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Formation Office Year-End Guide

Prepare for Year End

December and January are busy times in the office. You're mailing or emailing contributors' tax statements, printing statements for the pastor and finance committee, and setting up your program to enter contributions for the new year.

To keep track, you can create checklists of projects to complete before year-end and in January. The more you prepare now, the less you have to worry about at the start of the new year. Follow the steps below to create your checklists.

Review report samples

Look at samples of the financial listings, statements, and tax reports to determine which ones you need to print at year-end.

  1. On the Information tab, click Tuition & Fees > Reports.
  2. Expand the category for the report type, and select the report you want to view.
  3. Click the thumbnail of the report to view a sample. The sample does not use your data but gives an idea of what the report will look like.

    Tuition & Fees Reports list showing a report sample

Once you decide which reports you'll need, note down or print the samples and selections to use. This way, you'll be prepared when it comes time to print the reports you need at year end.

Create checklists of projects

The following are sample checklists. You can copy these and modify them to fit your needs.

Tasks to Complete Before January
☐ Determine the number of statements you need. Run the Family Count report to determine how many statements to print. This way, you know the number of supplies you need.
  • Some churches only print statements if families request one.
  • Other churches send statements based on the amount that families gave.
  • Some just print them for people who need an itemized tax statement for IRS purposes, like those who gave $250 or more at one time, or those who had Quid Pro Quo or non-cash deductible contributions.
☐ Purchase your supplies. Order all the necessary supplies in advance so you have them when you print and mail year-end statements. Here are some items you may need:
  • Stationary for statements if you print your letterhead using PDS.
  • Pre-printed letterhead stationery if you don't print your letterhead in the program.
  • Regular envelopes, window envelopes, and/or labels.
  • Plain paper for financial reports, formation records, and your Procedures Notebook.
  • Ink cartridges for your printer and/or copier.
  • Meter ink, paid postage, and other necessary supplies if you use a postage meter.
  • Extra flash drives, CDs, and other supplies for making backups.

☐ Create letterhead and signature images. If you use bitmap letterhead or signatures in your letters and statements, create these images in advance. You can add them to your letterhead and closing styles in PDS. Remember: the larger the file, the longer it takes to print. Try to make the images as small as possible while still printing correctly.

☐ Verify EZ-Mail settings. If you use PDS EZ-Mail to save on postage, CASS certify addresses before mailing. Ensure the addresses meet the Move Update standards, and update your bulk mailing list at least every 95 days. For more on this, visit our website.

☐ Review financial reports. Figure out which statements you need, and list them in your year-end Procedures Notebook. Most use the Itemized End of Year statement.

☐ Make some PDS New Year's resolutions. Here are a few resolutions to be more efficient:
  • Back up your data at least once a week in addition to the automatic backups. Keep four sets of revolving backups in a safe location. Also, subscribe to an online backup service, which ensures the integrity of your data in case of theft, fire, or natural disaster.
    Note: OnDemand customers – Your data is automatically backed up daily/weekly/monthly and stored securely off-site in fireproof storage. If your facility experiences a disaster, we can recapture your data.
  • Create a Procedures Notebook that contains the steps you follow at year-end, the beginning of the new year, and throughout the year. Keep this updated for your reference and for others.
Tasks to Complete in January
☐ Download the latest program update. This ensures that you have the most updated reports, tools, and utilities. In PDS, click File > Check for Program Update. If a newer version is available, follow the steps to update your program.
Note: OnDemand customers – Your program is updated automatically, so don't worry about this step. If your program hasn't been updated, contact PDS Support at 1-877-737-4457 for information on the update schedule.
☐ Make a year-end backup. Consider making a year-end backup that you will not overwrite. This is helpful if someone moved out of your community over five years ago, then gets an IRS summons. You can reprint the contributor's statement, even if you've deleted their record.
Note: OnDemand customers – Your data is automatically backed up daily, weekly, and monthly. However, you can manually create a backup of your data and save it to your local drive or location via OnDemand.

☐ Keep your New Year's resolutions. Perform your weekly backups, and add notes to your Procedures Notebook. Also, include helpful notes on daily duties you perform in PDS.

☐ Add the new fund year. Before posting January's entries, add the new fund period(s).

☐ Print the year-end statements. In the second week of January, print statements for families.

☐ Print the year-end financial reports.
  • Review the financial totals and statistical report samples to determine which reports to print and retain for prior years' financial information.
  • Save samples of the reports used this year, add any necessary notes, and keep them in your Procedures Notebook. This helps you remember which reports to print next year.
☐ Review family and student statuses.
  • Many keep inactive records so they have the data if needed later. If you keep inactive families or students, remember that they aren't printed in reports unless you select the option to include them.
  • Some choose to remove records each year. Remove family or student information using the Remove/Advance process.

☐ Make detailed notes. Help yourself and others eliminate stress next year by taking notes on the steps for this year's year-end processes. If you were particularly stumped in a certain area, write it down. Organize your notes, and keep them in your Procedures Notebook for future reference.

☐ Save your checklists. Make sure to keep your checklist for next year.

