Overview

To make a payment via a NACHA file generated by CommunitySuite, ACH credentials must be entered for both the profile receiving the payment and for the bank account making the payment. After these credentials have been entered, the Electronic option must be selected for the payment option. Once the check has been posted, return to the check screen and select the Download NACHA File option. Once that option is selected, a text file generates that can be uploaded to a bank's website to initiate an ACH transfer. 

Setting Up an Account for NACHA Use

An account needs two items to be NACHA ready: a vendor assigned to the account and ACH credentials. 

1.  Go to Accounts and select the Bank Account that is making the payment.
   
   
2.  Click Edit.
   
   
3.  Search for a vendor and click on their name in the dropdown, then click Save.
4.  Click Configure next to ACH Account Settings.
   
   
5.  Select the Account Type, and enter the corresponding information into each of these fields and then click Save.
   
   
   

This account is now set up for NACHA File use with a Vendor and ACH Account settings. 

Setting Up a Vendor for NACHA Use

A vendor only needs ACH credentials to be set up for NACHA use. 

1.  Go to Vendors and search for the vendor that is being paid. Click on their name from the dropdown list.
   
   
   
2.  Click on their profile name to go to the vendor's profile.
   
   
3.  Click Configure next to ACH Settings.
   
   
4.  Fill out the account information for the vendor and click Save.
   
   

This vendor is now set up for NACHA File use with ACH settings.

Download a NACHA File

Once the account and vendor receiving the payment are set up, the NACHA File is almost ready for download. The last item remaining is a payment being paid out to the vendor. The payment must be in an electronic format. Below, we will walk through the process on an example voucher being made out to the vendor. 

1.  When creating the voucher, make sure that it is being made out to the correct vendor and expense account.
2.  Click Post.
   
   
   
3.  Click Pay.
    
   
   
4.  Select the NACHA Payment Account and select a Payment Date in the future.
   
   

   Most banks will not accept same date ACH payments.

   We recommend you always select a payment date in the future to prevent any mistakes.

5.  Select the item you are paying out, and click Next.
   
   
6. Select Elec as the payment option.
   
   

   The payment option must be Electronic for NACHA File use.

7. Once Elec has been selected, click Create Checks.
8.  Click on the Check ID to go to the payment, and post it.
   
   
   
9.  Once the payment is posted, click List to return to the Checks page. From there, click Download NACHA File.
   
   
   

    10. Enter a Payment Date and click Export.

A text file should have exported that can be used to upload to a bank's website and start an ACH transfer. 

The functional expense report shows you the amounts of expenses by both their natural classification and their functional classification. By default, CommunitySuite provides three functional expense classifications (Fundraising, Management & General, and Program Services), however, additional classifications can be created and assigned to accounts as needed.

Create Functional Expense Classifications

1. Select Accounts from the Home page.
   
   
2. Select Functional Expenses.
   
   
3. Click Create.
   
   
4. Enter the name of the functional expense classification and click Create.

Assign a Functional Expense Classification to an Account

1. Select Accounts from the Home page.
   
   
2. Select the account Number of the desired account.
   
   
3. Click Edit.
   
   
4. Click the drop-down menu and select a Functional Expense.
   
   
5. Click Save.

Run a Statement of Functional Expenses

1. Select Financials from the Home page.
   
   
2. Select Func Expense.
   
   
3. Enter a custom date range or select from the list.
   
   
4. The Statement of Functional Expenses will now display.
   
   Accounts that have not been assigned a functional expense classification will be listed at the bottom of the report as Un-categorized Expenses.
   This report only displays Expense accounts.
   
   
5. To see this report in a more traditional view, select Export, open the .csv file, and create a Pivot Table to analyze the data.
   
   
   

Investment strategies are used to assign investment accounts to funds.

1. Select Accounts from the Home page.
   
   
2. Click Investment Strategies.
   
   
3. Click Create.
   
4. Give the investment strategy a Name, and click Create.
   
   
5. Click Add Account.
   
6. Click the Name of an investment account.
   
   
7. At this point, there is only one investment account added to the strategy, so the percentage held will be 100.00%.
   
   
8. Repeat steps 5 & 6 to add additional investment accounts, then click Edit.
   
   
9. Edit the percentage (in decimal form) held by each account, then click Update.
   
   

   For example, .30 indicates that 30% of the fund is held in the Bank  - Money Market account.

    

10. You can now add your investment strategy to a fund, by editing the fund.

    Keep in mind that if a fund is assigned an investment strategy that has multiple accounts: donations coming in, and grants going out, will reflect the same percentages. 

    Looking at the example in Step 9: if you receive a $1000 donation, $700 will go to the Investment Asset - Merrill Edge account, and $300 will go to the Bank - Money Market account. When you run a balance swap, CommunitySuite will re-balance the fund to reflect the percentages that you define.
    
