By
BRIAN D. WALLACE
Fairfield County Catholic,
June 9, 2007
The Diocese of Bridgeport has become the first Roman Catholic diocese
in the United States to transition to an Internet-based parish accounting
system hosted by Right Networks. With secure anywhere-anytime access
and consolidated financial reporting, the system enables greater transparency,
sharing of best practices, and improved management of parish resources.
"This is a milestone
for our diocese and the beginning of a new era," says Deacon Bill Koniers,
finance director of Parish Finance Services. "We've come a long way
during the last six months in implementing our 'Six Key Elements' to
enhance and improve financial services. This project is critical to
the success of our many efforts to put new resources and management
tools into the hands of our pastors and their staffs, and to develop
good and useful management reporting of financial results."
Chart of Accounts
For the first QuickBooks
training session, held on May 8 at the Catholic Center, representatives
from 17 of the 87 parishes came together to begin adopting the diocese's
newly-configured chart of accounts and move toward the transfer of each
parish file onto the Internet. A second session on May 30 covered another
e 9, 2007 six parishes. All parishes are expected to be online by the
end of this year.
With
their laptops open, parish business managers, accountants, and finance
directors were walked through the new Parish Accounting System with
the latest QuickBooks PRO 2007 software that will revolutionize parish
finances in our diocese. The new system has two key advantages for parish
accountants: making financial information more available in a standard
format, and providing different layers of management reporting to guide
financial decision-making in parishes.
A MILESTONE FOR
PARISH ACCOUNTING – Deacon Bill Koniers, joined by John Farrer and Philip
Romine of Right Network, introduce the new QuickBooks online accounting
system at a training session for 17 parishes held at the Catholic Center
on May 8. The new Internet-based Parish Accounting System creates a
uniform standard of financial reporting across the diocese by enabling
parish accountants and business managers to use QuickBooks on line.
“This is a milestone for the diocese, the beginning of a new era of
transparency and accountability,” says Deacon Koniers. (PHOTO BY KAREN
LEFFLER)
The group spent
the first part of the morning reviewing the procedures in the new chart
of accounts, which is essentially the "checkbook" ledger of each parish.
Under the new system, each parish will allocate expenses and revenues
using the same classes and categories, leading to uniform standards
and practices of accounting and recordkeeping across the diocese.
Right
Networks of Nashua, NH, is installing the new online QuickBooks
system and providing training. The firm offers hosting, networking,
and telecommunications services to more than 28,000 clients, including
some of the top Fortune 100 companies in the U.S. After a brief introduction
to online QuickBooks, Right Networks Vice-President John Farrer and
his staff handed out passwords so that parish financial representatives
could view the screens they will use online.
Farrer notes that
online QuickBooks has several advantages over the standard desktop edition,
including 24/7 access, information security, regular software updates,
crash protection, access to expertise, and other resources not generally
available to parishes.
"Right now, many
parishes are maintaining their books on a PC or a small parish network,"
Farrer observes. "If that crashes, they have very poor access and it
can take a while to fix. In the meantime, they can't produce reports.
In contrast, the online system is nearly foolproof and securely backed-up,
and offers access any time from wherever they are."
24/7 Access
That access includes
diocesan officials. Deacon Koniers notes that he and his staff spend
a lot of time responding to problem solving, which sometimes involves
driving 20 or 30 miles to a parish to perform trouble-shooting of the
general ledger and assist the parish accountant in resolving issues.
Parish business managers need to file the cumbersome and time-consuming
quarterly reports, submitting them on Zip discs.
Not any more. "With
this system, Parish Finance Services will soon be able to view and assist
each parish online and virtually on a real-time mode," Deacon Koniers
says. "The savings in time and efficiency will be enormous."
No wonder Tom Leyden,
chairman of the parish finance council of Assumption Parish in Westport,
believes the new online accounting system "is one of the best things
to happen to parishes and the diocese."
Assumption Parish
prints a yearly financial annual report, puts it online on the parish
website, and inserts it in each parish bulletin. The more transparency,
the greater the trust, says Leyden, who praised Bishop William Lori
for moving the diocesan accounting system "into the 21st century."
"This is fantastic,"
Leydon adds. "It gives the parishes and the diocese complete, homogeneous
data. We will all be using the same system to report financial data,
and that means for the first time we'll be comparing apples to apples.
