Making Corrections

You can change or correct nearly any error if you catch the mistake before you close the month. If the month is already closed, you'll need to make a correcting entry in the current month or, in some cases, ask tech support for help.

In the Current Month

As long as you have not yet closed the month, Jewel allows you to make changes to nearly any type of transaction and correct nearly any type of error or omission. In general, find a report that includes the transaction you want to correct, then click on the transaction to open it. Click or checkmark "Edit", make your correction and click OK to save your changes. If your correction doesn't fit that general strategy, see below for specific instructions for specific types of corrections.

Offering Deposits

Donation Recorded Under Wrong Name

Go to Reports & Graphs / Contribution. Look up the name the donation is currently recorded under, and click on the incorrect donation. This will take you to Contribution Entry, to the envelope that needs correcting. Click Edit Envelope, make your correction, then click Close to finish.

Donation Attributed to Incorrect Fund

Go to Reports & Graphs / Contribution. Look up the donor name, and click on the incorrect donation. This will take you to Contribution Entry, to the envelope that needs correcting. Click Edit Envelope, make your correction, then click Close to finish.

Incorrect Envelope Amount

Go to Reports & Graphs / Contribution. Look up the donor name, and click on the incorrect donation. This will take you to Contribution Entry, to the envelope that needs correcting. Click Edit Envelope and make your correction, then continue to the next section to correct the Deposit total.

Incorrect Deposit Total

Get to the Contribution Entry screen of the deposit that needs correcting by going to Reports & Graphs, then either:

1. Contribution report, then clicking on a donation that's included in the deposit you're correcting, or
2. Deposit report, clicking on the deposit you're correcting, then Make Corrections (bottom center of the window).

Now, you need to know whether you use Jewel's Deposit Slip feature. If you enter the number of coins and bills in each deposit, then you do use this feature. If you simply enter the total amount of the deposit, you do not use the Deposit Slip feature.

If you use the Deposit Slip feature: Click Edit Deposit Slip. Adjust the deposit slip to reflect the correct deposit amount, by adding/deleting checks or by adjusting the amount of cash, as appropriate. Click OK and Close to finish.

If you do not use the Deposit Slip feature: Check the Edit box at the top left of the Contribution Entry screen. Correct the deposit total, and click Close to finish.

Note that you will generally have to correct or add envelopes along with correcting the deposit total, as the deposit total has to match the total of all the envelopes.

Incorrect Deposit Account, Date, or Memo

Go to Reports & Graphs / Deposit report. Click on the affected deposit. Check the "Edit This Deposit" box at the top left. Make your corrections, then click OK to finish.

Small Untraceable Counting Error

If your error is only a few cents, such as from mis-counting your coins, you also have the option of correcting with a General Journal Entry. Go to Accounting / Make General Journal Entry. Use Church Budget for the Account. If the deposit amount on the bank statement is higher than in Jewel, your correction will be an income. If the bank statement shows a lower amount than is recorded in Jewel, your correction will be expense. The Memo will say "Correct 7/5/25 deposit" or something similar. Click OK to finish.

Checks or Electronic Payments

Making a Correction

Go to Reports & Graphs / Checks. Click on the check you wish to correct, then click Edit Check. Make your changes, and click OK to finish.

If your check numbers have gotten mixed up, be aware that Jewel does not allow duplicate check numbers. So think through the order in which to correct your check numbers, so that you avoid that issue.

Note that remittance checks can only be corrected by technical support, even if the month is not yet closed.

Void a Check

If a check will never clear the bank (it was destroyed, replaced, etc), go to Accounting / Void a Check. Use the options on the screen to search for and select the check you wish to void. Verify that the memo reads as you wish, then click OK. Jewel will zero out the values on the check. In the Bank Reconciliation, you will then mark off the $0 check, to remove it from the list of checks waiting to be cleared.

General Journal Entries

General Journals can be marked as either "Deposits" or "Checks", and will appear on the Deposit or Check report accordingly. All transactions are included in the Account Journal report, so try that one if you're having trouble finding the transaction you need. Once you've located the transaction you want to correct, click on it in the report. Then click Edit Entry, make your changes, and click OK to finish.

General Journal Appearing in Wrong Report / Section of Bank Rec

Find and open the General Journal you need to correct. Click Edit Entry, then select the correct button under the Memo line, depending on whether you want the General Journal to appear with the Deposits or with the Checks. Changing this classification does not affect whether the transaction should be income or expense. If the church gained money, it's income. If they spent/lost money, it's an expense, regardless of which reports the transaction appears on.

Transfer Funds

Go to Reports & Graphs / Transfer. Click on the transfer you'd like to edit. Click Edit Transfer, make your changes, and click OK to finish.

In a Previous Month

Since Jewel does not allow you to make changes in closed months, you will need to either enter a correcting transaction in the current month (usually the best solution) or contact tech support for help.

Offering Deposits

Deposit correction involves a bit of finesse, as the correction method depends on the issue. Precise end-of-year donor receipts are essential, so if you can trace an error to a particular donor's donation, it should be corrected in a way that corrects their receipt. This usually involves entering a $0 offering, as described below. If you cannot trace the error to a particular donor, especially if the error is small, a General Journal correction is appropriate. If you aren't sure of the method to use, contact tech support for assistance.

Donation Recorded Under Wrong Name

To correct the name, we'll enter a $0 offering that subtracts the donation from the wrong person and adds it to the right person.

