Church Fund Accounting Calculator: Restricted, Designated and Free to Spend
Enter every fund that sits inside the same bank account — general, restricted and designated. Get what's actually free to spend, which restricted funds have been spent below their restriction, and how much the general fund is quietly covering.
Free · no signup · runs in your browser — nothing you type leaves your device.
Funds
One row per fund in the bank account. Sample figures are filled in — replace them with yours.
“Must stay above” only matters for restricted funds — it's the floor the fund can't go under (0 if the restriction is simply "don't go negative"; higher for something like an endowment principal).
Where the money stands
- Free to spend
- —
- Total on the books
- —
- Total restricted
- —
- Total designated
- —
- General fund is covering
- —
- Restricted funds below restriction
- —
Fund by fund
Keep it, don't recalculate it
Track this all year with Church Treasurer OS
Church Treasurer OS keeps every fund's full gift and payment history, builds each donor's year-end giving statement, tracks the budget against actual, and reconciles the bank account — all from the same numbers, updated every time you log a gift. One offline file, no subscription, yours forever — one-time $28.
How the calculator works
Every fund gets a balance, then that balance is sorted by type.
- Each fund's balance = opening balance + received this year − spent this year. Grace Fellowship's Memorial Endowment, for example: $10,000 opening + $500 received − $1,250 spent = $9,250.
- Total restricted and total designated are just the balances of every fund marked that type, added up — including a restricted fund that has gone negative or below its floor, because that shortfall is real money the general fund is covering.
- A restricted fund is below restriction when its balance is under its "must stay above" line. In the sample, Benevolence is overdrawn by $340 (balance −$340 against a $0 floor) and the Memorial Endowment is $1,250 under its $10,500 principal — two funds below restriction, $1,590 the general fund is covering between them.
- Free to spend = (total on the books − total restricted − total designated) − the amount being covered. That first part is just the general fund's own balance; subtracting what it is covering for other funds is what keeps the number honest. In the sample: $7,635 general balance − $1,590 covered = $6,045 free to spend, out of $46,895 on the books.
What it deliberately leaves out
This calculator does not know whether a specific gift is legally restricted, how your denomination wants funds reported, or what your church should do about a fund that is below its restriction. Those are calls for your bylaws, your council, and your accountant or attorney — not a web page. It also does not track individual donors, individual gifts, or produce a giving statement; it only adds up the fund totals you type in. Use it as a fast check between full bookkeeping sessions, or to see what a proposed transfer would do to free to spend before you vote on it.
Restricted vs. designated, in one sentence
Restricted means a donor attached a condition to the gift; designated means your own board attached the condition. That difference is why a designated fund never shows up as "below restriction" here — your board can always redesignate it — while a restricted fund below its line is flagged, because that money was promised to a purpose it hasn't actually reached yet.
Questions
- What’s the difference between a restricted fund and a designated fund?
- A restricted fund is money a donor gave for a specific purpose — the church agreed to spend it only on that use, so it generally can’t be moved without the donor’s consent. A designated fund is money the board or council chose to set aside on its own, which the same board can also redirect if a real need comes up. Your bylaws and the wording on each gift decide which bucket a dollar actually belongs in — this calculator only sorts money into the bucket you tell it to use.
- What does “free to spend” actually mean?
- It is what is left in the general fund after covering any restricted fund that has been spent below the line it is required to stay above. If every restricted fund is intact, free to spend is simply the general fund’s own balance. If one has been overspent, the general fund is quietly loaning it money, and that loan comes straight out of free to spend until it is paid back.
- Why would a restricted fund show a balance below its restriction?
- Because more was paid out of it than the fund’s rules allow — a bill got paid from the wrong account, or giving to that fund slowed down while spending did not. The bank statement never flags this on its own; a bank only shows the total cash in the building, not which fund each dollar actually belongs to.
- Is this a substitute for a church’s own accounting policy or an outside CPA?
- No. It does the arithmetic on the numbers you enter. Whether a specific gift is legally restricted, how your denomination wants funds reported, and what to do about a fund spent below its line are decisions for your bylaws, your council, and your accountant — not this page.
- Does anything I type get saved or sent anywhere?
- No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser and stores nothing. Close the tab and it is gone.
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