Understanding Deposit Batches

A deposit batch is GoodBooks' way of making your donation records match your bank statement. Individual gifts are grouped into a batch that represents one real-world trip to the bank; when you mark the batch deposited, GoodBooks posts one deposit to your checkbook register for the whole batch — the same single line your bank statement will show.

Where to find them

Donations → Deposit Batches lists every batch with its number (like DEP-260012), date, account, total, and status.

How batches get created

There are two ways:

1. Batch Gift Entry — enter a stack of gifts and the batch is created for you in one step. See Entering a Weekly Offering with Batch Gift Entry.
2. Create Deposit Batch — if donations were entered one at a time (they start out "undeposited"), click Create Deposit Batch, check off the donations going to the bank together, pick the account and date, and save.

Online card gifts are different: GoodBooks builds their deposit batches automatically to match each card-processor payout, including processing fees. You never add card gifts to a manual batch.

Batch statuses

Marking a batch deposited

When the money has physically gone to the bank:

1. Open the batch.
2. Click Mark as Deposited and confirm.

GoodBooks creates the journal entry at that moment: your bank account is debited for the deposit total and each campaign's revenue account is credited, fund by fund. The entry is dated with the batch's deposit date.

Why the two-step? Keeping batches pending until the bank run means your checkbook register only ever shows deposits that really happened, and each one reconciles cleanly against the bank statement.

Fixing mistakes

While the batch is pending (nothing posted yet):

• Remove one gift — open the batch and use the remove button next to the donation. The batch total recalculates. The donation itself is untouched; it's just out of the batch and can be edited, deleted, or added to another batch.
• Delete the whole batch — the donations return to "undeposited" so you can start over.

After marking deposited: the journal entry is on the books. Edit or correct the underlying donation and GoodBooks will post an adjusting entry, or talk to your bookkeeper about the right correction for your situation.

Frequently asked

Does the batch date have to match the gift date? No — gifts keep their own gift date (what shows on receipts and statements), while the batch's deposit date drives the accounting entry. Sunday gifts, Monday deposit is the normal pattern.

Why doesn't my donation show a journal entry? Because its batch is still pending. The entry is created when the batch is marked deposited.

Can I mix cash and checks in one batch? Yes — if they're going to the bank on one deposit slip, they belong in one batch. The Batch Gift Entry screen even subtotals by payment method so you can double-check the slip.