Tracking/billing memberships in an Non-Profit Organization

Posted by Andrew on December 26, 2008, 8:26 am

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Haskel LaPort wrote:

>>> Laura wrote:

>>>> ...

>>>> Yes, your members are "customers". Include all known info (e-mail,

>>>> address, etc) in their profile so that you can take advantage of

>>>> the built in letter writing features that QB has.

>>>> ...

>>>> Create an invoice for each member's annual dues that are owed. As

>>>> they pay their dues use the Receive Payment task to clear their

>>>> invoice from A/R. Put the payments into Undeposited Funds and then

>>>> use the Banking>>Make deposits to group the checks to line up with

>>>> your actual bank deposits. This will help simplify your bank recs

>>>> tremendously. ...

>>> Thanks Laura for the quick reply - Is there an easy way within QB

>>> Pro to simply set up the membership so that upon some expiration

>>> date (job end date?) the invoice is automatically 'created' for the

>>> new year? The use of 'customers' to keep track of members seems

>>> somewhat of a kludge to me....I think I saw some NPO add on product

>>> that might handle this in more of a straightforward method?

>> You can "memorize" a transaction such as an annual invoice for the

>> dues. With each member, enter the first invoice. Then select

>> Edit>>memorize Invoice. You can specify here how often you want the

>> transaction to be posted.

>> You might check this 3rd party tool:

>> http://www.bigredconsulting.com/aboutBatchInvoicer.htm to see if this

>> might help mechanize the invoice creation.

>> To get your customers into QB look under

>> File>>utilities>>import>>excel files. There are options here to

>> copy/paste your customer information into a excel template.

>>> I really have been quite happy using quicken and excel (since 2001)

>>> to manage the club's books and membership list. I am giving QB a

>>> try since, as you know from the Quicken forum, I got this copy of

>>> QB 'free'. If there's a LOT of hassle trying to cram what I'm used

>>> to using in the past, then it isn't worth it. To me, having the

>>> membership list integrated into the accounting system is what was

>>> attractive to me, but I don't want to go to contortions to do it.

>> The initial setup might take some time but I think you'll find it

>> nicer to use than Quicken for tracking your NPO.

> Wow your being so sweet I'm getting a cavity reading this post. The

> OP will use any excuse to stay with Quicken so why waste your time.

> Anyone who is familiar with both products knows QB is far better

> suited for the task. I'm only guessing, but I bet the OP does not

> get paid for handing the books and next year someone else will take

> over the job. It just may not be worth his time learning a new

> product.

> If he didn't get QB for free we would not be having this thread.

Gee Haskel,do I know you? I must, because I can't believe you'd possibly
know exactly what is going on in my mind to assume you know everything that
is motivating me in this. I know Laura from the Quicken forum, and wouldn't
waste her time (or this group's) if I didn't have a bonefide interest in the
subject.
Why would I possibly spent the time playing with QB on Christmas (of all
days) if I didn't intend to use it?

The club I am the treasurer of is a small NPO social/exercise club, and of
course I don't get paid for it. Everything I do for it (and I've been an
officer for 8 years in various capacities) is volunteer, and if I find a
module that handles members easier that what I see I might have to do with
QB it would be out of my own pocket.

I am honestly trying to give QB a fair shake here. Quicken has been fine
for our purposes - we only have a bank account of some $1500 (on a good day)
and if I write more than 4 checks a month, I'm busy. We get a "Bill" from
someone maybe twice a month - usually in the form of a receipt for someone
buying soda and cookies for our social time after a walk or bike ride.

Before you cast aspersions on honest posts, sit back, take a deep breath,
and reflect before hitting the send key.
--
-------------------------------------------------------------
Regards -

- Andrew

Posted by Laura on December 26, 2008, 8:32 pm

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> Haskel LaPort wrote:

>>>> Laura wrote:

>>>>> ...

>>>>> Yes, your members are "customers". Include all known info (e-mail,

>>>>> address, etc) in their profile so that you can take advantage of

>>>>> the built in letter writing features that QB has.

>>>>> ...

>>>>> Create an invoice for each member's annual dues that are owed. As

>>>>> they pay their dues use the Receive Payment task to clear their

>>>>> invoice from A/R. Put the payments into Undeposited Funds and then

>>>>> use the Banking>>Make deposits to group the checks to line up with

>>>>> your actual bank deposits. This will help simplify your bank recs

>>>>> tremendously. ...

>>>> Thanks Laura for the quick reply - Is there an easy way within QB

>>>> Pro to simply set up the membership so that upon some expiration

>>>> date (job end date?) the invoice is automatically 'created' for the

>>>> new year? The use of 'customers' to keep track of members seems

>>>> somewhat of a kludge to me....I think I saw some NPO add on product

>>>> that might handle this in more of a straightforward method?

