Shepherd’s Staff Finance: Basic Principles & Chart of Accounts (2026)
New to Shepherd's Staff Finance, or need a refresher? Learn the accounting principles the software runs on, then build and organize your chart of accounts and enter next year's budget. This is session 1 of the Finance module in the Shepherd's Staff training webinar series from Concordia Technology Solutions. Instructor: Kimberly Moon, CTS Software Support. Recorded live on November 4, 2026, using Shepherd's Staff version 10. All names and data shown are from a fictional demo database. This session explains how the software works; for decisions about your church's finances, consult your accountant. You'll learn: • What a book is, and when a separate entity like a school needs its own • Fiscal years, cash accounting and double-entry bookkeeping • The six account types: asset, liability, equity, income, expense and dedicated • How account numbers work (book, type, major group, minor group, sequence) • How to add and switch between books • How to add and edit bank, credit card, income, expense and dedicated accounts • How to set check numbers, responsibility codes and church body codes • How to print a chart of accounts report • How to enter budgets one account at a time or in bulk through Excel CHAPTERS 0:00 Welcome and agenda 3:12 Books as accounting entities 4:56 Fiscal years 5:47 Cash accounting 6:54 Double-entry bookkeeping 8:07 Asset accounts 9:20 Liability accounts 10:22 Equity 11:23 Income accounts 12:43 Expense accounts 13:33 Dedicated accounts 15:05 How account numbers work 18:56 Updating to version 10 19:46 Finance module tour 21:38 Creating and switching books 24:54 Accounts tree and all accounts views 27:08 Asset accounts view 29:35 Editing an account and setting check numbers 31:35 Adding a bank account 33:04 Responsibility and church body codes 34:24 Liability accounts and adding a credit card 39:16 Equity accounts 39:42 Income accounts 43:58 Expense accounts 46:21 Dedicated accounts 48:54 Adding a dedicated account with a beginning balance 51:04 Chart of accounts report 52:46 Entering budgets 57:10 Budget import and export with Excel 59:25 Quiz 1:01:48 Q&A and wrap-up MORE SHEPHERD'S STAFF TRAINING All sessions: https://www.concordiatechnology.org/shepherds-staff/training Help Center: https://shepherdsstaff.zendesk.com/hc/en-us Resource Center: https://resources.concordiatechnology.org/shepherds-staff NEED HELP? Shepherd's Staff Support: 1.800.346.6120 | support@cts.cph.org #ShepherdsStaff #ChurchAccounting #LCMS