1. Start New Offering, using a date that you won't use otherwise.
2. Enter $0 for the offering amount.
3. Make an envelope under the wrong name for the negative of the cash or check amount donated. (If $50 was donated, enter -$50.) Enter all the amounts on the envelope the same way.
4. Click "No" when Jewel asks if you want to do a Trial Deposit.
5. Make another envelope with the correct name, and the correct contribution amounts.
6. Go on to Make Deposit and complete the Deposit. (You should have $0 for all offerings because you added on one envelope and subtracted on the other.)

Donation Attributed to Incorrect Fund

To correct the fund, we'll enter a $0 offering that subtracts the donation from the wrong fund and adds it to the right fund.

1. Start New Offering, using a date that you won't use otherwise.
2. Enter $0 for the offering amount.
3. Make an envelope under the original donor's name with an Envelope Total of $0.
4. In the Account section at the bottom of the envelope, enter the correct donation account and amount. Then enter the negative of the donation amount to the incorrect account used earlier. (So if $50 should have gone to Pathfinders but was sent to Church Budget, you'll put $50 to Pathfinders and -$50 to Church Budget.) This should give you a Running Total of $0.
5. Confirm that you did intend to record a $0 envelope.
6. Go on to Make Deposit and complete the Deposit.

Incorrect Deposit Account

Use Transfer Funds to move the funds to the correct account. The memo should say something like "Correct 8/7/26 offering deposit, recorded to wrong account".

Incorrect Envelope or Deposit Total

Small, untraceable error: Go to Accounting / Make General Journal Entry. Use Church Budget for the Account. If the deposit amount on the bank statement is higher than in Jewel, your correction will be an income. If the bank statement shows a lower amount than is recorded in Jewel, your correction will be expense. The Memo will say "Correct 7/5/25 deposit" or something similar. Click OK to finish.

Large, untraceable error: Same as above, but if this is happening more often than extremely infrequently, ask your conference treasury department for help in establishing better controls on your offering counting.

Traceable error: If the error involves an anonymous donor or loose offering, correct as above. If the error involves a specific donor, then you'll need to create a new offering deposit in the amount of the error.

1. Start New Offering, using a date that you won't use otherwise.
2. Enter the amount of the needed correction for the offering total. Use a positive deposit amount if the amount donated is higher than what was recorded in Jewel. Use a negative deposit amount if the amount donated is lower than what was recorded in Jewel.
3. Make an envelope under the name of the donor, for the amount of the correction. Fill in all sections of the envelope as needed.
4. Hit Enter when you've finished the envelope.
5. Go on to Make Deposit. Edit the Memo on the Make Deposit screen to say "Correct 7/5/25 deposit" or something similar, then complete the Deposit. The total of the correcting deposit you just entered plus the original incorrect deposit should equal the amount deposited in the bank.

Checks or Other Payments

Making a Correction

Go to Accounting / Make General Journal Entry. Use the fund that the payment was originally charged to for the Account. If the deposit amount on the bank statement is higher than in Jewel, your correction will be an income. If the bank statement shows a lower amount than is recorded in Jewel, your correction will be expense. The Memo will say "Correct ck#1234" or something similar. Click OK to finish.

Void a Check

If a check will never clear the bank (it was destroyed, replaced, stale dated (more than six months old), etc), go to Accounting / Void a Check. Use the options on the screen to search for and select the check you wish to void. Verify that the memo reads as you wish, then click OK. Jewel will record a new transaction in the current month to cancel out the check that you're voiding. In the Bank Reconciliation, you will then mark off both the original check and the new transaction, to remove them from the list of checks waiting to be cleared. Since the two together add up to $0, they will not affect your balance.

General Journal Entries

Go to Accounting / Make General Journal Entry. Reverse the incorrect General Journal by making a new entry with the opposite amount (income instead of expense, or vice versa). The memo should identify the specific entry being corrected by its date or transaction number, and give a reason for the correction. Once that reversing entry is completed, click New Entry. Then re-enter the original General Journal with the correct information. Use the memo to connect the re-entry with both previous General Journals via date or transaction numbers.

You can also correct by entering a single correcting entry, if you can clearly identify the amount and direction (income/expense) of the correction.

Transfer Funds

Click Transfer Funds. Reverse the incorrect Transfer by making a new entry with the opposite amount. The memo should identify the specific entry being corrected (use the date) and give a reason for the correction. Once that reversing entry is completed, click New Entry. Then re-enter the Transfer with the correct information.

You can also correct by entering a single correcting entry, if you can clearly identify the amount and direction (income/expense) of the correction.

Transactions Involving Conference Funds

How do I correct a Donor name in a closed month?

1. Go to Start New Offering and change the date to the first day after the last offering you entered (if you have entered March 6 offering, then change the date to March 7.
2. Leave the offering amount blank.
3. Bring up the incorrect name in Contribution Entry. Put a minus sign (-) in front of the cash or check amount. Put a minus sign (-) in front of all the amounts that were entered on that envelope.
4. Click "No" when Jewel asks if you want to do a Trial Deposit.
5. Now, still in Contribution entry, bring up the correct name. Enter the envelope as usual.
6. Go on to Make Deposit and complete the Deposit. (You should have zero for all offerings because you added on one envelope and subtracted on the other.)

How do I correct a Conference Remittance check?
First, you will need to void the incorrect remittance check, by selecting the appropriate check from the Check Report, then edit check, and enter Void in pay to the order of, then click make electronic payment. Once the check is voided, go to Accounting → Make Manual Remittance and enter the correct amount for the remittance check. Click OK to complete the record and print the corrected check.