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Formation Office Release Notes

11.3F Release

If you're part of the Preferred Client Program, you can download the latest desktop version in the Client Portal.

PDS Formation Office 11.3F, releasing for desktop 8-18-26 and OnDemand 8-20-26, offers the following enhancements.

New and Improved Features

Fill In the Blank Certificates

  • You can now print sacramental certificates for non-parishioners—without having to create extra records. For example, someone may have received special permission to be baptized at your parish, or maybe they were a parishioner a long time ago and you need to make a certificate for them. We created "fill in the blank" certificates for this purpose.

    Student Reports list showing the "Fill In the Blank Certificates" section with 6 reports under it: Fill In- Baptismal Cert Full Page & Back, Fill In- Confirmation Cert Full Page, Fill In- First Communion Cert Full Page, Fill In- Adult Initiation Certificate, Fill In- OCIA Certificate, and Fill In- First Confession Cert Full Page

  • Go to Student Reports > Certificates > Fill In the Blank Certificates. These reports allow you to enter the information that should be printed on the certificate. So instead of using your PDS data, you tell the program what to print! The information you enter for the certificate is not saved in PDS.

    The Fill In- Baptism Certificate Report window showing options for what to print on the certificate, including volume and page numbers, name, father and mother names, birth place, dates, and so on

Export Family Fund Information
  • You can export a family's fund history, recap, or monthly totals to a .csv file. On the Information tab, click Tuition & Fees, scroll to the family you want, then click View/Print in the left navigation menu. Select whether to view the history, recap, or monthly totals, and select any other options you want to restrict the view. To export the information you see in the grid, click Export at the bottom. Choose the file path and name to save your .csv file.

    Gif showing the steps through the View/Print Fund Information dialog box with the new button for "Export", then the dialog box for "Select File Name", then the .csv file that is created

Next Payment Due
  • PDS now shows information about the family's next scheduled payment. You can see the next payment date and amount in the Recap/Totals window and on the Fund Overview. This information only displays for funds that have rates.
    Recap/TotalsOverview
    Example of the Recap/Totals window showing the new field for "Next Payment Due" with the date and dollar amount in the "Totals Through Today" sectionExample of the Overview window showing the new field for "Next Payment Due" with the date and dollar amount in the "Totals Thru Today" section

  • The new fields are Next Payment Amount (the dollar amount for the next payment), Next Payment Date (the date the next payment is scheduled), and Next Payment Fund (the name of the fund associated with the payment). You can use these fields on the listing screen, in reports, and for report selections. Find them under Fund > Fund Detail in the field list.

    Customize View in the Listing ScreenAdditional Selections in Reports
    Example showing the customizable fields for the listing screen with the three new fields for "Next Payment Amount", "Next Payment Date", and "Next Payment Fund"Example of running a report with the additional selections showing the three new fields for "Next Payment Amount", "Next Payment Date", and "Next Payment Fund"
    Note: If the family has paid off their pledge, the Next Payment Due will show $0.00 unless the fund has the Increase Pledge to Match Payments option set. In that case, it will show the regularly scheduled payment amount.
Jump to a Class from Student Detail
  • From the Student Detail window, you can now double-click a class/session to open its record. There are two ways to do this:
    • Double-click the black arrow pointing right arrow on the far-left of the grid row for the class you want to go to.
    • Click in the grid row for the class you want to go to, then double-click the class name.
  • If you need to quickly jump back to the student, you can use the back button at the top of the program.

    Gif showing the Student Detail window with the class/session grid and how you can double-click the arrow beside the class or click in the class name then double-click it to open the Class Schedules window to that record

Default to Show or Hide the Fund Message
  • In the Payment/Donation Entry quick posting, the Display Message when family does not have the fund set up option is now saved as the default for next time. So, if you don't want to see the message, you would clear the checkbox. Then, next time you use the quick posting, the program remembers so you don't have to clear it every time.
  • The default is saved per user in the .ini file, so each person can set their own preference. This applies to all batches, so the option is not different from saved batch to saved batch. The program remembers your most recent selection and will use that when opening or creating any batch.
Name Format for "Last Name, Nickname"
  • We added a new field that displays a person's last name and nickname in reports and on the listing screen. If the person doesn't have a nickname entered, it shows their first name instead. This field is available for the following:
    • Students under Student > Student - Additional Name Formats > Name Format 14
    • Members under Mem > Mem - Additional Name Formats > Name Format 14
    • Class/session teachers under Class > Class Ctchst > Name Format 14
    • Personnel under Personnel > Personnel - Detail > Name Format 17

    Example showing the Customize Listing Screen window with the Name Format 14 field selected and the resulting column on the listing screen showing names as Last Name, Nickname

Corrections

We fixed issues that were reported internally to our team, as well as the following issue that affected some of our customers:
  • We resolved the issues with accessing Constant Contact, Google, PDS help, and other external websites through OnDemand.
Release Notes
2026
Portal
Formation Office

Last updated: August 19, 2026