What are pass-through accounts?

This post was last updated on February 3rd, 2020 at 12:48 pm.

Pass-through accounts are established when a church collects money on behalf of an organization or event and does not want to record the money as income.  These accounts are set up as liabilities instead of revenue accounts since the money will only pass-through the church to another organization.

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Follow the instructions below to create liability pass-through accounts in IconCMO.

Part 1: Setup for Pass-through Accounts

First, decide if the money can stay in the general fund or if the church wants to create a new fund.  If you need a new fund, then these next steps apply. To create a new fund:

1. Click Add New Account.
2. Go to General Ledger: GL: Fund Maintenance.
3. Type in the Fund Name and click Add.

Next we need some accounts set up.

1. Go to General Ledger: Funds: Chart of Accounts.
2. Click on the Add New Account button.
3. Fill out each drop down box with these values to create the liability accounts.
   • Account Type: Liabilities
   • Liabilities: Other Current Liabilities
   • Type Detail: Other Misc Current Liabilities
   • Sub-account of: Not a sub-account
   • Account Name: Pass-Through
4. Then click Save.

Repeat the process for any sub-accounts you want to add under Pass-Through.  I have created a sub-account called Food Pantry under my pass-through account below.

Learn more from the Nonprofit Accounting Academy about nonprofit accounting and the chart of accounts.

Part 2: Contribution Setup for these Accounts

1. Go to Contributions: Management: Cont-Maintenance
2. Type in the Fund Name on the right and Save.
3. Select the fund you created and click on Accounting Link.
   • Accounting Fund Affected: Choose the general fund or the fund you created
   • Banking    –   Checking
   • Contribution Liab   –   Food Pantry

If you’re looking for a good report for these accounts, go to General-Ledger: GL:GL-Reports. The Statement of Financial Position (Balance Sheet) will give you a report with all your liability account information.

Learn more about how to do fund accounting the right way at our fund accounting page.

UPDATE: Go to our post on recording donations for hurricane relief to learn how pass-through accounts apply to hurricane relief efforts.