Guide
How to record Planning Center deposits in QuickBooks Online
A deposit from Planning Center lands in your bank — something like ACH DEP PLANNING CENTER — and now it has to become a correct entry in QuickBooks: giving split by fund, processing fees booked, net equal to the deposit. Here is the step-by-step manual method, and the edge cases that trip people up.
Step 1 — Find the payout behind the deposit
In Planning Center, go to Account settings → Payments → Payouts. Each row is one bank deposit: its date, its exact amount, and its status. Open the payout that matches the deposit in your bank feed — same date, same amount to the penny.
Step 2 — Read the breakdown
The payout view shows what the deposit is made of: gross giving by fund, the processing fee, and the net that hit your bank. If your church also uses Planning Center Registrations, a payout can include event income too — note it separately, because it books to a different income account than contributions.
Step 3 — Build the journal entry
One balanced entry per deposit, dated the day the money arrived. Credit each fund's income account its gross, debit your processing-fee expense, and debit your bank account the net:
| Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Contributions — General | — | $7,000.00 |
| Contributions — Missions | — | $2,000.00 |
| Contributions — Building | — | $1,000.00 |
| Processing fees (expense) | $280.00 | — |
| Checking | $9,720.00 | — |
The bank line equals the deposit exactly — that is the whole point. If your church tracks campuses with QuickBooks Classes, tag each contribution line with its campus Class.
Step 4 — Match it in the bank feed
Back in QuickBooks, open the bank feed. Because your entry's bank line equals the deposit to the penny with the same date, QuickBooks suggests the match — confirm it. Matching becomes a confirmation, not a hunt.
Step 5 — Month-end checks
- Every Planning Center deposit on the bank statement has exactly one matching entry.
- Fees for the month roughly track your blended rate (around 2.15% + $0.30 per card gift).
- Checks and cash are separate: they arrive as your own counted bank deposits, not Stripe payouts — record those from your batch totals.
The edge cases that break the neat version
Split gifts
One donation divided across funds ("$500: half General, half Building") must be allocated to each fund's line — including its share of the fee. Miss a split and two funds are wrong while the total still looks right.
Refunds inside a payout
A refund reduces the payout. Book it as a debit (contra) to the refunded fund, so the entry still nets to the deposit.
Donor-covered fees
When a donor covers the fee, their gross gift includes it. The fund is credited the full gross and the fee is still an expense — the math works, but the fund totals look slightly larger than the "amount given."
Registration income in the same deposit
Giving and event payments settle into the same payouts. If the deposit is bigger than the giving, the remainder is registrations — book it to your event-income account or the deposit will not tie out.
Steps reflect Planning Center's interface as of mid-2026; the screens evolve, but the accounting shape — gross by fund, fees, net equal to the deposit — does not.
Or never do any of this again
GivingBooks Sync watches for each Planning Center deposit and posts this exact entry automatically — funds split, fees booked, matched to the penny. When it can't prove a match, it asks. It never guesses.
Start free — 30 days, no cardMore guides: every Planning Center + QuickBooks option compared · the church Stripe payout playbook