It puts all 87 parishes on the same playing field."
Better
Tools
John Rooney handles
the finances for six parishes: Saint Patrick's in Bridgeport; Saint
Gabriel's in Stamford; Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint Joseph's in Danbury;
Our Lady of Grace in Stratford; and Saint Mary's in Bethel.
Rooney has had plenty
of experience, as he is the retired diocesan director of accounting
and parish finance. During his tenure, the diocese took steps to raise
the level of accounting practice. He believes the new system is a tremendous
resource for parishes and a state-of-theart approach to finances.
TAKING PART IN
THE QUICKBOOKS ONLINE TRAINING at the Catholic Center on May 30 are
Father Brian Gray and Jean Babis from Our Lady of Peace Parish in Stratford.
"It gives pastors
better tools to manage, and parishes will even have more control over
their own finances and a better sense of where they are going," Rooney
says. "Many parishes do not have the income to afford full-time accountants
and business managers, so this new system will be of tremendous help,
bringing additional resources and expertise to improve the level of
reporting."
Deacon Lou Howe,
business manager of Saint Aloysius Parish in New Canaan who has 25 years
experience in financial services for insurance and securities, is equally
enthusiastic. He likes the idea that the diocese is sending a consultant
to each parish to help install the new software tools and walk parish
staffs through the changes.
"The diocesan support
system is great," he says. "There is always someone we can call," says
Deacon Howe.
While the new program
is ideal for seasoned financial professionals like Deacon Howe, he believes
it will also upgrade the skills of people with less professional experience,
and also have benefits for clergy.
"As priests and
pastors take on new assignments, they will now find the same accounting
practices from parish to parish, and they won't have to go through a
learning curve as they make financial decisions," Deacon Howe notes.
"This new program is a confidence builder for the entire diocese, as
parishioners and donors will be reassured by the transparency of the
system."
Deacon Howe's neighbor
to the south, Saint Thomas More Parish in Darien, is also seeing the
advantages of the new program. "The most pressing need in terms of parish
finances was to obtain information and answers in a convenient and understandable
manner," says Father J. Barry Furey, pastor. "This new system puts everything
at our fingertips, instantly. It will make pastors, parish finance councils,
and trustees more efficient and accountable, and enable us to issue
reports more promptly."
Giant
Leap Forward
At Saint Mary Parish
in Bridgeport, Sonia Rodriguez wears many hats, from receptionist and
secretary to parish accountant. She's excited about the training because
it has given her a chance to improve her own skills by working with
consultants and having access to management resources.
Rodriguez took accounting
courses at the University of Bridgeport but, for the most part, she
has learned on the job. She says she welcomed the help the diocese began
offering in the 1990s and believes that latest initiative represents
a giant leap forward for parishes.
TAKING PART IN
THE QUICKBOOKS ONLINE TRAINING at the Catholic Center on May 30 are
Clyna Richardson, Stephen Bagnell, and James Keavney from Saint Philip
Parish in Norwalk.
"The conversion
of the chart of accounts was a piece of cake," says Rodriguez of the
first phase of the new system, which she completed almost immediately
after her training session. She's now working on the transfer of her
parish files to the Internet system.
"Everything downloaded
well, but there are still a few bugs to work out as I get used to QuickBooks
online," Rodriguez says, noting that the diocesan staff has been an
important resource of help in the conversion.
She says that Saint
Mary's, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, has experienced
a renaissance of parish life along with its neighborhood. Located on
the edge of the former Father Panik Village housing project, the parish,
with 430 registered families, has weathered decades of poverty and social
problems.
"The neighborhood
has taken a 360-degree turn to owner-occupied single and two family
homes, the parish is growing, our weekend collection is increasing,
and we're about to add a new bell tower to the church," says Rodriguez.
Inclusive Approach
"I'm really appreciative
that the diocese is holding the training sessions and bringing us all
together, whether we live in the inner cities or the suburbs," she concludes.
"It creates a sense of family and community that benefits all of us.
In the past, we felt isolated and all did things our own way. Now we're
sharing and communicating. It's a great thing to see."
(Regular updates
on the "Six Key Elements" to enhance and improve parish financial controls
and procedures are posted regularly on the web: click
here.)
