Finance Tutorial

Tutorial overview

This tutorial walks through three real scenarios from start to finish. By the end you’ll understand how to use every part of the system.

Scenario	Covers
1. Central receives Sunday mobile money	Import, reconcile (auto + manual), calculate Central distribution
2. Location receives cash and sends to Central	Branch import, cash collections, location distribution rules
3. January Arise & Build campaign	Keyword auto-categorization, company donors, building-fund distribution

Complete the one-time setup (accounts and category rules) before running through these scenarios. See Initial setup below.

Initial setup

Create your financial accounts

Go to Admin → Financial Management → Accounts and create these nine accounts:

Account Name	Type	Account Number	Owner
Central Mobile Money MTN	Mobile Money	0752000111	(blank — Central)
Central Bank - Centenary	Bank	3001234567	(blank — Central)
Kampala Branch - Centenary	Bank	3009876543	Kampala Branch
Entebbe Branch - Centenary	Bank	3009876544	Entebbe Branch
Other Ministries - Centenary	Bank	3001111111	(blank — Central)
Operations - Centenary	Bank	3002222222	(blank — Central)
Donations - Centenary	Bank	3003333333	(blank — Central)
Projects - Centenary	Bank	3004444444	(blank — Central)
Welfare - Centenary	Bank	3005555555	(blank — Central)

Create your category rules

Go to Admin → Financial Management → Category Rules and create three rules:

Rule 1: Sunday Service Offerings (Priority 5)

Name:       Sunday Service Offerings
Category:   Offering
Priority:   5
Accounts:   ☑ Central Mobile Money MTN
Days:       ☑ Sunday
Time:       09:00 – 12:00

Rule 2: January Arise & Build (Priority 10)

Name:        January Arise & Build Campaign
Category:    Arise & Build
Priority:    10
Keywords:    arise, build, project, building
Date Range:  January 1 – January 31 (☑ Apply every year)

Rule 3: Donation Keywords (Priority 3)

Name:      Donation Keywords
Category:  Donation
Priority:  3
Keywords:  donation, donate, gift, contribution

Scenario 1: Central receives Sunday mobile money offerings

Situation: It’s Monday 15 January 2024. Members sent mobile money during Sunday’s service. You need to import the statement, match transactions to members, and calculate distributions.

1.1 Prepare the CSV file

Save this as central_mm_jan15.csv:

Date,Amount,Name,Phone,Reference
2024-01-15 09:30,500000,John Doe,0772123456,Tithe Jan
2024-01-15 10:15,300000,Mary Ssempa,0756789012,Offering
2024-01-15 10:45,750000,Peter Kato,0701234567,Monthly tithe
2024-01-15 11:20,200000,Grace Nakato,0772555666,Offering Sunday
2024-01-15 11:50,1000000,David Mugisha,0756111222,Tithe
2024-01-14 18:00,400000,Sarah Nambi,0772999888,Tithe
2024-01-15 09:05,150000,Unknown Sender,0701777888,

1.2 Import the statement

Go to Import Transactions and configure:

Account:                Central Mobile Money MTN
Default Category:       Tithe
☑ Apply service time rules

Upload the file and click Preview Import. You’ll see:

Date	Amount	Name	Category	Why
Jan 15, 09:30	500,000	John Doe	Offering	Sunday 9–12 rule
Jan 15, 10:15	300,000	Mary Ssempa	Offering	Sunday 9–12 rule
Jan 15, 10:45	750,000	Peter Kato	Offering	Sunday 9–12 rule
Jan 15, 11:20	200,000	Grace Nakato	Offering	Sunday 9–12 rule
Jan 15, 11:50	1,000,000	David Mugisha	Offering	Sunday 9–12 rule
Jan 14, 18:00	400,000	Sarah Nambi	Tithe	Saturday — rule didn’t fire
Jan 15, 09:05	150,000	Unknown Sender	Offering	Sunday 9–12 rule

Total: 7 transactions — 3,300,000 UGX Click Import Transactions.

1.3 Reconcile

Go to Financial Management → Reconciliation.

John Doe — 500,000 UGX (95% confidence)

System shows: Phone exact match · Kampala BranchAction: Click Approve.

Mary Ssempa — 300,000 UGX (92% confidence)

System shows: Phone exact match · Entebbe BranchAction: Click Approve.

Peter Kato — 750,000 UGX (two suggestions)

System shows Peter Kato at 88% (phone exact match) and Peter Kateregga at 65% (name similar, no phone match).Action: Click Approve on the first suggestion — Peter Kato.

Grace Nakato — 200,000 UGX (name match, different phone)

System finds Grace Nakato (78%) but her saved phone 0772555777 differs from this transaction’s 0772555666.Action: Click Edit.In the modal:

Contact: Grace Nakato ✓
Tick Add 0772555666 as new payment method → Provider: MTN
Location: Kampala Branch ✓
Category: Offering ✓
Click Save Match

Grace now has two saved phone numbers — future transactions from either will score 95%+.

