Last day of the month is Sunday. Which month does the offering belong

by Sherri
(McGregor, TX USA)

When the last day of the month is Sunday, do you include the offering in that month or the next.

The deposit in the bank will be posted for the next month. I.e. April 30, 2023 is Sunday. The people have in April. The bank will not post until May 1st.

Which month is the money recognized in your accounting?

Comments for Last day of the month is Sunday. Which month does the offering belong

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Record Revenue when Received in Accrual Accounting
by: Vickey

I record revenue for my bookkeeping clients when it is received like Anonymous - MN posted.

However, many of my smaller church clients that record their own data...do not record revenue until it rolls thru the bank feed. That is fine ... except at the end of the calendar year=(

All donations should be recorded and acknowledged in the year it is received...not deposited.

So, if you "reconcile" your accounting software with your donation tracking software and you should be doing that, you will "back" up those January deposits into the prior December.

Like "Anonymous - MN" posted, even if you "edit" the date for the month before ... when the money was actually received...it will just be an "outstanding" deposit in your bank reconciliation and not affect it.

For my bigger church clients, we reconcile their accounting data with their donation tracking software such as Planning Center every month ... so we "back" those deposits into the month they were received.

However, for my smaller clients ...we only do it at the end of the year.

So....if you want to follow proper accounting guidelines AND your accounting is accrual based ... recognize revenue when it is received. If you are using a cash basis accounting system, it is ok to record revenue when it is deposited.

BUT make sure you record your donations in the correct "year" ... when it was received OR the date stamped on the envelope (if by mail)... in your donation tracking software! That rule goes for all nonprofits (small and big)=)
Last Day of the month
by: Anonymous

I count it for May since I deposit it in May (but add a note that the receipt books says 4/30). I'm not an accountant so it's easier for me to keep track of and cleaner on our monthly Treasurer Report.
Which month does the offering belong
by: Anonymous - MN

I would suggest that posting the deposit as 4/30/23 would be the proper posting so the the deposits for the month April are 5 since it is a 5 Sunday month.

Your reconciliation will not be effected as a reconciliation report will list the 4/30/23 deposit as not reconciled yet and will be list on your May bank statement and reconciled with the May statement.

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