    

Payroll-related accounts will report on the Income Statement and Balance Sheet based on your Chart of Accounts.

Payroll may include any or all of the following:

• salaries
• wages
• bonuses & commissions to employees
• overtime pay
• payroll taxes and costs
• Social Security
• Medicare
• Federal income tax
• State income tax
• State unemployment tax
• Federal unemployment tax
• Worker compensation insurance
• Employer paid benefits
• Per diem
• insurance (health, dental, vision, life, disability)
• retirement/401k plans
• 941 (Employer Quarterly Federal Tax Return form)

All of these items can be recorded through the Voucher process. Be sure these line items are in your Chart of Accounts so you can itemize and attribute your expenses when you enter Vouchers.

• From the homepage, go to Accounts
• Select List All from the left side menu
• Click on the account number of the account you want to edit
• Select Edit from the left side menu
• In the Edit Account section, click in the selection box to the right of Check Format and select a desired check format for the account.

   Note: This will override the default check format specified in System Data.

• Go to Accounts from the Home page
• From Accounts, select the ID # of the Sub-Account 
• Choose Edit from the left side menu
• Go to the Subof Account drop-down
• Select the top choice - which is blank

You may also edit the account number or any other details if needed.

• Pick the Save button and the Subaccount will now be listed as an Account in your Chart of Accounts.

You can set up a Sub-account for any existing Account in the system. You cannot create a Sub-account for another Sub-account. This means you can only go one level deep with your sub-accounts. 

• Go to Accounts from the Home page
• From Accounts, select the ID # of the Account you wish to add a sub-account to
• Select Add Subaccount from the left-hand menu
• Enter a new SubAccount number (usually a small increment above the original Account)

• Type a new Name
• Enter a Description that distinguishes the Sub-Account from the Account
• Choose the Create button to create the new Sub-Account

When completing financial reports the sub account will be rolled up and reported with the main account.

The system allows you to customize your Fund Statements so your Fund Advisors do not need to see all the accounting details in their statements. 

• Go to Accounts from the Home page
• Select Statement Accounts from the left side of the screen
• In Statement Accounts, choose Create from the left menu
• Enter the Name you want to display on Fund Advisor Statements
  • For example Gains and Losses, Investment Fees, etc
• If you want to hide the details click the Hide Detail checkbox
• Select Create when done.

Next, you will see the list of your accounts, select the items you wish to combine and display on the statement.

• Choose the Save button when you are done

You now will have several accounts combined or rolled up. You can repeat these steps to further customize by creating other "Statement Accounts" such as Grants, Contributions, Gains and Losses and Investment Fees. Your Fund Statements will now have several accounts combined for ease of readability. You can edit any Statement Account by selecting the ID number from the list of Statement Accounts and then pick Edit from the left menu.

The Accounts Payable section shows all open vouchers and payments due. All outstanding Scholarship and Grant payments will also be visible in Accounts Payable. You can pay open vouchers from Accounts Payable by creating and printing checks. 

1. From the Accounts Payable page, click the Create Checks option from the left-side menu.
   
   
   
   • Open vouchers that need to be paid as well as a table with unposted checks (if you have any) will be visible. 
2. You can sort the vouchers using any of the Group By Preference column headers. 
   • Group by None, Due Date, Fund or Vendor.
   • By default the vouchers are grouped by Vendor so the system will automatically consolidate all payments to a single vendor into one payment/check.
     
     
3. Click Next.
   
   
4. Click [Options] to group vouchers by Vendor, Fund or Due Date if you missed step 2.
   
   
5. At the top of the page select the Payment Account that is paying the vouchers, then enter or choose the Payment Date.
   
   
6. Select the vouchers to be paid by selecting the Checkboxes in the right column.
   
   
   • You can enter the amounts you wish to pay (if different from the balance amount).
     
     
7. Click the Next button at the bottom of the page.
   
   
8. You now have the opportunity to review the vendors and amounts you have selected and indicate if the check will be electronic (Elec) or printed.
   
   
   • You can also add a memo message to print on the check.
     
     
9. Once complete, click the Create Checks button.

To export the information associated with Accounts Payable, Grants Payable, and Scholarships Payable:

1. Navigate to Accounts Payable from the Home page. 
2. Click Export/AP/GP/SP from the left-side menu.

Your AP/GP/SP data will download to your computer's Downloads folder as an Excel file.

Note: The legacy ID column within the export document will populate legacy ID's from imported data (i.e. FIMS).

To Reopen a Closed Account:

1. Navigate to the Accounts page.
2. Click List All from the left-side menu.
   • Closed will display to the right of the Account Name for any closed accounts.
3. Click the blue Account Number for the account you want to reopen.
4. Click Open Account from the left-side menu.