David Mugisha — 1,000,000 UGX (94% confidence)

System shows: Phone exact match · Entebbe BranchAction: Click Approve.

Sarah Nambi — 400,000 UGX (91% confidence, Saturday)

Category shows Tithe (correct — she sent Saturday evening, not during service).Action: Click Approve.

Unknown Sender — 150,000 UGX (no match)

You call the number and find out it’s a visitor: James Okello.Action: Click Manual Match.In the modal:

Type “James Okello” — not found
Click + Create New Contact: James Okello

Fill in the quick form:

First Name:  James
Last Name:   Okello
Phone:       0701777888  (auto-filled)
Location:    Kampala Branch

Click Create & Match

James is added to contacts, 0701777888 is saved as his payment method, and the transaction is matched.

1.3b Bulk approve (faster method)

Instead of approving transactions one by one:

Tick the boxes next to John, Mary, Peter, David, and Sarah (all ≥90% confidence)
Click Approve All High Confidence
The system approves all 5 at once
You only need to handle Grace (new phone) and the Unknown Sender individually

This saves significant time when processing a large week of transactions.

1.4 Calculate distributions

Go to Distributions → + New Distribution Batch:

Name:         Week 3 January 2024
Period Type:  Weekly
Date Range:   Jan 15 – Jan 21, 2024
☑ Approved matches only

Click Calculate Distributions. The system applies Central’s rules:

Offerings — 2,900,000 UGX

(John 500k + Mary 300k + Peter 750k + Grace 200k + David 1M + James 150k)

Destination	Rule	Amount
Other Ministries	10%	290,000
Operations	30%	870,000
Kampala Branch	60% × Kampala share (1,600k / 2,900k)	960,000
Entebbe Branch	60% × Entebbe share (1,300k / 2,900k)	780,000

Tithe — 400,000 UGX

(Sarah — Kampala Branch)

Destination	Rule	Amount
Other Ministries	10%	40,000
Operations	30%	120,000
Kampala Branch	60%	240,000

Total distributed: 3,300,000 UGX ✓ Click Submit for Approval.

1.5 Execute transfers (after approval)

Once leadership approves, go to the batch and mark each transfer as you complete it in your bank:

Transfer	Amount	Enter reference
Central MM → Other Ministries	330,000	TXN123456
Central MM → Operations	990,000	TXN123457
Central MM → Kampala Branch	1,200,000	TXN123458
Central MM → Entebbe Branch	780,000	TXN123459

Each line shows “Executed” with the date once saved.

1.6 View the report

Go to Financial Management → Reports, select Reconciliation Summary, and set the date range to Jan 15 – Jan 21, 2024.

	Count	Amount
Total Imported	7 transactions	3,300,000 UGX
Matched	7 transactions	3,300,000 UGX (100%)
Pending	0	0 UGX
Disputed	0	0 UGX

Match Rate: 100% ✓ By category: Offering — 6 transactions (2,900,000 UGX) · Tithe — 1 transaction (400,000 UGX) Click Export to Excel to download.

Scenario 2: Location receives cash and sends to Central

Situation: It’s Monday 22 January 2024. Kampala Branch collected cash during Sunday’s service and has one direct bank deposit. They need to reconcile and calculate their distribution.

2.1 Prepare the CSV

Save as kampala_branch_jan22.csv:

Date,Amount,Name,Reference
2024-01-22 11:00,800000,Cash Collection Sunday,Morning Service
2024-01-22 11:00,300000,Cash Collection Sunday,Evening Service
2024-01-20 14:00,250000,Direct Bank Deposit,Timothy Wasswa - Tithe

2.2 Import to the branch account

Account:          Kampala Branch - Centenary
Default Category: Tithe
☑ Apply service time rules

Preview shows all three rows. The two Sunday collections are auto-marked Offering; Timothy’s weekday deposit stays Tithe. Total: 1,350,000 UGX — Click Import Transactions.

2.3 Reconcile

Cash collections don’t match to individuals — they represent aggregated Sunday giving. For each cash collection row:

The system shows a Location field (auto-filled to Kampala Branch) and Category
Click Approve as Cash Collection

Timothy’s deposit matches by name from the narration (82% confidence, Kampala Branch):

Click Approve

All three transactions reconciled.

