Finances & Analytics

Now that we’ve covered some of the numerous features available in UCare, let’s take a look at some of the financial features UCare offers. UCare provides what you need to track weekly giving, such as tithes, offerings, and receiving payments for a church cafe or bookstore. We will also briefly cover some of the Analytic tools that can be integrated into UCare using Microsoft’s Power BI. Numerous options are available regarding Power BI and how this integrates with UCare; we will cover it briefly here. The other option is if you have a Church Metrics account; this can be synced with UCare. 

First, we’ll look at Payments and how UCare helps you keep track of your finances. 

Payments 

UCare allows you to record any payments and giving made online or in person. Payment forms can be added to a website or church app or sent via email. This ensures that payments are recorded directly into UCare, keeping manual processing of payments to a minimum. Statements and follow-up emails can then be sent at the end of the financial year. Payments can also be refunded if needed.

If a payment service is configured, UCare will allow Credit Card payments and a Direct Debit option. Payment services that can be configured with UCare include Stripe and PayPal. UCare is PCI compliant, and the safety of how credit card information is stored is verified to conform with the PCI data security standard annually.

To add a payment, click + New and select Payment.

You can choose which payment service is used if multiple payment services have been linked to UCare. You can also assign a payment to a profile in UCare; once this is filled out, you can choose the payment method, e.g., cash, card, direct debit, EFTPOS, etc.

To view or refund payments, click Payments in the navbar:

Payments, by default, will be listed by the date received, with the most recent payments first. You can view payments within a specific date range using the dropdown boxes at the top. Additional filters can be set to narrow your search, e.g., tags, or you can type in specific payment details like names or payment types using the Filter payments search option. 

Clicking a payment will provide you with the payment details. You can process or record any refunds from here by selecting Refund payment.

You will have the option of refund type, cash or credit card, should you have a payment service linked to UCare. While Stripe will refund the total amount, a fee will still be charged to capture the payment.

You can share the giving Form to a website, church app or via email using the share icon in the top right corner:

Unlike recording a new payment, the giving Form links the giver directly to UCare and will not require creating a + New > Payment. This also allows the giver to choose When the payment should be processed and whether they would like to make recurring payments.

The Future Payments tab will be visible from the main Payments page if members choose to make recurring payments. This will display the payments to come, the payment method and the expected date. While the payee can cancel or change payment, future payments can also be deleted in UCare.

Payments can also be imported from a CSV spreadsheet using the button in the top right corner:

This covers some of the basics of using the Payments feature. Now, let’s look at some of the possibilities available in UCare regarding Analytics. 

Analytics

While UCare has some built-in Reporting, many more options are available that take tracking data to the next level. The first of these options is to Sync UCare stats with Church Metrics. Additionally, there are numerous data tracking options available using Power BI. Let’s take a look at these options.

Church Metrics

Church Metrics allows churches to track data, like attendance and giving, run customized reports, and access a bird’s eye view of the ministry as a whole and look at trends. To Sync UCare data with Church Metrics, click Sync from the navbar:

From there, you can set up the Sync with Church Metrics. When you first try to access this page, you will be asked for your Church Metrics email address and API key; you can find the API key on your user settings page in Church Metrics. 

To find your Church Metrics API Key, first log in to Church Metrics. You can sign up for free if you do not have a Church Metrics account. Next, open your Church Metrics profile page by tapping your name in the top right of Church Metrics, then tap Profile. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find your API Key, as shown below. You can copy and paste it into the UCare Sync Center.

Once you have this, click View sync options in the Sync Center.

Here, you can input your email address and API key:

Once you add the API key, the sync options will display; you can click the gear icon in the top right of the page to update the API key when your Church Metrics users change.

There are four metric types that you can sync. Meeting attendance syncs the number of people checked in to a meeting in UCare. Meeting stats are custom stats you add to your meetings, allowing you to track head counts, contribution totals, salvations and more. Group members will simply sync the number of members in a group. Lastly, Group visitors syncs the number of visitors to a group.

When adding a metric, enter a descriptive name, then select the group you want to sync the stats from, for example, the Church: Regulars group. Next, choose one of the four metric types you want to sync.

Finally, select the Church Metrics Category you want to sync and tap Save. Metrics from the last two years will initially be synced. After that, changes will be synced every five minutes.

Power BI

Microsoft Power BI allows you to take data visualization to the next level. Power BI can sync with your UCare data to easily connect to and visualize your data in many different ways. This aids with the decision-making process based on factual data and can easily allow you to gauge the health of your church using statistics. There are many different possibilities that cannot be covered in depth. The video below will give you an idea of some of the options you can have. 

Power BI can give you access to much more in addition to what is shown in the video above, including people and small group networking and map visualization, which are particularly useful for small groups. 

If you’d like to discuss any of these options with UCare, feel free to Book a call. 

This concludes the final Part of the Getting Started Guide. There is so much more available in UCare that has not been covered, so if you have any further questions, feel free to browse our Help Articles. Thank you for choosing UCare! We can’t wait to walk through the rest of the journey with you!