[GNC] How to record payments for several items paid with a single transaction?

[Michael Hendry]

> On 23 Jul 2023, at 12:02, Fred Bone <Fred at mandfb.me.uk> wrote:
> 
> But aren't you supposed to record each collection separately for GASDS 
> purposes? What happens if the two weeks are in different tax years?

Ah, I hadn’t thought about that aspect, but Chris had mentioned earlier that as his church is not a registered charity, and didn’t have to report to the charity authorities, just to the church and to the diocese. If he is claiming Gift Aid he would need to keep a record of all donations made by individuals who are eligible for Gift Aid and separate records for collections etc. where multiple small cash sums (under £30) are collected for a claim under the Gift Aid Small Donations Scheme. As the maximum income on which a GASDS claim can be made is 10 times a GA claim for the same period, up to a maximum of £8000, it’s important to get a minimum of £800 in Gift-Aid-Claimable donations.

The recording of these transactions is essentially the same, Cash and Cheques received should be recorded in the appropriate asset accounts as before, but with child accounts to separate the different GA/GASDS income when the time comes to get some cash out of HMRC (the taxman, for non-UK readers).

As Rotary Club Treasurer I have Income Accounts for (among others):

Income:Donations:GA:General (for general donations to the charity account)
Income:Donations:GA:Whisky Tasting (for donations made at a Whisky Tasting event
etc, and

Income:Donations:GASDS:Santa (for cash collections during our Santa’s Sleigh collections
Income:Donations:GASDS:WIshing Well (for cash retrieved from a wishing well we’ve installed at a local attraction).

and I follow the general instructions given by Stan Brown:

Upon receiving the money:
Debit to Cash
Credit to the appropriate Income account

Upon depositing the held checks and cash:
Debit to Banks
Credit to Cash

The advantage of doing all this spade-work as the money comes in is that I can quickly generate the information for the Gift Aid and GASDS claims when the time comes, using GnuCash reports.

Regards,

Michael