>>>

>>> You can "memorize" a transaction such as an annual invoice for the

>>> dues. With each member, enter the first invoice. Then select

>>> Edit>>memorize Invoice. You can specify here how often you want the

>>> transaction to be posted.

>>>

>>> You might check this 3rd party tool:

>>> http://www.bigredconsulting.com/aboutBatchInvoicer.htm to see if this

>>> might help mechanize the invoice creation.

>>>

>>> To get your customers into QB look under

>>> File>>utilities>>import>>excel files. There are options here to

>>> copy/paste your customer information into a excel template.

>>>

>>>> I really have been quite happy using quicken and excel (since 2001)

>>>> to manage the club's books and membership list. I am giving QB a

>>>> try since, as you know from the Quicken forum, I got this copy of

>>>> QB 'free'. If there's a LOT of hassle trying to cram what I'm used

>>>> to using in the past, then it isn't worth it. To me, having the

>>>> membership list integrated into the accounting system is what was

>>>> attractive to me, but I don't want to go to contortions to do it.

>>>

>>> The initial setup might take some time but I think you'll find it

>>> nicer to use than Quicken for tracking your NPO.

>> Wow your being so sweet I'm getting a cavity reading this post. The

>> OP will use any excuse to stay with Quicken so why waste your time.

>> Anyone who is familiar with both products knows QB is far better

>> suited for the task. I'm only guessing, but I bet the OP does not

>> get paid for handing the books and next year someone else will take

>> over the job. It just may not be worth his time learning a new

>> product.

>> If he didn't get QB for free we would not be having this thread.

> Gee Haskel,do I know you? I must, because I can't believe you'd possibly

> know exactly what is going on in my mind to assume you know everything

> that is motivating me in this. I know Laura from the Quicken forum, and

> wouldn't waste her time (or this group's) if I didn't have a bonefide

> interest in the subject.

> Why would I possibly spent the time playing with QB on Christmas (of all

> days) if I didn't intend to use it?

> The club I am the treasurer of is a small NPO social/exercise club, and of

> course I don't get paid for it. Everything I do for it (and I've been an

> officer for 8 years in various capacities) is volunteer, and if I find a

> module that handles members easier that what I see I might have to do with

> QB it would be out of my own pocket.

> I am honestly trying to give QB a fair shake here. Quicken has been fine

> for our purposes - we only have a bank account of some $1500 (on a good

> day) and if I write more than 4 checks a month, I'm busy. We get a "Bill"

> from someone maybe twice a month - usually in the form of a receipt for

> someone buying soda and cookies for our social time after a walk or bike

> ride.

> Before you cast aspersions on honest posts, sit back, take a deep breath,

> and reflect before hitting the send key.

> --

> -------------------------------------------------------------

> Regards -

Good comeback. I see you have met the group cynic. Don't pay too much
attention to him.

Don't be afraid to ask questions here.

Posted by Andrew on December 26, 2008, 10:41 pm

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Laura wrote:

> Good comeback. I see you have met the group cynic. Don't pay too much

> attention to him.

> Don't be afraid to ask questions here.

Well, 'cynic' is not the word that came to mind when I read his post, but
I'll leave it at that.

Just got back from Barnes and Nobles perusing two books for two hours on the
subject Laura! Probably will have to buy one of the two of them at some
point. Learned a little about 'items' that apparently I need to do. What
I think I'm planning is to take our books from the beginning of our fiscal
year 7/31/2008 and enter and learn transactions while continuing to track in
Quicken and Excel and see what happens. If I get 'stuck', I'll let you
know. After all, I don't ever want to be accused of doing anything "Bernie
Madoff" like.
--
-------------------------------------------------------------
Regards -

- Andrew

Posted by Haskel LaPort on December 27, 2008, 8:10 am

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> Laura wrote:

>> Good comeback. I see you have met the group cynic. Don't pay too much

>> attention to him.

>> Don't be afraid to ask questions here.

> Well, 'cynic' is not the word that came to mind when I read his post, but

> I'll leave it at that.

> Just got back from Barnes and Nobles perusing two books for two hours on

> the subject Laura! Probably will have to buy one of the two of them at

> some point. Learned a little about 'items' that apparently I need to do.

> What I think I'm planning is to take our books from the beginning of our

> fiscal year 7/31/2008 and enter and learn transactions while continuing to

> track in Quicken and Excel and see what happens. If I get 'stuck', I'll

> let you know. After all, I don't ever want to be accused of doing

> anything "Bernie Madof

Ruffling through two books for hours and getting spiddle and god knows what
ever else on them plus not buying either one says alot. I can only hope you
paid for coffee or a piece of cake while you read for free.

