Finance: Settings

The General settings specify accounting settings such as the default tax category, default currency code, and default payment terms.

The financial entity settings page is used to store information about your organization. A financial entity is a legal entity for which a separate set of balanced financial accounts (or set of books) must be maintained independently.

Financial entity

1. Enter the Code, or abbreviation, of the financial entity. For example, Bank of America, could be “BoA.”
2. Enter the Name of the financial entity as you want it to appear on reports or communications.
3. Select the Country that represents the main location in which the organization is located for tax purposes.
4. Select the Default tax schedule If a default tax schedule is not assigned directly to the product being purchased, then this option adjusts to the correct price if the customer is exempted from included tax for one of the following reasons:
   • In a different country from the Financial entity
   • Outside the EU
   • Registered in a different EU Country from the Financial Entity
   • Exempt in ANY tax authority

   For more information, see Setting up tax information.

5. Click Select to enter a new contact record or select an existing one for your Organization. If no contact record already exists, click Add new and fill out the required information. Once the initial information has been saved, you can click the organization name to open the account page where additional information can be added if desired.
6. Select the First Month of Fiscal Year.

   📘 Note

   A fiscal year is an Accounting period covering 12 consecutive months over which a financial entity determines income and profits. The fiscal year does not necessarily correspond to the calendar year.

7. Select a Logo Image from the Image Selector or upload a new one to the Document system. The logo appears on invoices, reports, content pages, email templates, and more. To replace an existing logo, it is best practice to upload a new version of the existing image via the Document System. See Replacing images for details.
8. Enter the Image alt text, which will appear for users when the image cannot be rendered or seen.
9. Click Save.

Messages

• Enter Additional Information if there is text you wish to display at the bottom of invoices and order confirmations.
• Enter a Tax receipt message if there is text you wish to display at the bottom of all official tax receipts.
• Select a Signature image and define the Image alt text that can be used in reports or communications.

📘 Note

The query $/Commerce/DefaultSystem/Queries/FinancialEntity/Default can be used as a data source in communications, to obtain information for the financial entity.

GL Accounts stands for General Ledger Accounts. The general ledger accounts sort your money into different places specified by you.

Chart of Accounts

This is a list of all your accounts. You can edit, delete or add a new account.

• GL Account: When adding a new account, enter the account number. You can use special characters in your account number.
• Account Name: Define or edit the name of the account. Someone should be able to tell where the money is dedicated to based on the account name.
• Project: If the money is dedicated to a specific project, select the project from the drop down list. To set up these projects, go to Settings > Finance > GL accounts > Projects.
• Financial Entity: Select your financial entity.

  📘 Note

  Be sure to select the financial entity if you plan to use the GL account for commerce products.

Default Accounts

To view and configure Default Accounts for your organization, do the following:

1. Go to Settings > Finance > GL accounts.
2. Click the Default Accounts tab.
3. Click the red arrow next to the financial entity to view the Default Accounts.
4. Click a folder next to the default account name to search for the corresponding GL account number.
5. Select an Account Code.
6. Click Validate Accounts to sync the accounts.
7. Click Save.

Projects

When a donor gives money, they can specify how it should be used by the organization. This enables staff users to track and record donation purposes in iMIS. For example, a church receives a donation for $100. Rather than go to a general fund, the donor designates that their monetary donation should go to the food pantry.

1. Configure your Income Accounts (Settings > Finance > GL accounts).
2. Navigate to the Projects tab and Add a project.
   1. Enter a Project Code. This code provides a designation for a specific donation fund.
   2. Enter a Description of the project.
   3. Select a Financial Entity Key from the drop-down.
3. Add multiple Projects to create donation purposes. It is recommended that you create an unrestricted Project Code so that you can have a default fund designation
4. Create a GL account:
   1. On the Chart of Accounts tab, click Add.
   2. Enter a new GL Account. You can use special characters in your account number.
   3. Enter a name for the GL Account.
   4. Select a Project from the drop-down.
   5. Select a Financial Entity from the drop-down.
5. Create a Gift item and select the GL Account you created.

   To view the total gifts collected for each project, you can go to Fundraising > Dashboard, and select the By project tab.

See Setting up tax information for more information.

You can set the payment terms for your payments. Payment terms specify the period of time allowed for the customer to pay for the goods and services that have been ordered. Common payment terms include:

• Annually – The payment is due within one year (twelve months).
• PrePaid - The payment is expected at the moment of the transaction. When a payment term is set to PrePaid, the invoice due date is the date of the invoice.
• Quarterly - The payment is due within one quarter (three months).
• Net 30 - The customer is given 30 days from the date of the invoice to submit the payment. When a payment term is set to Net 30, the due date will be thirty days in the future.
• Monthly - The payment is due within one month.

When a payment term is set to PrePaid, the invoice due date is the date of the invoice. When a payment term is set to Net 30, the due date will be thirty days in the future. With AutoPay, you will send invoices to the Pay Central service for payment processing on the invoice due date.

It is recommended that you set the default payment term for your organization:

• Fundraising-based organizations - Set the default payment term to PrePaid.

  With AutoPay, invoices are sent to the Pay Central service for payment processing on the invoice due date. Set your payment terms to PrePaid so that recurring donation invoices are sent to the Pay Central service for payment processing on the date the donation was made.

• Membership-based organizations - Set the default payment term to Net 30.

  📘 Note

  You can set payment terms system-wide or at the product class.
  
  If you collect donations, it is suggested to set the default payment term to PrePaid system-wide because donations are expected at the time of the donation. If you collect membership dues, it is suggested to set the default payment term to Net 30 at the system level, but PrePaid is suggested for Fundraising product classes.

Do the following to create payment terms:

1. Go to Settings > Finance > Payment terms.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Select the payment term to edit.
   • Click Add new item to define a new payment term.
3. Enter or edit the following information for the payment terms:
   • Enter a Name for the payment term.
   • (optional) Enter a Description for the payment term.
   • From the Payment Due drop-down, select when the payment for your new term is due:
     • After Invoice – Enter a value in the Due in Days field. This indicates how many days after the invoice is generated that customers can pay.
     • Next Month – Enter a value in the On day field. This indicates on which day of the month following the invoice being generated the payment will be due.
     • At the End of this Month – This option indicates that payment will be expected by the end of the current month.
     • Specify at Data Entry Time – You can specify when payment is due when the information about the order is entered into the iMIS system.
4. Click Save.