Correcting Offering Deposits In a Previous Month
Deposit correction involves a bit of finesse, as the correction method depends on the issue. Precise end-of-year donor receipts are essential, so if you can trace an error to a particular donor's donation, it should be corrected in a way that corrects their receipt. This usually involves entering a $0 offering, as described below. If you cannot trace the error to a particular donor, especially if the error is small, a General Journal correction is appropriate. If you aren't sure of the method to use, contact tech support for assistance.
Donation Recorded Under Wrong Name
If the donation is from a prior calendar year, you must ask your tech support for help. Otherwise, proceed as follows: To correct the name, enter a $0 offering that subtracts the donation from the wrong person and adds it to the right person.
- Start New Offering, using a date that you won't use otherwise.
- Enter $0 for the offering amount.
- Make an envelope under the wrong name for the negative of the cash or check amount donated. (If $50 was donated, enter -$50.) Enter all the amounts on the envelope the same way.
- Click "No" when Jewel asks if you want to do a Trial Deposit.
- Make another envelope with the correct name, and the correct contribution amounts.
- Go on to Make Deposit, use the Memo to record the date of the deposit you are correcting and the reason for the correction, then complete the Deposit. (You should have $0 for all offerings because you added on one envelope and subtracted on the other.)
Donation Attributed to Incorrect Fund
If the donation is from a specific donor and is from a prior calendar year, you must ask your tech support for help. Otherwise, proceed as follows: To correct the fund, we'll enter a $0 offering that subtracts the donation from the wrong fund and adds it to the right fund.
- Start New Offering, using a date that you won't use otherwise.
- Enter $0 for the offering amount.
- Make an envelope under the original donor's name with an Envelope Total of $0.
- In the Account section at the bottom of the envelope, enter the correct donation account and amount. Then enter the negative of the donation amount to the incorrect account used earlier. (So if $50 should have gone to Pathfinders but was sent to Church Budget, you'll put $50 to Pathfinders and -$50 to Church Budget.) This should give you a Running Total of $0.
- Confirm that you did intend to record a $0 envelope.
- Go on to Make Deposit, use the Memo to record the date of the deposit you are correcting and the reason for the correction, then complete the Deposit.
Incorrect Deposit Account
Use Transfer Funds to move the funds to the correct account. Use the Memo to record the date of the deposit you are correcting and the reason for the correction.
Incorrect Envelope or Deposit Total
Untraceable error
For small counting errors or if you can't figure out where the mistake was made, in the Bank Reconciliation, click "Interest Earned or Deposit Correction". Use Church Budget for the Account. If the deposit amount on the bank statement is higher than in Jewel, your correction will be an income. If the bank statement shows a lower amount than is recorded in Jewel, your correction will be an expense. Use the date that the deposit is recorded on the bank statement. The Memo will say "Correct 7/5/25 deposit to match statement" or something similar. Click Add Entry to finish. If this is happening more often than extremely infrequently, ask your conference treasury department for help in establishing better controls on your offering counting.
If you don't get your correcting entry right the first time, click General Journal Entry (in the Add Entry box), then click the Previous button to find the entry. Click Edit Entry, make your changes, and click OK to return to the Bank Rec page.
Traceable error
If the error involves an anonymous donor or loose offering, correct as for an untraceable error. If the error involves a specific donor and is from a prior calendar year, you must ask your tech support for help. Otherwise, you'll need to create a new offering deposit in the amount of the error.
- Start New Offering, using a date that you won't use otherwise.
- Enter the amount of the needed correction for the offering total. Use a positive deposit amount if the amount donated is higher than what was recorded in Jewel. Use a negative deposit amount if the amount donated is lower than what was recorded in Jewel.
- Make an envelope under the name of the donor, for the amount of the correction. Fill in all sections of the envelope as needed.
- Hit Enter when you've finished the envelope.
- Go on to Make Deposit. Edit the Memo on the Make Deposit screen to say "Correct 7/5/25 deposit" or something similar, then complete the Deposit. The total of the correcting deposit you just entered plus the original incorrect deposit should equal the amount deposited in the bank.
Duplicate Offering Deposit
See the instructions here, or contact your tech support for assistance.