Gift entry standards: One check received covering two submitted invoices

Christina Morgan

What is other people's standard for this type of RE gift entry:

We have a reimbursement contract.  Each month the amount invoiced is different.  Usually recieve the reimbursment check the month following the invoiced month.  It is always recorded in RE to the same fund and appeal. 
Example:

Invoiced Aug. 15th for July services $300 - would normally receive reimbursment check in Sept. but, it did not arrive until Oct.

Invoiced Sept. 15th for Aug. services $200 - would receive reimbursement check in Oct.

Recieved one check for both July and Aug invoices = $500

Question:

Would you enter it in RE for total on check $500 and note or reference line about the two invoice months & amounts  OR

Enter separately in RE one entry for $300 July and one for $200 August & reference in note the two invoices received on the same check


Do your auditors or finance teams have a preference on how this is entered on the RE side?


I normally enter entire check amount received and split the gift if needed.  However in this instance the fund and appeals are the same so a split gift is not possible.


Thanks!

Jen Claudy

It really depends on your organization's policies, how these gifts have been recorded in the past, and what kind of reporting you do.  I would be inclined to enter one gift, and put a note in the Reference Field that it is payment for Jul & Aug.  Typically, I would put the month in the Reference Field for every gift, because you can then see at a glance on the Gifts Tab which gift is paying which month.


Alternatively, since you send invoices, you could enter a Pledge when you send out the invoice, then a Pay-Cash gift when the payment comes in.  This would mean, in your example, that you have 2 pledges, one for Jul and one for Aug, you'd have one Pay-Cash gift that is applied to both pledges.  I've done something like this as well.  Just be aware that it might affect pledge reporting.

JoAnn Strommen

If all the money goes to the same fund we would enter it as one gift. You said split is not needed but we don't use split gifts anyway. If money needed to be split between two funds/appeals we would enter each portion as separate gift.


What our auditors or finance team thinks only matters in our case. You should check with yours if you think there's an issue.