Track every fund across every bank account
Plenty of churches end up with a checking account, a savings account, and a couple more "so the building money stays separate." Vestrybooks lets you keep all of them and still see every fund at a glance — because a fund and a bank account are two different things.
An account is not a fund
The classic church mix-up: opening a separate bank account for every purpose. Vestrybooks keeps the two straight — a fund is the purpose (Building, Missions), an account is where the cash physically sits. One account can hold many funds; one fund can span accounts.
Every fund, across every account
Add your general checking, your building-fund savings, whatever you have. Vestrybooks shows each fund's balance across all of them at once, so you always know what's set aside — no per-account spreadsheet to reconcile in your head.
Move money without losing track
Transfer between accounts and the fund balances stay exactly where they should. The building fund is still the building fund, whether the cash is in checking or savings.
Why churches don't actually need an account per fund
Opening a new bank account every time the church starts a restricted fund feels safe, but it creates work — more statements to reconcile, more places for money to hide, more chances to spend the wrong dollars. Real fund accounting solves the same problem in software: the funds are tracked in the books, so one or two bank accounts can safely hold many funds. When you do keep several accounts, Vestrybooks rolls them into one clear picture — the same one that feeds your statement of financial position and the monthly report you hand the board. The mechanics of keeping it all straight are covered in the guide to church bookkeeping.
- Can a church have multiple bank accounts?
- Yes — many do, often a checking account plus savings for reserves or a building fund. The key is tracking your funds in the books rather than relying on separate accounts to keep purposes apart.
- Do you need a separate bank account for each fund?
- No. That's a common misunderstanding. With fund accounting, one account can hold the general, building, and missions funds at once, and the software shows each balance separately.
- How do you track a fund across several accounts?
- Vestrybooks totals each fund across every account you've added, so the building fund's balance is right whether the cash is in checking or savings — and transfers between accounts don't change it.
One clear picture, however many accounts you have
Add your accounts, track every fund across them, and hand the board a report that reconciles.