> --

> -------------------------------------------------------------

> Regards -

> - Andrew

Posted by Michael Arm on December 27, 2008, 7:24 pm

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wrote:

>> Haskel LaPort wrote:

>>>>> Laura wrote:

>>>>>> ...

>>>>>> Yes, your members are "customers". Include all known info (e-mail,

>>>>>> address, etc) in their profile so that you can take advantage of

>>>>>> the built in letter writing features that QB has.

>>>>>> ...

>>>>>> Create an invoice for each member's annual dues that are owed. As

>>>>>> they pay their dues use the Receive Payment task to clear their

>>>>>> invoice from A/R. Put the payments into Undeposited Funds and then

>>>>>> use the Banking>>Make deposits to group the checks to line up with

>>>>>> your actual bank deposits. This will help simplify your bank recs

>>>>>> tremendously. ...

>>>>> Thanks Laura for the quick reply - Is there an easy way within QB

>>>>> Pro to simply set up the membership so that upon some expiration

>>>>> date (job end date?) the invoice is automatically 'created' for the

>>>>> new year? The use of 'customers' to keep track of members seems

>>>>> somewhat of a kludge to me....I think I saw some NPO add on product

>>>>> that might handle this in more of a straightforward method?

>>>>

>>>> You can "memorize" a transaction such as an annual invoice for the

>>>> dues. With each member, enter the first invoice. Then select

>>>> Edit>>memorize Invoice. You can specify here how often you want the

>>>> transaction to be posted.

>>>>

>>>> You might check this 3rd party tool:

>>>> http://www.bigredconsulting.com/aboutBatchInvoicer.htm to see if this

>>>> might help mechanize the invoice creation.

>>>>

>>>> To get your customers into QB look under

>>>> File>>utilities>>import>>excel files. There are options here to

>>>> copy/paste your customer information into a excel template.

>>>>

>>>>> I really have been quite happy using quicken and excel (since 2001)

>>>>> to manage the club's books and membership list. I am giving QB a

>>>>> try since, as you know from the Quicken forum, I got this copy of

>>>>> QB 'free'. If there's a LOT of hassle trying to cram what I'm used

>>>>> to using in the past, then it isn't worth it. To me, having the

>>>>> membership list integrated into the accounting system is what was

>>>>> attractive to me, but I don't want to go to contortions to do it.

>>>>

>>>> The initial setup might take some time but I think you'll find it

>>>> nicer to use than Quicken for tracking your NPO.

>>>

>>> Wow your being so sweet I'm getting a cavity reading this post. The

>>> OP will use any excuse to stay with Quicken so why waste your time.

>>> Anyone who is familiar with both products knows QB is far better

>>> suited for the task. I'm only guessing, but I bet the OP does not

>>> get paid for handing the books and next year someone else will take

>>> over the job. It just may not be worth his time learning a new

>>> product.

>>> If he didn't get QB for free we would not be having this thread.

>> Gee Haskel,do I know you? I must, because I can't believe you'd possibly

>> know exactly what is going on in my mind to assume you know everything

>> that is motivating me in this. I know Laura from the Quicken forum, and

>> wouldn't waste her time (or this group's) if I didn't have a bonefide

>> interest in the subject.

>> Why would I possibly spent the time playing with QB on Christmas (of all

>> days) if I didn't intend to use it?

>> The club I am the treasurer of is a small NPO social/exercise club, and of

>> course I don't get paid for it. Everything I do for it (and I've been an

>> officer for 8 years in various capacities) is volunteer, and if I find a

>> module that handles members easier that what I see I might have to do with

>> QB it would be out of my own pocket.

>> I am honestly trying to give QB a fair shake here. Quicken has been fine

>> for our purposes - we only have a bank account of some $1500 (on a good

>> day) and if I write more than 4 checks a month, I'm busy. We get a "Bill"

>> from someone maybe twice a month - usually in the form of a receipt for

>> someone buying soda and cookies for our social time after a walk or bike

>> ride.

>> Before you cast aspersions on honest posts, sit back, take a deep breath,

>> and reflect before hitting the send key.

>> --

>> -------------------------------------------------------------

>> Regards -

>Good comeback. I see you have met the group cynic. Don't pay too much

>attention to him.

>Don't be afraid to ask questions here.

You were sure a lot more polite than I would have been on your
response. Actually, your questions are right up my alley. I am the
treasurer (unpaid) of a low vision Not-for-Profit group as well and
have been trying to convert from spreadsheets and quicken P&B.

Your questions are quite timely and thank you Laura for your answers.
Mike