Batch Entry

Lynette Sowells · September 2017

Can a pledge and payment toward that pledge be entered in the same batch? We want to save on data entry time and are hoping to find a way to do so. Does anyone have any ideas?

Jennifer Lucarelli · September 2017

yes, certainly they can be! we do it all the time.

it's a personal preference thing of course.....but what I do is enter the gift twice in the same batch.

first I enter the pledge: gift type = pledge, pay method = other.

then I enter the payment, gift type = cash, and pay method = personal check (or whatever the case may be)

I know that you can "apply payment to the pledge" but I don't like the way it captures check number and date when using that method.

so at the end of the batch, I just make sure to mark the checkbox that says automatically apply payments to pledge, and voila!

JoAnn Strommen · September 2017

Yes, here's knowledgebase article that describes how to do it:
https://kb.blackbaud.com/articles/Article/46271

Be sure to read note at bottom of article regarding what shows on the batch report.

How you enter the pledge in the batch depends on your procedures. Do you post over pay method other? If you don't for some reason, be aware of that.

Jennifer - what is different about how check # and date are captured? I haven't done both in the same batch for a while and don't recall a difference.

Jennifer Lucarelli · September 2017

when I use the "apply payment to pledge" tool, it doesn't give me the option to add in check number and date. but if I change the check number and date on the pledge entry line, it remains on that pledge for all future payments as well - so if someone else is entering, and doesn't notice that, we ended up having 10 payments all with the same check number & date.

JoAnn Strommen · September 2017

Thanks Jennifer - that makes complete sense. Some details are hard to remember when you don't use them frequently.

James Andrews · October 2017

JoAnn Strommen:

Yes, here's knowledgebase article that describes how to do it:
https://kb.blackbaud.com/articles/Article/46271

Be sure to read note at bottom of article regarding what shows on the batch report.

How you enter the pledge in the batch depends on your procedures. Do you post over pay method other? If you don't for some reason, be aware of that.

Jennifer - what is different about how check # and date are captured? I haven't done both in the same batch for a while and don't recall a difference.

Because of the limitations of that method (not showing the payment in the batch, not capturing check date/number, etc), we use another method: enter both the pledge and the payment in the batch, and then after committing the batch but before posting it, you can open up the payment gift record and apply it to the pledge..

Lynette Sowells · October 2017

Jennifer Lucarelli:

yes, certainly they can be! we do it all the time.

it's a personal preference thing of course.....but what I do is enter the gift twice in the same batch.

first I enter the pledge: gift type = pledge, pay method = other.

then I enter the payment, gift type = cash, and pay method = personal check (or whatever the case may be)

I know that you can "apply payment to the pledge" but I don't like the way it captures check number and date when using that method.

so at the end of the batch, I just make sure to mark the checkbox that says automatically apply payments to pledge, and voila!

Thanks Jennifer, I am going to experiment with that method. We had tried the method Blackbaud suggests, but were unhappy with not being able to record the check number and not being able to see the gift in the batch until we had committed. Our data entry staff are mutitaskers to the max and to be interrupted during batch entry and then go back to entering and not remember or see whether the payment had actually been applied was a real concern. Deleting and rekeying the payment defeats the purpose of trying to cut down on entry time. I do not understand why Blackbaud does not allow the payment to be seen before committing the batch, but it would be most helpful.

Jennifer Lucarelli · October 2017

I think you will like this method.... a skilled data entry person will find this very efficient. It literally only takes a few seconds more per record, versus creating a second batch for the payments.

Christine Cooke 2 · October 2017

Lynette Sowells:

Can a pledge and payment toward that pledge be entered in the same batch? We want to save on data entry time and are hoping to find a way to do so. Does anyone have any ideas?

Personally - I feel its cleaner to have all pledges in one batch, and gifts and payments in another, all depending on their pay method. We do all batches by pay method, as it makes reconciliation more streamlined, and it's easier to find the wonky ones.

Heather MacKenzie · December 2017

Jennifer Lucarelli:

yes, certainly they can be! we do it all the time.

it's a personal preference thing of course.....but what I do is enter the gift twice in the same batch.

first I enter the pledge: gift type = pledge, pay method = other.

then I enter the payment, gift type = cash, and pay method = personal check (or whatever the case may be)

I know that you can "apply payment to the pledge" but I don't like the way it captures check number and date when using that method.

so at the end of the batch, I just make sure to mark the checkbox that says automatically apply payments to pledge, and voila!

Jennifer, do you have more detail or an example of what you're talking about regarding the way check number and date are captured? I'm not following what you're talking about here, and would like to be able to. Thanks!

Batch Entry

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