COS.Mini User Guide

Getting in (logging in)

1. Visit your church website and click login. If your church doesn’t have a website, then pen the link you were given (bookmark it for next time).
2. Type your email address and click Send Access Code. An administrator must have added your email, and it must match the email on your member record. If it doesn’t work, contact whoever set up your church on the platform.
3. Check your inbox for a 6-digit code and type it in. (If you don’t see it, check your spam folder.)
4. That’s it — you’re in. The code expires after 10 minutes, so use it promptly.

Note: When logged in, you will only see the sections or items you are allowed to see or access.

Finding your way around

The menu/sidebar is on the left (on a phone, tap the ☰ icon at the top to open the menu). Depending on your role, you’ll see some or all of these sections:

• General Dashboard: a quick overview of your church.
• Church Records: Members, Transactions, and the Financial Dashboard.
• Departments: Sunday School, Men, Women, Youth, Children (each keeps its own records and fund/money).
• Reports: printable reports for the church and each department.
• Birthdays: the birthday greeting and automatic birthday emails.
• System Setup: church details, system dropdown lists, roles, and user access.
• System Record: the activity log or record of all actions performed by people who have access to the platform.

Two handy shortcuts:

1. Use the Refresh System button to load the latest information without logging out. (Avoid using your browser’s reload button — that signs you out.
2. Click the “Graceful Work” name/logo at the top to jump back to your home screen.

Members

To add a member:

1. Go to Church Records → Members.
2. Click Add New Member.
3. Fill in the details. Some fields appear only when needed. For example, a marriage date appears when you choose “Married,” and a baptism date appears when you mark someone as baptized.
4. Input all information and click Save.

To view or edit a member, use the View or Edit buttons.

Kindly note that inactive members will be automatically deleted when the “Inactive Member Deletion” period is reached. If no deletion period is set, members will never be deleted. Be sure to read the note in the system when setting this up.

Active vs Inactive: the platform automatically marks members as Active or Inactive based on their recent giving and how long ago they joined. You don’t set this by hand.

Note: Fill in each member’s date of birth and email – these power birthday greetings and personal giving statements.

Recording money (Transactions)

Choose one currency for your church and record any other currency as a value.

For the main church:

1. Go to Church Records → Transactions.
2. Choose Income or Expense. Then pick the category (e.g., Tithe, Offering).
3. The form then asks only for what’s needed:
   • For income, choose whether it came from a member, a named donor, or was anonymous (unknown).
   • For expense, choose the category and describe the purpose.
4. Select the Payment Method, enter the Amount, add any Notes, and click Save.

For a department: open the department (e.g. Men Department → Transactions) and record income and expenses there in the same way. Department money is kept separate from the main church.

Note: When a transaction is recorded against a member who has an email, the platform can send them a courteous email notification, signed by your church.

Dashboards

Dashboards update on their own; there’s nothing to fill in.

• Financial Dashboard (under Church Records, and inside each department) shows money received, money spent, the balance, and simple charts over time.
• General Dashboard shows membership numbers, a male/female split, and upcoming birthdays and anniversaries.

Reports

All reports open on a clean A4 page with your church’s name and logo at the top, ready to print (there’s a Print button on each).

How to generate any report:

1. Open the report area you want: Reports → General / Financial, or a department’s report.
2. Pick the Report Type (see below).
3. Choose a date range (or a quick option like “This Year”). Some reports also let you pick categories.
4. Click Generate, then Print if you need a paper copy.

The report types:

• Financial Report (Income & Expenditure): income by category, expenses by category, the period’s net, and an account summary with balance brought forward.
• Payees / Contributors List: every giver and their total for the period (great for a tithe-payers or dues list); filter by category.
• Income Report / Expense Report: a simple list of the actual transactions for a chosen type and category.
• Statistical Report (General and per department): membership totals, gender analysis, new members, baptisms, marriages, and birthday/anniversary celebrants for the period.
• Individual Member Statement: one member’s giving, split into church and each department, with their join date.

Each report is signed “The Church Secretariat” (or the department’s secretariat), so it’s ready to present.

Birthdays

Go to Birthdays in the menu.

To set your greeting: type your message in the Birthday Greeting box. You can use {name} (it becomes the member’s first name) and {church} (your church’s name). Leave it blank to use a warm default message. Click Save Greeting.

To send greetings automatically: click Enable daily greetings. From then on, each member with a birthday that day receives your greeting, signed by the church, each morning.

• Preview today’s shows who would receive one today (without sending).
• Send test to me emails a sample to you so you can see the wording.

If you see “Needs authorization,” the person who set up your church needs to switch it on once – pass that message along to them.

Church Settings

Go to System Setup → Configs.

Church Information: set your church name, address, logo (use the Upload button for reliability), and your currency. These appear at the top of the app and on every report. Click Save Church Info.

The lists: the boxes below control the dropdowns used throughout the app: departments, positions, marital statuses, income and expense categories, payment methods, and so on. Separate each item with a comma and save. If a dropdown ever looks empty, it’s because its list here needs filling in.

People and permissions

(For Senior Pastors or administrators.)

Access Control: give a person access by entering their email (it must match a member’s record) and ticking one or more roles (some people wear two hats). Click Grant / Update. Add yourself as an Administrator first so you’re never locked out.

Roles & Permissions: create roles (for example, an “Administrator” with full access, or a “Finance Officer” who only sees money and reports, or a “Department President” who manages a particular department) by ticking which areas each role may use.

The activity log

System Record → Activity Logs shows a searchable history of all actions performed, by whom, and when; it is helpful for accountability and for tracing any correction.

Everyday good habits

• Enter money promptly so dashboards and reports always reflect reality.
• Use System Refresh (not the browser reload), so you stay logged in.
• Keep member birth dates and emails filled in – they power greetings and statements.
• Choose one currency for your church and record any other-currency gifts as their converted value.