Multi-year Pledges in Tesiturra and Sage 100 Accounting Software

We do multi-year pledges in the year they occur and restrict the funds by using the a restricted GL.  The other reason we prefer to put the entire pledge together is it matches the documentation provided by the donors.  This makes auditors happy too.    

Tessitura will allows for the entries your Finance dept is requesting without changing the way you post items to different campaigns.    Each fund code allows for a Non-restrict and Restricted GL.   These two GLs are used to manage Time-Restricted revenue.    It sounds like you are not using the Restricted GL currently and the revenue for current and future years is all mixed in a single GL (note Current and Future receivable are not the same thing).   If this true it  means your Finance dept is having to do a lot more work to keep the GL clean and for just a little more data entry they can be provided with some help from Tessitura.

Let’s say you a have fund code   4501 Special Projects and the GLs are

Non-restrict       12550-200100

Restrict                 15550-200100  

When you enter the pledge to the FY14 Special projects you use fund code 4501 and then click on the Restricted tab and enter the future date the revenue will be used (this can match the payment date or a date the project commences etc).    When you close and then post the batch you will see that the revenue is both debited and credited to 12550-200100 for 0 and credited to 15550-200100.   This accomplishes what the Finance dept is asking for – the revenue has now been placed into the temp restricted GL and awaits the entry that will reverse this process.

In FY14 based on your policy for releasing revenue (when pmt received or start of program), the revenue may be released by using the Restricted-NonRestrict batch type that allows for items to be release in bulk or the revenue may be individually release in any batch thru the Adjustment button.    This should help your Finance Dept greatly –and mind they still most likely have another entry that cannot be managed in Tessitura to complete the asset release.

You and your Finance dept may want to look over the documentation on Restricted Contributions and the report provided to monitor this revenue.   Both of you can get the data you need.   I’d be happy to talk this through with you or your Finance dept more if you want.

Leslie M. McKinley

Director, Development Finances

212/870-4550

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Does anybody's company do multi-year pledges?  We are doing a three year campaign at the moment.  The Development and Finance departments are disagreeing about how we should be booking these in Tessitura.  How do you handle these between Tessitura and MIP?  We have been entering the pledges in Tessitura in FY2013 Special Projects Campaign, FY2014 Special Projects Campaign, and FY2015 Special Projects Campaign.  Our new Finance Director thinks we should put the 2014 and 2015 pledges in a new temporarily restricted GL (so set up a new campaign for these) and then move them to the FY2014 Special Projects Campaign and the FY2015 Special Projects Campaign at the start of the corresponding Fiscal Years.  She wants it to look like their journal entries.  In Development, we are afraid this will muddy the constituent accounts too much and believe that we are saying they are temporarily restricted when we put them in the future fiscal year, which are then “released” when the payment comes in.  What do other companies do with multi-year pledges?

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