2.4 Calculate Kampala Branch distributions

Name:         Kampala Branch – Week 4 January 2024
Period Type:  Weekly
Date Range:   Jan 22 – Jan 28, 2024

The system applies location rules (same rule applies to both Tithe and Offering):

Destination	Rule	Amount
Send to Central	40%	540,000
Send to Welfare	30%	405,000
Retain at branch	30%	405,000

Total: 1,350,000 UGX ✓ Submit for approval, then execute:

Transfer 540,000 from Kampala Branch to Central Bank → mark as transferred
Transfer 405,000 from Kampala Branch to Welfare → mark as transferred
The 405,000 retention stays in the branch account — mark the retention line as complete

Scenario 3: January Arise & Build campaign

Situation: It’s Monday 29 January 2024. Members have been giving to the building fund throughout January. You need to process these special transactions.

3.1 Prepare the CSV

Save as arise_build_jan29.csv:

Date,Amount,Name,Phone,Reference
2024-01-28 10:30,2000000,Joseph Mukasa,0772333444,Arise and Build Project
2024-01-28 14:00,5000000,Company Donation Ltd,,Building Fund January
2024-01-29 09:00,1500000,Rebecca Nakalema,0756777888,For the new church building
2024-01-29 11:00,750000,Samuel Okoth,0701222333,Project donation

3.2 Import

Account:          Central Bank - Centenary
Default Category: Tithe

Preview shows all four rows auto-categorized as Arise & Build — the keyword rule matched each narration (“Arise and Build”, “Building Fund”, “building”, “Project”). Total: 9,250,000 UGX — Click Import Transactions.

3.3 Reconcile

Joseph Mukasa — 2,000,000 UGX (94% confidence)

Phone exact match. Click Approve.

Company Donation Ltd — 5,000,000 UGX (no match)

This is an organization, not a person. Click Manual Match.In the modal:

Search “Company Donation Ltd” — not found
Click + Create New Contact
Set contact type to Company

Fill in:

Company Name:  Company Donation Ltd
Location:      (blank — external donor)

Click Create & Match

Rebecca Nakalema — 1,500,000 UGX

Phone exact match. Click Approve.

Samuel Okoth — 750,000 UGX

Phone exact match. Click Approve.

3.4 Calculate Arise & Build distributions

Name:         Arise & Build – January 2024
Period Type:  Custom
Date Range:   Jan 1 – Jan 31, 2024

Central’s rules for Arise & Build:

Destination	Rule	Amount
Other Ministries	10%	925,000
Projects Account	90%	8,325,000

Total: 9,250,000 UGX ✓ Submit for approval and execute the two transfers.

3.5 What about regular donations?

The Arise & Build rules don’t apply to regular Donation transactions. If you have those in the same import, the distribution rules differ:

At Central
At a location

Donation Total: 1,000,000 UGX
→ Tithe (10%):             100,000 UGX → Other Ministries
→ Donations Account (90%): 900,000 UGX → Donations Account

Donation Total: 500,000 UGX
→ Tithe to Central (10%):  50,000 UGX → Central Bank
→ Retain (90%):           450,000 UGX → Keep at location

Quick reference

Distribution rules at a glance

Central
Locations

Category	Other Ministries	Operations	Locations
Tithe	10%	30%	60%
Offering	10%	30%	60%
Donation	10%	—	90% → Donations Account
Arise & Build	10%	—	90% → Projects Account

Location split is proportional to how much members of each branch contributed.

Category	To Central	To Welfare	Retained
Tithe	40%	30%	30%
Offering	40%	30%	30%
Donation	10%	—	90%
Arise & Build	100% → Projects	—	—

Common CSV formats

Mobile money
Bank statement
Cash collection

Date,Amount,Sender Name,Phone Number,Reference
2024-01-15 09:30,500000,John Doe,0772123456,Tithe

Transaction Date,Amount,Account Name,Account Number,Description
15/01/2024,500000,John Doe,3001234567,Tithe January

Date,Amount,Description,Notes
22/01/2024,800000,Sunday Service Collection,Morning

The system recognizes all three formats — it searches for Date, Amount, and Name/Description columns automatically.

Pro tips

Typical weekly time investment

Task	Time
Download statements	5 min
Import to system	5 min
Approve high-confidence matches	10 min
Manually match uncertain ones	10 min
Calculate and submit distribution	5 min
Execute transfers (Tuesday)	15 min
Mark as transferred in system	5 min

Total: ~55 minutes per week.

Auto-match accuracy grows over time

The system learns phone numbers with every approved match. Expect ~60% in week one, climbing to 95%+ after three months. To speed up this learning curve:

Always approve correct matches (don’t skip them)
Add the new payment method when editing a match with a different phone number
Keep contact records and locations up to date

Handling common edge cases

Situation	What to do
Multiple people with the same name	Check the phone number to pick the right one
Member changed phone numbers	Edit the match, tick “Add new payment method”, keep both numbers
Wrong amount sent	Match as-is, note it, contact the person separately
Duplicate transaction imported	Import once; if already imported, mark the duplicate as Disputed with a note

End-of-month checklist

All transactions reconciled (0 pending)
All disputed items resolved or documented
All distributions approved
All transfers executed and marked
Monthly summary report generated
Export to Excel for accounting records

Training new team members

Give new finance team members these staged practice exercises:

Week	Exercise
Week 1	Import 10 transactions, reconcile obvious matches
Week 2	Handle fuzzy matches, add payment methods
Week 3	Calculate distributions, understand the rules
Week 4	Edge cases — unknown numbers, companies, cash collections

By week 4, they’ll be comfortable with the full workflow.

