A Brief Guide to Private Funds Manager
This brief guide to the Private Funds Manager has been designed to provide a basic overview of the system for anyone who doesn’t have the time for training or for reading the manual.
The Private Funds Manager is a simple to use Windows application, designed to help make the administration and management of private funds more straightforward. The Private Funds Manager has six sections:
Account Maintenance- which deals with setting up the different accounts. Transaction Entry - for recording payments, receipts, account & bank transfers and for reconciling bank accounts & obtaining bank information. Screen Enquiries/ Letters - for extracting information in printed or onscreen form. Statutory Reports for producing CFR, Charity Commission and Gift Aid Reports. Period End - which allows archives & deletions, year end close down and class changing at the start of a new academic year. Setup - for importing student information from external sources.
The Private Funds Manager can be installed on a local hard drive of any computer, or onto a network. If a Multi-user version of the package has been purchased, then it can be used from multiple computers. We recommend network installation from the point of view of backing up of data. If you do not wish to install on a network, make sure you take your own backups regularly.
Users and their passwords should be set up using the FILE menu –Security –Add User
The setup procedure is clearly detailed in the 'Up and Running in 2 hours' Guide, and includes importing students from SIMS, setting up bank accounts, setting up trip and other accounts etc.
Backing Up Data
As mentioned above, it is important to back up regularly if Private Funds Manager is not being run on the network. Take backups using Period End – Archives – Backup Current Data. It only takes a few seconds. If may be worth taking your own backups at periods like Year End, maybe even Month End so that you have a specific set of data that can be viewed and referred to as needed.
Once your accounts have been set up, you can commence with processing transactions. Receipts, Payments and Transfers are entered through Transaction Entry. The Receipts screen will vary depending on the set up of your accounts.
Enter receipts of money in Transaction Entry – Receipts.
Enter refunds given in Transaction Entry – Receipts – Refunds
Enter payments made in Transaction Entry – Payments
Enter Bank Transfers eg to draw petty cash in Transaction Entry – Transfers – Bank Transfers
Enter Account Transfers in Transaction Entry – Transfers
Transaction Entry – Bank Statements
As bank statements are received from your bank, they should be reconciled to the PFM system. First select the bank account from the pull-down list. Enter the date of the statement. Then work from the paper statement and ‘tick’ each item that appears on it. The closing balance must agree to the paper statement before you commit changes.
Please read the notes in the manual or Setup Guide on entering the Statement Opening Balance for the first time very carefully.
Screen Enquiries and Reports
All reports are initially viewed on screen. From here you can choose to print by clicking on printer button, or export to a spreadsheet by clicking on the Briefcase export button.
Financial Reports – A wide range of reports including Balance Sheet, Income and Expenditure, Audit Trail, Trial balance etc.
Transaction lists – bank, student and supplier transactions.
Reports by Accounts – summary reports, attendee lists and payment records for individual accounts.
End of Period Procedures
The Private Funds Manager does not have any formal period end close down. All reporting therefore utilises transaction dates to obtain information. It is VITAL therefore that correct dates are used throughout data entry.
There are specific notes for Month End and Year End procedures. In summary these state:
At Month End, complete transactions then reconcile the Bank and Cash Accounts. Print any reports required for the end of period, such as Income and Expenditure and Balance Sheet. Take an archive of the Month End position.
At Financial Year End, complete transactions then reconcile the Bank and Cash Accounts. Enter balancing adjustments for any out of date items on the Bank Reconciliation. Print all reports for the end of year. Take an archive of the Year End Position. Close the Year in Period End – Year End.
At Academic Year End, use the Class Changer in Period End to change classes of students and use Setup area to import new intake.