Batch Manager

If you wish, you can group transactions into batches. Using batches can help you manage data entry, apply some controls, and update or acknowledge gifts in a group. When you add a batch, you first enter the total amount expected in the group of transactions. Then once the batch is completely entered, you can compare the amount you expected for the batch with the sum of the transaction amounts that were entered.

If you are using the QuickBooks interface to post to accounting, you are required to put your transactions into batches.

There are four different types of batches:

  1. Gifts - to group gifts, sales, pledges, pledge payments, and dues. A batch can contain all of these different gift types.
  2. Guest Payments - to group guest payments. Guest invoices are not part of a batch.
  3. Grants Payable - to group outgoing grants that have been approved.
  4. Grant Checks - to group outgoing grant checks that are ready to go.

When you create a batch, you give it a batch name and enter the total amount expected for the batch. You can set one batch of each type as the "current" batch for that batch type. This means that as you add new gifts, guest payments or grant transactions, they are automatically added to the corresponding batch. This is a shortcut, saving you the need to select the batch for each transaction you enter. At any time you can come to the Batch Manager screen and set the current batch. You can also turn it off so that no batch is current.

Each user can have a different current batch so several users can be adding to different batches at the same time.

Batches can be set as Active or Inactive. Inactive batches would generally be ones from the past that you not longer needed to view on the Batch Manager tab.

The Batch Manager tab shows a list of batches. Above the list are buttons that allow you to view only active batches, only inactive batches, or all batches. The name of the current batch, if any, also appears above the list.

The Batch Manager includes these buttons:

  1. Add - this adds a new batch. You enter a unique name for your batch, a date, and the total expected amount.
    1. Batches are often based on a date range - gifts today, or gifts this week, for example. You can name your batch for the date, but to ensure that they sort correctly, you could consider putting the year first, followed by the month and day, for example "20130926".  Since there are 10 characters allowed in a batch name, you could also include user initials.
  2. Edit - this allows you to edit the batch name, date or expected amount.
  3. Set as Current - this sets the selected batch as the current batch for the selected batch type. The name of the batch appears after "Current Batch:" at the top of the list. This batch name is added to all transactions entered by this user until the current batch is either cleared or set to a different batch name.
    1. Even though the batch name is automatically added, the user can still remove it or change it to a different batch name during data entry.
  4. Clear Current - this clears the current batch so that no batch name is automatically added during data entry.
  5. View Details - this opens a window showing a list of all of the transactions included in the selected batch.
    1. If the batch you are viewing is a gift batch, you can edit or acknowledge individual gifts from the details screen.
  6. Acknowledge - this creates acknowledgments for the gifts in the selected batch. This only applies to gift batches.
  7. Delete - this deletes the selected batches but it does not delete the underlying transaction records. It just removes the batch name from those records.
  8. Lock - this locks the batch so that it can not be re-posted to accounting and so that transactions in the batch can no longer be changed. A batch should be locked after it has been posted to accounting using the Accounting interface and after the bookkeeper is satisfied that it has posted correctly.
    1. Not all fields are locked with you lock a batch; only those fields that are part of the information posted to accounting are locked.
  9. Mark as Active/Inactive - this marks an active batch as inactive or vice versa, depending on the status of the selected batch.
  10. Export to QB - this creates an export file of gifts in the batch that can be imported into the desk top version of QuickBooks.  If you are using QuickBooks online, use the QuickBooks tab in the Interfaces screen.
  11. Accounting Export - for accounting systems other than QuickBooks, it is sometimes possible to import transactions from a text file if the columns are in the right order or have the correct captions at the top. If your accounting system accommodates this feature, you can use this button to create a text file for the batch.
  12. Update Selected - the Update Selected button allows you to do the following with the selected batches:
    1. Mark as posted - this interacts with the Accounting Interface.
    2. Mark as Acknowledged - this marks the selected batches as acknowledged. When you acknowledge gifts in a batch, using the Acknowledge button above, the acknowledgment process using the New Mailing screen marks the individual gifts as acknowledged but does not mark the batch itself as acknowledged. This selection only applies to gift batches.
    3. Lock - this locks all the selected batches.
    4. Batch Active - this marks all the selected batches as active.