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Church Office Year-End Guide

Close the Financial Year

There are a few things you need to do to close the financial year.

Check the IRS tax limits

On the File menu in your PDS program, click Setup > Batch Number and Tax Limit Information. Check IRS requirements to ensure your tax limits are correct for the year you're closing.

Batch Number and Tax Limit Information screen showing options for the next batch number to use and fields for IRS substantiation regulations

Print the End of Year Donor Substantiation report

Some churches send this to everyone, whereas others only send it to those who request it. If you use Parish Life, you can upload year-end letters/statements for parishioners to view and print online.

  1. On the Information tab, click Contributions > Reports.
  2. Expand Financial Reports > Tax Reports.
  3. Double-click End of Year Donor Substantiation, and proceed through the next windows.
  4. Select your printer and paper options.
  5. Select whether you use non-deductible credits for IRA distributions. If you select this, the total non-deductible credits are marked with "**" and the following note prints for any applicable families:
    "** Donations given as distributions from an IRA under section 408 (d)(8) of the Internal Revenue code and Sec. 1201(a) of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 which are a non tax deductible portion of gift giving."
  6. Select any letter layout options you want. You can modify the body of the letter.
  7. Select a date range to print, and select each fund you want to include in the report. Select how to print overpayments.
  8. Use the selection tabs to filter the list of families to include in the report.
    Note:
    • Select Skip Families That Do not Have Any Selected Funds to exclude those families from printing.
    • Families who have the fund period set up but have not given this year do not print.
    • To filter for families who gave a certain amount or more, go to Additional Selections and add a new condition. Select Fund Totals > Grand Total Total Paid, then is greater than or equal to, and enter the amount.
  9. When you're ready, click Preview and/or Print the Report.
  10. If you selected to send some letters by email, select your options and send the emails.
  11. If prompted, select whether to log the letters.

Print any other reports

Print any reports you need for future reference. Listed below are some common tax reports you may need. On the Information tab, click Contributions > Reports. Expand Tax Reports.
  • List of Cash Contributions Over Limit – The IRS requires that donations over the limit be specifically substantiated.
  • List of Non-Cash Contributions – The item values are estimated. The donor must provide further proof of value.
  • List of Quid Pro Quo Contributions – This includes only the donations that meet the IRS quid pro quo limit.
  • Charitable Contributions Report – This tax statement with IRS written acknowledgment prints on ACS form 12550.
Below are some other financial reports you may want to print. On the Information tab, click Contributions > Reports. Expand Financial Statements.
  • Billing Statement – Letter that prints monthly totals and/or a recap of fund activities.
  • Past Due Notice – Letter that reminds families of outstanding balances.
Note: Some financial reports include gifts by fund/period. But note that actual tax statements look at the date a gift was given, regardless of the period entered. This is per IRS requirements.

Watch & Learn

Learn the basic steps to get started with reports in PDS. 6 min 31 sec

It may take a minute for the video to display. To watch in full screen mode, click the expand icon in the video player.

To watch more videos, visit the PDS Video Library.

Back up your data

  1. On the File menu in your PDS program, click Backup / Restore / Archive > Backup Data.
  2. Click Backup Data.
  3. Enter a reason for the backup, such as "Backup after closing the financial year".
  4. Select a backup method, and enter or select any relevant information.
  5. Click Start Backup.
  6. After your data is backed up, you can print the backup information for your reference.

Delete unused fund periods you no longer need

You can identify and remove fund periods that are no longer used. A fund period is considered "unused" by a family if they don't have any terms/rates or payments toward it.

  1. On the Information tab, click Contributions > Processes > Delete Unused Fund Periods.
  2. Select Use the Automatic Updating method to select a group of families.
  3. Select whether to delete fund periods from all funds, a certain fund, or a certain fund period. If needed, select a fund or period.
  4. Click Next.
  5. Select to remove unused fund periods for all families or only those who fit the conditions you add to filter the list.
    Note: For help with conditions, see the Additional Selections section in the topic, Report Selections.
  6. Select to include only active, only inactive, or all families in the process.
  7. Click Next.
  8. Review the list of unused fund periods. If you don't want to process a certain family, clear the checkbox beside their name. When you're ready, click Next.
  9. To delete unused fund periods for the selected records, click Finish.
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Last updated: November 4, 2024