For churches
Church accounting software that keeps every fund straight.
Every gift lands in its fund, from online giving or the offering plate. Money a donor restricted stays apart until you release it.
30-day free trial. No credit card required.
How gifts reach the books
From the offering plate to the bank deposit.
Funds work with or without a giving platform. However a gift arrives, it lands in the same fund as every other gift to that purpose.
Set up your funds
Add each fund in Settings and say once what kind of money it holds: unrestricted, restricted by the donor, passed through or earned.
Bring giving in
Tag each deposit with its fund on the bank feed. Or connect Planning Center Giving or Givebutter, and each day's gifts arrive already split by fund.
Match and release
Match each deposit on your bank feed. Once a donor's purpose is carried out, Release on the fund moves the money to unrestricted net assets.
Funds
Restricted money stays restricted.
Funds live in Settings, with or without a giving platform. You say once what kind of money each fund holds, and its gifts go to the right account from then on. A gift to a fund you have not classified waits for you.
Unrestricted
General giving, including funds your board designated. Gifts post to Contributions, and General also covers money that carries no fund.
Restricted by the donor
A building campaign or a missions gift. Gifts post to Contributions with donor restrictions, and the fund shows what is left for its purpose after the spending tagged to it.
Passed through
Money you collect for someone else, such as a missionary. It is held as a liability in Funds Held for Others, not counted as revenue, and Send on the fund pays it out.
Earned
A payment for something, such as camp or an event. It is earned revenue in the account you pick, not a gift.
Released from restriction
Once the donor's purpose is carried out, Release on the fund moves the money to unrestricted net assets. A release never changes revenue or net income.
Reports
Statements your board and treasurer can read.
Once you keep funds, Reports adds two statements. Both open on your fiscal year to date and tie out to your balance sheet and profit and loss.
Fund balances
For each fund: where it started, the gifts it took in, what was spent, what was released from restriction and where it ended. Click any figure to see the transactions behind it.
Statement of activities
Your profit and loss in two columns, without and with donor restrictions, plus a total. The change in net assets always equals net income, and releases always total zero.
Chart of accounts
Start from a church chart of accounts.
New books
Choose the church template and your chart starts with contribution accounts for both kinds of donor restriction, funds held for others, net assets, program revenue, clearing accounts for giving and operating expenses.
Books you already keep
Chart setup previews the church accounts you are missing and adds them, keeping every account you already have as it is. An account that doesn't fit is reported for you to review, never rewritten.
Common questions
What churches ask first.
Can Imprest do church fund accounting?
Yes. Each fund is a category you can filter any report by, and you say once what kind of money it holds: unrestricted, restricted by the donor, passed through to someone else, or a payment for something such as camp. Its gifts then go to the matching account, and your balance sheet shows net assets with donor restrictions apart from net assets without them.
Does Imprest work with Planning Center Giving?
Yes. You connect through Planning Center's own sign-in as a Giving administrator or bookkeeper, and Imprest reads donations, funds, batches and campuses without changing anything there. Each day's online gifts become one entry, each committed batch of cash and checks becomes one entry and one deposit to match, and refunds post on the day they happen. Read how the Planning Center Giving connection works.
Do we need a giving platform to keep funds?
No. Funds live in Settings whether or not you connect a giving platform. Once you keep funds, bills, expenses and checks offer a Fund field, and the bank feed offers it beside each line. Imprest also connects to Givebutter.
How do we release restricted money once it is spent?
When a donor's purpose has been carried out or a time restriction has passed, choose Release on the fund. It starts at the fund's spending not yet released and moves that money to unrestricted net assets. A release never changes revenue or net income, and it can't take out more than the fund holds. Closing a month offers the same.
How does Imprest handle money we collect for a missionary?
Mark the fund as passed through to someone else. Its gifts are held as a liability in Funds Held for Others instead of counted as revenue. To pay it out, choose Send on the fund: Imprest writes a check, or a bill to pay later, tagged with the fund and never for more than it holds.
What reports can we give the board?
Fund balances shows where each fund started, the gifts it took in, what was spent, what was released from restriction and where it ended. The statement of activities is your profit and loss in two columns, without and with donor restrictions, plus a total. Both tie out to your balance sheet and profit and loss, and you can export either one as a spreadsheet, a PDF or a CSV, or email it on a schedule.
What doesn't Imprest do for churches?
Imprest does not send donor giving statements or receipts; those stay with your giving platform. Planning Center Giving brings in gifts, funds and batches only: People, Registrations and other Planning Center products are not synced. Imprest never writes gifts or people back to Planning Center, and donors do not become customers.
Start free for 30 days.
Set up your funds and bring Sunday's giving in. Each fund shows its balance and what it can spend.
30-day free trial. No credit card required.
Planning Center and Givebutter are trademarks of their owners, used here only to name the services Imprest connects to.
30-day free trial. No credit card required.
Start free trial