Transferring money between Funds in Aplos re-allocates money that has been dedicated to different purposes within your organization. The method you use depends on how you want the transfer to be tracked on your financial reports.

The "Start New Fund Transfer" feature is the simplest way to perform a cash movement, but manual journal entries offer more detailed tracking options.

Understanding Funds in Aplos

Remember that in Aplos, each Fund operates like a mini-organization inside your larger entity.

• Each Fund has its own balance sheet.
• You can run an Income Statement on each individual fund, or a consolidated statement on any combination of Funds.

When you transfer money or an expense between Funds, you are transferring it between two separate "mini-organizations," which means you must adjust both their Income Statement and their Balance Sheet (specifically, the cash accounts) to ensure your reporting is accurate.

"Start New Fund Transfer" Feature

Use this feature when you want the cash movement to be recorded only as an internal transfer that affects your balance sheet, without showing up as an income or expense on your Income Statement.

This method uses the cash account and equity accounts behind the scenes.

How to Use the Feature:

1. Navigate to Fund Accounting -> Transactions -> Journal Entry
2. Select "start new fund transfer" in the left side panel
3. Choose a Date and Memo: Enter the transfer date and a reference title (memo) for the transaction.
4. Select the Account: Choose the asset or liability account where the transfer will take place (e.g., 1000 Checking).
5. Enter the Transfer Amount: Input the amount of money you want to transfer.
6. Select the Source Fund: This is the fund the money is currently coming from.
7. Select the Target Fund: This is the fund the money will be moved to.

See the example below:

Once you've posted the transfer, you'll see the transaction in your asset or liability account register.

Report Tracking for this Method

• The transaction will appear as $0.00 in your register's running balance, as money only moved between funds within the same account.
• The transfer will appear as "Other Fund Movements" on an Income Statement by Fund and on a Fund Activity Summary report.

Transfers Requiring a Manual Journal Entry

For transfers that involve expenses, income, or specific tracking on the Income Statement, you must create a manual Journal Entry.

A. Transferring an Income or Expense Between Funds

When transferring an expense into a new fund, remember that you ALSO need to transfer the money in a cash account. We are transferring the expense from one mini-org to another, so we have to transfer it to the new Income statement and the new balance sheet. The original fund that paid for the expense is out that cash and needs to get paid back.

• Use the income or expense accounts that should be touched: Identify which expense accounts in both the original and new fund need to be adjusted to reflect the transfer.
• Use the cash accounts that paid for the expense: Record the cash transfer from the original fund's cash account to the new fund's cash account to ensure both balance sheets are accurate.

To go more in depth, check out our resource on using the journal entry screen.

B. Cash Transfer with Income Statement Tracking

When transferring cash from one fund to another, think about the purpose of the transfer: Money is being re-allocated for a different use.

The easiest way to move cash between funds is using the "Start New Fund Transfer" feature. However, this automated tool records the transfer only as an internal re-allocation with one movement.

If you need to track the transfer as income or expense, you'll need to go the route of a manual journal entry to control the precise accounting impact.

How do you want to track this transfer? Do you want to see these movements on your income statements, or simply as an internal "Other Fund Movement" on reports?

• If you want the transfer to show on the income statement: Create a Fund transfer income or expense account and use that account and the cash account for the transfer.
• Alternative option using a liability account: You can also create a liability account called "Fund Transfers" and use that account along with the cash accounts to record the transfer.

C. Transferring Cash in Funds between two different Assets/Liability accounts

Sometimes you need to balance funds between multiple assets or liabilities, and you don’t want to do an actual bank transfer. This advanced method is used when you need to cover a negative balance in one Fund's portion of an account without moving cash from the bank. It shifts assets between Funds in two different accounts using a journal entry.

Example: To cover a -$27 deficit in the Missions Fund's portion of the Main Operating Account by shifting assets from the Missions Fund's Other Account:

This entry ensures the Missions Fund's balance is positive in the Main Operating Account while keeping the overall total cash position of the organization the same.

If you are looking to learn more about creating manual journal entries check out our resource on How to use the Journal Entry Screen.