To Close an Account:

1. Navigate to the Accounts page.
2. Click the Account Number for the account you want to edit.
3. Select Close Account from the left-side menu.

Note: Before closing an Account, the Account must be Reconciled and Account Assets moved to a different Account. 

1. Navigate to the Accounts page.
   
   
   
2. Click the Number for the account you want to delete.
   
   
   
3. Click Delete from the left-side menu.
   

Edit, and configure the fields within an account.

1. Select Accounts from the Home page.
   
   
2. Select the account Number of the account you want to edit.
   
   
3. Click Edit.
   
   
4. Edit the desired account fields, then click Save.
   
   

   Account Fields

   • Account Number - unique ID of the account.
   • Name - name of the account.
   • Description - description of the account.
   • Account Type
   • Check Template - list of your custom check templates (if you've enabled and uploaded custom check templates in System Data).
   • Has Checks - enables the ability to create checks from the account. 
   • Subof Account - nest the account under a parent account.
   • Rev Share Parent - treats multiple accounts as one for revenue share.
   • Statement Account - link the account to the selected statement account.
   • Functional Expense - classify the account by functional expense for reporting purposes (the Func Expense report can be found in Financials). By default, CommunitySuite provides three functional expense classifications (Fundraising, Management & General, and Program Services), however, you can also create additional custom classifications if needed.
   • Vendor - account vendor (accounts that have a designated vendor can use statement vouchers to record all income and expenses associated with the account).
   • Manage Cash - tracks the movement of money between accounts and funds.
   • IRS 1099 Field - contains numbers that correspond with the box numbers from your IRS 1099 Form. 
     • For example, box 1 on the 1099 form is used to enter rent. If this account is used to pay rent, you would select 1 from the drop-down list. Please see this IRS link for more information about 1099's.
     • CommunitySuite will not automatically generate a IRS 1099 form. However, you can use the Vendors Paid report to help build out your IRS 1099 form.
   • Exclude from Statements - excludes the account from all statements
   • Restriction - designate a restriction for the account (Illiquid Assets, Permanently Restricted, Temporarily Restricted, Unrestricted)
   • Financial Views - add the account to a financial view.
   • Available For Cash - enter the percentage of cash that should be made available for grants.

1. Select Accounts from the Home page.
   
   
2. Click Create.
   
   
   
3. Enter an Account Number (use numbering system from your chart of accounts), an account Name, a Description, and select an Account Type from the drop-down menu.

   If you select an income account type, it cannot be changed to a balance sheet account type (and vice versa) once the account is created.

4. Click Create.
   
   
5. Now that the account is created, click Edit to configure additional settings.
   
   
6. Configure the following settings:
   
   
   • Description - Internal account description
   • Has Checks - This flag indicates if checks can be written from this account
   • Subof Account - Indicates the parent account linked to this account
   • Rev Share Parent - Indicates the account used during revenue share - generally a pool account
   • Statement Account - Indicates the statement account this account is part of
   • Vendor - Indicates the vendor linked to this account - generally the vendor who provides an account investment statement
   • Manage Cash- This flag indicates if this account participates in cash management.
   • Manage cash only applies to Asset and Liability accounts.
   • IRS 1099 Field - This flag is used for 1099 designation - generally corresponds with the box this account would fall into
   • Exclude From Statement - This flag indicates if this account should be excluded from fund statements
   • Restriction - Indicates the general restriction on account balance
   • Financial Views - Indicates the financial views this account is part of
   • Available For Cash - Indicates the available percentage of account balance - default is 100%
   • Check Format - Select a default check format for the account.
     
     
7. Click Save.

To assign an Account Type to an Account:

1. Navigate to the Accounts page.
2. Click the Edit Types button from the left-side menu.
3. Click the drop-down menu to the right of an account and select an account Type.
4. Click the Update button at the bottom of the page.

Some account types have special functionality, like bank and credit card accounts. Remember that credit cards are categorized as a Liability, while bank accounts are Assets. You can only pay vouchers from Bank, Investment, or Credit Card accounts.

Account Types are broken into five categories:

• Asset (A)
• Liability (L)
• Revenue (R)
• Expense (E)
• Equity (OE)

Within each category, predefined Account Types can be selected based on the purpose of the account. Account Types define how your accounts interact with CommunitySuite and how your accounts will display in Financial Statements. 

Below are some examples of how account types can affect other features in CommunitySuite:

• Financials - accounts will be grouped in their account type, and depending on the report, will also be the column heading.
• Admin Fees - the balance used in the admin fee calculation is the sum of all asset accounts, unless you've excluded specific accounts.
• Distributions - the balance used in the distribution calculation is the sum of bank and investment accounts.