There might be situations where a unit needs to mail a paper check instead of using the e-check/ACH process for dues payments. These checks must be entered manually to correctly account for these payments and memberships.
Note: If a unit is showing a past-due balance for last year's members, it might be because they sent a paper check outside of Givebacks that wasn't manually entered. Scroll down for advice on reconciling old payments not recorded in Givebacks.
Entering Manual Payments
From the left menu, select Compliance, then click Receive Unit Dues.
On the Dues Payments page, click the three-dot menu in the top-right corner.
Select Add Manual Payment.
Complete the payment form and click Add Payment.
Select a Unit.
Choose the correct School Year. If dues are being recorded for a previous year, change it in the drop-down.
Enter a Reference, such as the check number or other identifying information. This field should not be left blank.
Enter the Date Received.
The date entered in this field determines when the members are reported to the National PTA, based on the date range selected on the National Report in Compliance > Reports.
See the section below for How to Reconcile Old Manual Payments.
Enter the Number of Members paid for with the check.
The amount paid is calculated automatically based on the number of members and the current dues amount.
After the payment is added, it will appear in the Transaction History with a Received status.
Note: After entering checks, it is recommended that you view the Membership Overview report to see if any units currently show a credit for memberships. If a unit has a credit, there are a few possibilities that should be addressed.
They paid twice for the same members (by echeck and/or manual payments) or members were voided for which they already paid.
If it is early in the year and more members are expected to be entered, the credit will automatically be applied to new members added to the unit.
If needed, follow your policy on refunding overpayments.
A payment was entered twice in error.
To void one of the extra payments, use the options available for that payment in the transaction list.
Members were not entered by the unit, as required.
A state, region, district, or council leader should contact the unit leaders to ensure they have access to their site and provide training.
Reconciling Old Manual Payments (not recorded in Givebacks)
If a payment was received but not entered in Unit Dues Payments, it is likely that the unit is showing a balance due for memberships, which can be seen on the Membership Overview report. If all manual payments are recorded going forward, this reconciliation should only need to be done one time.
Go to Compliance > Reports > Membership Overview
Select the appropriate year and export it to CSV on your computer.
Open the CSV in your spreadsheet program (i.e. Excel, Google Sheets, etc.) and sort by Member Count Due (descending/largest to smallest).
If you used a different database to record the number of paid members for each unit, compare that against the Member Dues Received Count.
If your other report shows more paid members than the Member Dues Received Count, manually enter payments for those units into Unit Dues Payments with the appropriate year, received date, and check number.
If a unit has a Member Count Due equal to the Registered Member Count, it has not processed any payments through Givebacks.
A state, region, district, or council leader should contact the unit leaders to ensure they have access to their site and provide training.
If a unit had paid for some but not all members through Givebacks, it is likely they were in transition. As long as they are now using the State Payments feature, no additional training should be necessary.
After manually entering any missing payments in Unit Dues Payments, re-run and download the Membership Overview report.
If any units are still showing a Member Count Due, it would appear they have not yet paid for those members, so the appropriate person should contact them as needed.
If a unit shows a Member Count Credit for a prior year, no action is needed, and no message will appear on their State Payments page.
Important: When manually entering payments for prior-year memberships, make sure to change the year in the drop-down and enter the appropriate received date, depending on whether you have already paid National PTA for those members. If you already paid national dues, make sure to set the check received date as it was recorded in your other database, or at least before June 30th of that school year. If you still need to pay national dues for those members, make sure to set the check received date as today, so it will be included in this month's national report.
Questions? Click the "?" icon to contact Givebacks Support.