Monthly Update · August 2026

The One Where July Didn't Happen

Hi there — it's Paul. There was supposed to be a July issue of this newsletter. It never left my drafts folder, and the honest reason is the best one I've got: every time I sat down to write about GoodBooks, I ended up building more GoodBooks instead. So this issue is a double feature — everything that shipped this summer, whether you're the treasurer, the pastor, the board member, or just the person who forwards useful things to the person handling the money.

A Budget Your Board Can Actually Read

GoodBooks now does budgets. Build one for your fiscal year — annual numbers, or month-by-month on the Core plan — and then let the two new reports do the talking: Budget vs Actual shows where you stand, and Budget At-Risk flags the line items on pace to blow through their number before year-end, while there's still time to do something about it. When next year rolls around, copy the whole budget forward and adjust.

If your fiscal year starts this fall, this is your sign to draft the budget now, while things are quiet.

Sunday's Offering, Recorded by Monday

Batch Gift Entry (Foundation plan and up) is a keyboard-first grid built for the stack of envelopes on the counting table: type a name or an envelope number, hit Enter, next gift. Splits across campaigns, anonymous plate cash, per-method totals that should match what's in the bank bag — and the whole thing lands as one clean deposit. Numbered giving envelopes are in too (Core plan), with a bulk screen for assigning next year's numbers all at once and an export your envelope printer can use.

Your Register Now Fits in Your Pocket

Open GoodBooks on your phone and you'll get a register built for thumbs: your balance up top, quick entry for checks, card charges, and deposits, and your recent activity below. Best part — snap a photo of the receipt right from the entry form and GoodBooks straightens it, converts it to a PDF, and attaches it to the transaction. The receipt gets recorded in the hardware store parking lot, not lost in a cup holder.

Invoices That Collect Themselves

Every invoice now carries a secure pay online link — your customer clicks, pays by card, and the payment lands in your books against the right invoice, no re-keying. Recurring invoices handle the monthly rent, the quarterly dues, the annual sponsorship — generated and emailed on schedule. And membership renewals can now invoice themselves ahead of the renewal date, if you turn that on. Batch payment recording rounds it out for the folks who still mail checks (bless them).

And a Pile of Smaller Wins

• Quick-date buttons on every report — YTD, last quarter, end of last year, one click, fiscal-year aware
• Bulk contact import from a spreadsheet — bring your whole donor list over in one go
• Restricted gifts now release themselves — spend against a campaign or grant and the accounting release entries post automatically
• Ref numbers in the register are clickable — jump straight to the deposit or invoice behind them
• Already have a Stripe account? You can now connect it instead of creating a new one

See the full summer changelog →

Thanks for reading the first one (for real this time). Reply anytime — I read every email, and I'd genuinely like to hear what's annoying you about treasurer life. That's usually where the next feature comes from.

— Paul, Founder

P.S. — If your organization already works with an outside accountant or bookkeeper, forward this to them. Their firm workspace runs on our Free plan, and connecting to your books takes about two minutes once you both have a login.