Summary: what you’ve learned

✅ Set up accounts — 9 accounts covering Central, branches, and all destination accounts ✅ Created category rules — auto-categorize by time, date, and keywords ✅ Imported transactions from CSV — mobile money, bank, and cash formats ✅ Reconciled using three methods:

Auto-match suggestions (up to 95% confidence)
Manual matching for new phones or unknown people
Bulk approve for speed on high-confidence batches

✅ Calculated distributions:

Central: 10% tithe, 30% ops, 60% to locations (split by member branch)
Locations: 40% to Central, 30% welfare, 30% retain
Different rules for Donations and Arise & Build

✅ Executed and tracked transfers with bank reference numbers ✅ Generated and exported reports

Next steps

Set up your real accounts using the tables in the Initial Setup section above
Import last week’s statements as a practice run
Do a test reconciliation with your finance team watching
Calculate a test distribution — don’t execute it yet
Review the results with leadership before going live
Start using it for real next Monday

Getting Started

Features

Finance Guide

Tutorial overview

Initial setup

Create your financial accounts

Create your category rules

Scenario 1: Central receives Sunday mobile money offerings

1.1 Prepare the CSV file

1.2 Import the statement

1.3 Reconcile

1.3b Bulk approve (faster method)

1.4 Calculate distributions

Offerings — 2,900,000 UGX

Tithe — 400,000 UGX

1.5 Execute transfers (after approval)

1.6 View the report

Scenario 2: Location receives cash and sends to Central

2.1 Prepare the CSV

2.2 Import to the branch account

2.3 Reconcile

2.4 Calculate Kampala Branch distributions

Scenario 3: January Arise & Build campaign

3.1 Prepare the CSV

3.2 Import

3.3 Reconcile

3.4 Calculate Arise & Build distributions

3.5 What about regular donations?

Quick reference

Distribution rules at a glance

Common CSV formats

Pro tips

Typical weekly time investment

Auto-match accuracy grows over time

Handling common edge cases

End-of-month checklist

Training new team members

Summary: what you’ve learned

Next steps

​Tutorial overview

​Initial setup

​Create your financial accounts

​Create your category rules

​Scenario 1: Central receives Sunday mobile money offerings

​1.1 Prepare the CSV file

​1.2 Import the statement

​1.3 Reconcile

​1.3b Bulk approve (faster method)

​1.4 Calculate distributions

​Offerings — 2,900,000 UGX

​Tithe — 400,000 UGX

​1.5 Execute transfers (after approval)

​1.6 View the report

​Scenario 2: Location receives cash and sends to Central

​2.1 Prepare the CSV

​2.2 Import to the branch account

​2.3 Reconcile

​2.4 Calculate Kampala Branch distributions

​Scenario 3: January Arise & Build campaign

​3.1 Prepare the CSV

​3.2 Import

​3.3 Reconcile

​3.4 Calculate Arise & Build distributions

​3.5 What about regular donations?

​Quick reference

​Distribution rules at a glance

​Common CSV formats

​Pro tips

​Typical weekly time investment

​Auto-match accuracy grows over time

​Handling common edge cases

​End-of-month checklist

​Training new team members

​Summary: what you’ve learned

​Next steps

Tutorial overview

Initial setup

Create your financial accounts

Create your category rules

Scenario 1: Central receives Sunday mobile money offerings

1.1 Prepare the CSV file

1.2 Import the statement

1.3 Reconcile

1.3b Bulk approve (faster method)

1.4 Calculate distributions

Offerings — 2,900,000 UGX

Tithe — 400,000 UGX

1.5 Execute transfers (after approval)

1.6 View the report

Scenario 2: Location receives cash and sends to Central

2.1 Prepare the CSV

2.2 Import to the branch account

2.3 Reconcile

2.4 Calculate Kampala Branch distributions

Scenario 3: January Arise & Build campaign

3.1 Prepare the CSV

3.2 Import

3.3 Reconcile

3.4 Calculate Arise & Build distributions

3.5 What about regular donations?

Quick reference

Distribution rules at a glance

Common CSV formats

Pro tips

Typical weekly time investment

Auto-match accuracy grows over time

Handling common edge cases

End-of-month checklist

Training new team members

Summary: what you’ve learned

Next steps