Core Docs - Church Management - Batches

Rock Version: v19.0
Last Modified: 2026-02-17 1:58 PM

Transactions that occur in a similar date range are grouped together into batches. These batches help organize the transactions. They also play a key role in integrating to your General Ledger accounting system. Instead of re-entering every transaction into your General Ledger, you can enter the batch totals knowing that Rock will keep the historical details for you to reference later if you need them.

In our example below a batch has been created for the weekly gifts for the Rock Solid Church.

Batches can be viewed under Finance > Batches. Below is a figure showing the batch list screen with the various filters that are available.

To manage your batches:

Clicking on a batch from the list pictured above will bring you to the Financial Batch Detail screen pictured below. From here you can see all the details of a batch.

Financial Batch Attributes
Say you want to assign batches specific project codes, accounting codes, or another specific value. You can easily do this by creating an entity attribute with a Financial Batch entity type. Attributes are created in the Entity Attributes screen, located at Admin Tools > Settings > Entity Attributes. When you choose the Show in Grid option, the attribute values will be displayed in the Batch Detail screen. To learn more about Entity Attributes, see the System Settings article of the Core Concepts guide.  

There may be times when a closed batch needs to be reopened in order to make changes. Because reopening a batch can cause hiccups between your system and your financial clearing house, you only want people with a certain level of security to be able to perform this action. This security role is added and modified at the Entity level.

To give a person the ability to reopen closed batches, follow these steps:

Once the security permission is set, you can reopen a batch simply by selecting the batch you want to reopen, clicking the Edit button to open the Edit Financial Batch screen, and choosing "Open" from the Status dropdown menu. Click Save when you’re done.

Batch statuses serve a critical function in providing accountability for your accounting processes. Each status in the lifecycle of a batch has been developed to ensure accurate record keeping. Below, we will guide you through each status in the lifecycle of a batch, explaining how it should be used.

Automated Batches

There are times where you may be using a third-party system to create a batch and Rock is not in control of the process. For example, you may be using an outside giving service that downloads transactions into a batch. In this instance, while the batch is being created Rock will restrict the ability to edit or delete until the third-party software is done with its work. Third party systems can create automated batches using the Automated feature. These batches have an additional "Automated" label. While the transactions of an automated batch are downloading, the batch will have a "Pending" status. To prevent processing errors, this status cannot be changed until the download is complete. Depending on the system, these batches might be temporary or permanent. Once all of the transactions are downloaded, the status will automatically change to "Open" and the batch can be processed.

Transactions Created Using Teller Import

Transactions created using Teller Import have contribution amounts and associated accounts but no contributor name. Obviously, this can make matching transactions with givers difficult when processing batches. Selecting the "Limit to Existing" option in the Transaction Matching Accounts Filter screen allows you to display only accounts associated with that particular Teller Import file. To access the Accounts Filter screen, click the ti ti-settings button in the Transaction Matching screen.

It's important that all modifications to financial transactions are audited. Below is the audit log screen for a batch. It shows all changes to a batch and the transactions in the batch.

Use Batches

As we mentioned earlier, batches are a way of grouping financial transactions. Grouping transactions allows you to better integrate with your General Ledger software. You will only need to move over the batch totals instead of each financial transaction.

Characteristics of Batches

Before we dive into looking at the screens that make up batches let's first review the characteristics of batches.