Understanding Pre-Post & Post Reporting

Jennifer Branstrom

Hi,

I started a new position and gifts are done in database view, not NXT - though they have it. They have online express, but every other type of gift is put directly into the donor's record. They use pre-post and post reporting. I gave the pre-post report to our business office then they tell me when I can post. Does this mean that we aren't integrated?

Thanks,

Jen

JoAnn Strommen

Welcome to the BB Community forum, @Jennifer Brandstrom.

What accounting software do you use? Is the “post” process taking your gifts to your accounting software without more manual tasks? (Integrated) Or are you pulling reports and it's a manual process to pull that info into accounting?

Is there more to your question? RE can work either way.

Jennifer Branstrom

Hi JoAnn,

Our business office has Financial Edge. In my previous job, I did gifts in batch and ran a validation report for the business office - they did the posting. So, in my new job all this pre-post and posting is so different to me and I am just trying to understand the process and if there is a better way to accomplish the posting of gifts.

Thanks,

Jen

Claudia Losek

Hi Jennifer,

I was new to Financial Edge integration when I started my new position. All our gifts are posted via Batch, but it works without using Batch too. What I'm assuming is you are Posting to General Ledger? When posting you are probably checking the box that says “Pre-Posting Report”. This just validates the gift information. Once that's confirmed, you run the same posting but check the “post to general ledger” box and process. It should run the exact same gifts only posting to the G/L, thus integrating RE and FE. Does that make sense? It took me a while to get a hold of it.

JoAnn Strommen

Posting at both orgs I've worked at with FE was done by finance staff.

From talks with director when there have been questions, it sounded like possibly the pre-post is a test run of the data with a chance to review prior to posting. ??? Hopefully an RE user who does posting can offer more insights.

Jennifer Branstrom

Thanks Claudia for this clarification. I am getting use to it, but it is definitely different from my last job where I was for 6 years.

Beth Green

We use batches in db view (and OLX which also pulls into batches in db view). I post to FE and send them the batch commit control report and the post report. They do not require me to send them the pre-post report before posting. I only run the pre-post for myself if I am unsure of a fund having a GL set up. We have not had any issues with doing it this way. Have you had instances where they asked you to adjust any gifts before actually posting? I'm not sure why this is your procedure, but as Claudia said, if you post to FE, you are integrated.

susan correa

@JoAnn Strommen

Our organization is looking into integrating RE to FE. I'm just curious is the reconciliation done on the RE side in terms of making sure all the payments (donations) we received actually hit the Cash (bank). I'm just trying to figure out the process to make sure adjustments doesn't have to be made in both system.

Alex Wong

@susan correa
how gifts in RE is posted into FE is determined by the GL Distribution setup on the Fund record. So if the GL Distribution is setup properly, then posting RE cash gift should hit your FE cash account and not need adjustment on neither system.

If you are not finance staff, you need to work with a finance staff to determine if the GL Distribution on the fund record is correct.

JoAnn Strommen

@susan correa I read your post differently - adjustment to a gift that was posted.

If a gift is adjusted in RE properly, the adjustment fund/amount whatever is changed will pull in the posting report to FE. There are fields to enter adjustment date and a check box.

What date you use will be done in consultation with accounting/finance. Our procedure is the date I enter is the original gift date and check the box. I was told this way the two lines appear together on the posting report.

Karen Diener

@Jennifer Branstrom
I'm just going to drop links here to three of my favorite Blackbaud webinars. This is a series about integrating RE and FE, and I think it is the first instance where I've seen both perspectives presented. All three are available free and on demand. They are about one hour each.

Configuration

Day to Day Maintenance

Reconciling

Although there are a lot of really helpful responses here, I think it is always important to start with an understanding of how Blackbaud designed the process to work. Then think about your specific needs and input from others, and design the best policies and procedures for your organization.