For religious trusts and maths
Several institutions, one set of books, no surprises at audit
A trust running four temples, a goshala, a pathshala and an annachatra is answering for all of them at once. Each keeps its own register; the trust reads them together.
- Many unitsTemples, maths, goshala, pathshala
- Own registerEach institution keeps its own entries
- One viewConsolidated accounts for the trust
- Role-wiseManagers see their unit, trustees see all
How a trust office uses it through the month
The trust office is not at the counter. It needs the counter to be reliable and the summary to be ready.
- Day 1Each unit opens its own dayThe four temples, the goshala and the annachatra each close their own day locally, under their own manager.
- WeeklyThe trust office reads acrossCollections, seva income, kitchen spend and stock positions for every unit on one page, with the outliers at the top.
- Mid-monthFunds are moved with a recordAn inter-unit transfer, say the main temple funding the pathshala, is recorded as a transfer, not as fresh income at both ends.
- Month endEach unit closes, then the trustUnit statements close first. The consolidated trust statement is assembled from them, with inter-unit transfers removed.
- QuarterlyTrustees get one packetUnit-wise and consolidated income and expenditure, fund-wise balances and donation summaries, printed before the meeting.
- YearlyThe auditor gets the trailLedgers, vouchers and donor registers for every unit, with the audit trail intact behind each figure.
What changes for the trust office
- Each temple sending a different spreadsheet format
- Inter-unit transfers counted as income twice
- Restricted funds mixed into general collection
- Managers phoned for last month’s figures
- Consolidation done by hand, days before the meeting
- Audit queries chased unit by unit
- Every unit writing into the same structure
- Transfers recorded as transfers and netted off
- Building, annadanam and festival funds kept apart
- Unit figures visible without a phone call
- Consolidated statement assembled from closed entries
- Vouchers and ledgers pulled per unit in minutes
This fits a trust that
Trusts that recognise most of these are the ones the consolidated setup was built for.
- Runs more than one temple or institution under one registration
- Has a manager or a karyavaha at each place and a central office above them
- Receives restricted donations for specific purposes
- Moves funds between its own institutions during the year
- Faces a statutory audit and files returns for the trust
- Wants trustees to see every unit without visiting each one
Where to start
Trusts usually begin with their busiest temple, run one full month, then bring the remaining institutions on in the quiet weeks after a festival.
Trust plan
See pricingA trust holds what devotees gave for a named purpose. Keeping those purposes apart in the books is not bookkeeping, it is the duty itself.On trusts and maths
Go live with your own sevas and donation heads already in place
We set Prasadom up at your temple office and train the staff who will use it: the counter clerk, the accountant and the kitchen in-charge, on their own desks.
On-site setup and staff training are included in every plan. No share of donations, ever.
- A call with your officeWe note your sevas, donation heads and the registers you keep today.
- Setup and training on siteConfigured at your counter, in Hindi, Marathi or English.
- Run both for a monthOld receipt books continue alongside until your trustees are satisfied.