card to open its own page. That page answers what the list cannot: which funds its money went to and what share each one took, how it has done month by month over the last year, and who on the committee recorded each collection. Every collection and unpaid promise behind those figures is listed below them, so a house visit round or an event drive can be reviewed in one place. Renaming the source, marking it inactive and deleting it are all there too.

The who-recorded list credits whoever entered the money, which on a drive is usually the person who collected it.

What a collection records

Status

Whether the money is received now, or promised and paid later. Everything below follows from this choice.

Source

The named place or occasion the money came from, for example the Friday collection or the entrance donation box.

Member

Optional for money received: leave it as Anonymous for box or bucket money, or name whoever handed it over. For a promise, choose the member, or choose "Not on the roll" and type the name of a visitor.

Amount

The total received or promised, in ₹.

Date

The day the money was received, or the day it was promised. You can back-date this if you are entering an older record.

Pay by

Promises only, and optional. The day the money is expected, for example the day of the event. A promise past that day is flagged in red.

Notes

Optional. Anything worth remembering about this collection, such as the occasion or who counted it.

Recording a collection

1. Open Collections from the menu.
2. Choose Received now for money in hand, or Promised, pays later if it has only been committed to so far.
3. Choose an existing source, or create a new one if this is a new place or occasion.
4. Enter the amount and the date. The date can be back-dated for an older collection.
5. Add any notes if they are helpful. This is optional.
6. For money in hand, turn on Issue a receipt now if the receipt is to be handed over there and then. You can also leave it off and issue one later from the row.
7. Save. Money received is part of your income right away. A promise waits under Pending collections until you mark it paid.

Giving a receipt

Any recorded collection can carry a numbered receipt, the same one members' payments get. In the collections list, tap the receipt icon on the row and confirm. Once the number is issued, the same row offers share, download and print, and the receipt carries a QR code anyone can scan to check it is genuine.

The recording form carries an Issue a receipt now switch for money received. Turn it on and the number is issued as the collection is saved, with share, download and print offered immediately below the form. The switch is not offered on a promise; marking it paid offers the same switch then.

Once a receipt is issued, the collection can no longer be edited or deleted. Box or bucket money with nobody named against it is receipted to Anonymous, so if the receipt needs a name on it, record who gave it when you enter the collection. See Reports and receipts for how receipt numbers are set.

Collections in your reports

Every collection you record is counted as income alongside members' payments and any other money received. You can see it all together on the Reports page, so your totals always include both named payments and anonymous collections.

Pending collections

A pending collection is a promise to give an amount that has not been paid yet. It is what you need at a fundraising drive, where one person hands over cash at the door and the next promises a figure and pays at the event. A promise is shown as Pending until the money arrives. It is never counted as income; instead it is added to the Total outstanding figure on your dashboard so you can see what is still expected.

A promise can come from a member on the roll, or from a visitor who is not: choose Not on the roll and type their name. If that person should be kept, tick Also add to the member roll and they are added there and then, with the promise recorded in their name rather than as a loose name. Leave it unticked and only the name is kept, so a one-off visitor never clutters your register.

A source is optional, so a promise made straight to a campaign needs no drive behind it. If you set a Pay by date, anything still unpaid after that day is flagged in red so it is easy to follow up.

1. Choose Record collection, then Promised, pays later. On a campaign you can do the same from the fund's own page.
2. Name whoever promised, choose the fund, and enter the amount promised and, if useful, the day it is expected by.
3. When they pay, choose Mark as paid, confirm the date and method, adjust the remarks if the payment needs a note of its own, and save. Turn on Issue a receipt now to number the receipt in the same step and hand it over there and then.

Marking a pending collection as paid turns it into a normal collection, still attributed to whoever promised, so it then counts as income and appears in your reports. While it is still pending it can be edited or cancelled if the promise changes.

The Pending collections list holds only what is still owed, so a promise leaves it once it is paid or cancelled. A paid promise appears in the collections table above. To look a settled promise up later, set the Status filter above the list to Paid or Cancelled.