Online Bookkeeping
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We are shaking things up a bit for 2018, in the way that we approach finances for the churches. And we are taking a whole new fully online approach. Which means, no more printing and physical files.
The only filing will be done online using Microsoft SharePoint.
The reason for this is to save a tree or two, but mainly to speed up the reporting due to the fact that Shofar is obligated to be registered for VAT.
This will also help in that for the 2018 financial year (ending 31 Dec 2018) and onwards you don’t have to courier your financial documents and files to Support Centre for the audit, as everything is online
This will also mean that you will have access to all your financial data anywhere where you have internet access.
OUR NEW ONLINE APPROACH
How will this work then?
You can access the online filing system (works similar to Dropbox or Google Drive)
https://shofaronline.sharepoint.com/HQ-Finance
All the filing (All invoices, slips and all other document proofs) will be under the Church Finance Documents and per region and then per church:
- Select your region
- Select your church
- Select year (for standard finance documents) or permanent folder (for contracts or multiyear documents)
- Select the relevant month (e.g. Jan) and
- Then in the relevant bank account folder (e.g. Bodyserve or Main) depending where the income was received in or the expense was paid out
All contracts (leases etc.) must be uploaded in the “Permanent Folder”
The naming convention for each file uploaded is SUPER IMPORTANT, this must be:
Supplier name + Payment Date YYMMDD + (# of ##)
for example:
for only one document: Adobe 171002
for multiple documents (e.g. 3 files): Aramex 171130 (1 of 3)
e.g. if Cape Town City paid an invoice on 24 Jan 2018 to CT Catering, you would save the Proof of payment and the invoice as follow:
Cape Region > Cape Town City > 2018 > 1- Jan > Main Account > “CT Catering 180124 (1of2) invoice”
Cape Region > Cape Town City > 2018 > 1- Jan > Main Account > “CT Catering 180124 (2of2) pop”
HELFUL TOOLS TO HELP YOU GET ONLINE
To help you are the admin staff to do everything online, we highly suggest the following resources:
- OneDrive for business (Download it here) to allow for quick and easy filing, this will create an offline folder on your PC/Mac that will sync with SharePoint any changes to saved documents
- OneDrive for Business app – Easy upload documents from your phone/tablet, or use your camera on your device etc. Available for both Android (download) and Apple (download) devices.
- Adobe Acrobat Pro DC (https://acrobat.adobe.com/za/en/acrobat/acrobat-pro.html) This is by far our most used and useful app, to combine PDF’s, sign PDF’s without printing and scanning them, export PDF’s to Word or excel, or send to other for electronic signatures. At US15 pm, this won’t break the bank as well. An investment worth considering.
- Adobe Outlook Add-in – (https://helpx.adobe.com/sign/help/adobesign_microsoft_outlook.html) If you subscribed to #3 above, you can add the add on in Outlook, and easy sign expense claims and other pdf/excel/word documents directly from outlook. Regarding signatures, if you need help in adding your signature to adobe (once off process), please contact the finance office.
- CamScanner App – (https://www.camscanner.com) There is numerous of these available for Android, IOS and Windows phones. This is to scan that Church card purchase slip or convert that physical document to a pdf – so that it could easily be uploaded on SharePoint
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What do I do with donations that we give?
Fill in the Donation Form and file under the relevant month and bank account.
What do I do with the slips, invoices etc. after I scanned it in and filed it in SharePoint?
We will not require you to send it or keep it, if you are confident that the document is complete and filed correctly, you may discard the slip.
Can I scan a few slips on one page?
Please keep all the transactions separate, therefore please scan in the slips and document proofs separately
How often must I upload documents?
We recommend that you upload the documents as you receive and process them, so strive towards a daily update, that way we can maintain an up to date accounting system.
My OneDrive for business does not want to work, what now?
you can send an email to itsupport@shofaronline.org to assist. But just check that you do not have a personal Microsoft OneDrive account that is conflicting, or that you downloaded the OneDrive for Business app.
What do I do with my weekly/monthly Excel documents?
Please upload on Sharepoint accordingly, i.e. Petty Cash Summaries under Petty Cash, Bank Card control sheet and Snapscan Reports under your main account. Please also continue to forward the control documents to Cloudsmart Accounting as was done in the past.
When I access Sharepoint I don’t see anything?
Please check with the Support Centre Finance Team if access have been granted.
VIDEO TUTORIALS
How do I sign an expense claim & combine the claim form with the invoice (using Adobe Acrobat DC Pro) and then filing it in Sharepoint using OneDrive for Business:
How do I scan a document and upload to SharePoint using OneDrive for Business app on your smartphone:
Signing documents using the Adobe Acrobat plug-in on Microsoft Outlook (signing within your email):
