Chart of Accounts
What Is a Chart of Accounts?
A Chart of Accounts is the organized list of all financial accounts your church uses to track money. Think of it as the filing system for your finances -- every dollar that comes in or goes out is recorded in one of these accounts.
TimelyChurch follows standard nonprofit accounting conventions, grouping accounts into five types. Each account type has a standard number range to keep things organized.
Where to find it: Open Finances > Accounting. In the accounting tab bar, open the Setup ▾ dropdown and choose Chart of Accounts. The Chart of Accounts is a Full Accounting screen -- it is hidden while your view is set to Simple Checkbook. To switch your view, click the Accounting Mode button in the header of the Finance Dashboard (it reads Simple Mode) and choose Full Accounting. See Simple vs. Advanced Accounting Mode.
Account Types
Assets (1000-1999) -- What Your Church Owns
Asset accounts track things of value: bank accounts, cash on hand, property, and equipment.
Common examples:
- 1000 -- Checking Account
- 1010 -- Savings Account
- 1020 -- Petty Cash
- 1500 -- Building & Property
- 1600 -- Equipment & Furniture
Liabilities (2000-2999) -- What Your Church Owes
Liability accounts track debts and obligations: unpaid bills, loans, credit card balances, and payroll taxes owed.
Common examples:
- 2000 -- Accounts Payable
- 2100 -- Payroll Liabilities
- 2200 -- Credit Card
- 2500 -- Mortgage/Loan Payable
Equity (3000-3999) -- Net Assets
Equity accounts represent the net worth of the church -- the difference between what you own and what you owe. For nonprofit organizations, these are often called "net assets."
Common examples:
- 3000 -- Unrestricted Net Assets
- 3100 -- Temporarily Restricted
Income (4000-4999) -- Money Coming In
Income accounts track all revenue sources.
Common examples:
- 4000 -- Tithes & Offerings
- 4100 -- Designated Gifts
- 4200 -- Fundraising Income
- 4300 -- Interest & Investment Income
- 4400 -- Facility Rental Income
- 4900 -- Other Income
Important: Account 4000 (Tithes & Offerings) is the default account used when donations are automatically posted from the Giving module. The system looks for the account numbered 4000 first; if you rename or renumber it (or it no longer exists), the system falls back to the first active income account it finds. For this reason, we recommend keeping a 4000-numbered income account in your Chart of Accounts.
Paid registration and merchandise forms can route their income to a different income account (for example, sending event-registration income to a 4200 Fundraising account instead of 4000). That routing is chosen on the form itself when you build it -- it does not change the default used for ordinary giving.
Expenses (5000-5999) -- Money Going Out
Expense accounts track all spending.
Common examples:
- 5000 -- Payroll & Benefits
- 5100 -- Building & Maintenance
- 5200 -- Utilities
- 5300 -- Office & Administrative
- 5400 -- Ministry Supplies
- 5500 -- Missions & Outreach
- 5600 -- Benevolence
- 5700 -- Insurance
- 5800 -- Professional Services
- 5900 -- Other Expenses
Loading the Default Template
If you are starting fresh, TimelyChurch provides a built-in Chart of Accounts template based on standard nonprofit accounting practices.
- Open the Chart of Accounts page (Finances > Accounting > Setup ▾ > Chart of Accounts).
- Click the Load Template button.
- The system will create all the accounts listed above with their standard account numbers and descriptions.
- Customize the accounts to fit your church's specific needs.
Note: The template can only be loaded when no accounts exist yet. If you have already created accounts manually, the button will not appear.
Creating a New Account
- Open the Chart of Accounts page.
- Click New Account. The Create Account window opens.
- Fill in the details:
- Account Name (required) -- A clear, descriptive name (e.g., "Main Checking Account").
- Account Type (required) -- Asset, Liability, Equity, Income, or Expense.
- Account Number -- Optional but recommended. Use the standard numbering convention (1000s for assets, 2000s for liabilities, etc.).
- Opening Date (required) -- The day you switched to TimelyChurch.
- Opening Balance (required) -- The balance on that day's bank statement. Leave it at $0 only if this is a brand-new account or an income/expense account.
- Link to Fund -- Optionally link this account to a specific giving fund (or leave No Fund Link).
- Description -- Optional notes about the account's purpose.
- Click Create Account.
Check Number Tracking
Check number tracking is available only on asset-type accounts (typically your checking accounts). You will not see this option on liability, equity, income, or expense accounts.
- Open the bank account's actions menu (⋮) and choose Edit.
- Under Check Number Tracking, tick Enable automatic check number tracking.
- Enter the Next Check Number (e.g., 1001).
Once enabled, the system suggests the next check number when you record an expense transaction from that account ("This number will be suggested when recording expense transactions."). The account shows a Check # badge in the list.
Linking Accounts to Funds
You can link an account to a specific giving fund. This is useful for tracking fund-specific balances in your Chart of Accounts. Select the fund in Link to Fund when creating or editing the account. The list shows it in the Linked Fund column.
Account Actions
Each account row has an actions menu (⋮) with:
- View Transactions -- opens the Transactions page filtered to this account (you can also click the row).
- Edit -- change the details.
- Merge Into... -- move this account's transactions into another account.
- Archive / Restore -- hide or bring back an account.
- Delete -- remove an account that has no transactions.
Editing, archiving, and restoring need the Edit permission on the Accounting row of your role; merging and deleting need Delete (included in Full Access).
Editing an Account
- Open the account's actions menu (⋮) and choose Edit.
- Update the fields as needed in the Edit Account window. For asset and liability accounts, a Starting Balance section lets you correct the Opening Date and Opening Balance (the balance on your bank statement on the day you started using TimelyChurch); changing it recalculates the account's current balance. Untick Active to deactivate the account.
- Click Save Changes.
Note: Changing an account's type will affect how balances are calculated. Assets and expenses increase with debits; liabilities, income, and equity increase with credits.
Archiving an Account
If you no longer use an account but it has transaction history, archive it instead of deleting it.
- Open the account's actions menu (⋮) and choose Archive.
- The account will be hidden from dropdowns and the active list.
- All transaction history is preserved.
To view archived accounts, tick Show Archived on the Chart of Accounts page (the count of archived accounts is shown beside it). Choose Restore from an archived account's menu to bring it back.
Deleting an Account
You can only delete an account that has no transactions. Open its actions menu, choose Delete, and confirm ("Are you sure you want to delete this account? This cannot be undone."). If the account has transactions, archive it instead, or merge it into another account first.
Merging Accounts
If you have duplicate accounts or want to consolidate, you can merge one account into another.
- Open the actions menu (⋮) on the source account (the one you want to remove) and choose Merge Into....
- In the Merge Account window, choose the target account under Merge Into (the one that will keep the transactions). "Only accounts of the same type can be merged."
- Confirm the merge.
All transactions from the source account are moved to the target account, the target account's balance is recalculated, and the source account is deleted. This cannot be undone.
How Balances Are Calculated
TimelyChurch calculates balances automatically -- you never need to adjust one by hand:
- Bank, cash, loan, and other balance-sheet accounts start from their opening balance and change with every deposit, payment, and transfer recorded against them.
- Income and expense accounts show the all-time total of the categories that post to them, calculated the same way as the Income Statement.
Balances are recalculated whenever a transaction is created, updated, or deleted. The list also shows each account's Opening Balance.