View and complete checklist tasks

The End of Year / New Year Checklist is a great way to keep your tasks in order!

Example of the Formation End of Year / New Year Checklist showing tasks with checkboxes

This checklist provides a way to track the tasks you've completed and what's next. It's split into things to do at the end of the year and things to do before you begin the new year.

You don't have to complete all the items at the same time. In fact, tasks like assigning catechists and enrolling students will take some time. The checklist saves your progress automatically.

  1. On the Information tab, click Students > Processes.
  2. On the Formation Processes tab, click End of Year / New Year Checklist at the bottom.
    The checklist displays with tasks to do at year end at the top and tasks to do before the new year at the bottom.
  3. If you completed this checklist last year, you can start fresh by clicking Clear All at the bottom.
  4. Hover over the text for each task to see details. (You can see the same information on End of Year / New Year Checklist items).
  5. Hover over the go-to icon arrow pointing into another window to see where it will take you. Click the icon to go to the relevant process or screen.
    Once you click the icon, the checkbox is marked for the task.
  6. Go back to the checklist to review and complete additional tasks.

End of Year / New Year Checklist items

At the End of the Year

Post Final Attendance
Make sure the students' Attendance is complete so the information posted to the permanent record will be complete. If you track catechist attendance, make sure it's also complete.
Make a Backup of your Data
Once all of your information is complete for the year, but before moving information to the permanent record, make a backup of your data. That way, if you don't like the results, you can restore the data from this point to start over again. Mark the backup with "End of Year" and the year.
Run the End of Year - Formation Remove/Advance Process
The End of Year - Formation Remove/Advance process will post information about classes, attendance, and progress marks (optional) to the students' permanent record screens. It will also remove last year's schedules, attendance, and progress so you will be ready to enter information for next year.
Run Grade Promotion
Grade Promotion will move students' grades to the next level. For example, students in grade 2 will move to grade 3, those in grade 3 will move to grade 4, etc. The Grade Promotion process gives you the option of promoting the students' Formation Grade, School Grade, or both.
Make Another Backup
Before you run the end of year processes for Tuition & Fees, make a backup of your data. That way, if you don't like the results, you can restore the data from this point to start over again. Mark the backup with "End of Year before Fund processes" and the year.
Run the New Year Fund Setup Process
The New Year Fund Setup process will help you create new fund periods for the next school or fiscal year. It will help you set up new terms, rates, and billing periods.
Run Carry Forward Balances and Prepayments Process
The Carry Forward Balances and Prepayments process will help you work with families that have either overpaid, have outstanding balances, or have prepaid in the prior fund period for the new year. You can determine whether to pull those amounts into the new fund period or not.

Before You Begin the New Year

Add the New Year/Period to the Keyword List and Mark as the Default
If you have not yet added the new year/period to the keyword list, do it now. Having a few years/periods to work with allows you to track classes for last year, this year, and next year at one time. If you also set the latest year/period as the default on the keyword screen, data entry and reports will be more automatic.
Make a Backup
Before you start adding new classes and assigning catechists and students to them, make a backup of your data. That way, if you don't like the results, you can restore the data from this point to start over again. Mark the backup with "Beginning of Year" and the year.
Run the Add New Year/Period for Classes/Sessions Process
The Add New Year/Period for Classes/Sessions process will help you create new classes from the old classes and automatically add the new year/period, start and end dates. You can choose to use the same times, rooms, frequency, or blank them out. You can also add days the classes will not meet.
If you promote by entire class, run Automatic Class/Session Promotion
If you promote all of the students in one class together into a new class for the next year, use the Automatic Class/Session Promotion process to make it easier.
Run the Reassign Class Dates and Times Process
Use the Reassign Class Dates and Times process to help you quickly add the class time, start date, end date, frequency, days classes will not meet, and required classes to your new classes.
Run the Set Exception Dates for All Classes/Sessions Process
Use the Set Exception Dates for All Classes/Sessions process to enter the days classes will not meet in one place. Let the program figure out which dates apply to which classes and add the exceptions for you.
Make Another Backup
Before you remove the old classes from last year that you no longer need, make another backup. That way, if you don't like the results, you can restore the data from this point to start over again. Mark the backup with "Before Deleting Classes" and the year.
Run the Delete Classes/Sessions Process to remove old Classes
Use the Delete Classes/Sessions process to remove old classes and get them out of your way. Select the group of classes to remove by entering the old year/period keyword, or select all classes, and just mark the classes in the list you want to delete.
On the Class/Session Screen Assign the Catechists to their Classes
Add Catechist names to your new classes/sessions when you know who will teach each class. There is no process for adding Catechists. You will do so by going to the class list and entering the name and position there.
Note: Although we include this on our checklist, this process will probably span a number of days and weeks.
Run the Enrollment Process or Register Families and Enroll Students Online Process
There are several ways to enroll the students. The two most automatic processes are the Enrollment process and the Enroll Students Online process. These processes assist you to enroll several students at once.
Note: Although we include this on our checklist, this process will probably span a number of days and weeks.
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Formation Office

Last updated: March 3, 2026