Activities

Why Activities?

As a treasurer, you probably track more than just “how much did we spend?” You also need to answer questions like:

How much did the Fall Carnival bring in versus what it cost?
Is the STEM program running over budget?
What’s the net income from our membership drive?

Activities let you group related income and expense accounts together so you can answer these questions at a glance. Think of them as folders that organize your accounts by program, event, or committee.

Every PTA runs multiple programs and events throughout the year. Without activities, you would need to manually add up figures across several accounts to understand how a single event performed. Activities do that math for you automatically.

Two types of activities:

Program - Ongoing initiatives like STEM enrichment, teacher grants, or student wellness
Fundraiser - Revenue-generating events like auctions, fun runs, or spirit wear sales

Managing Activities

Viewing Activities

Go to Activities from the main menu
The list shows all activities with their name, type, and archive status
Click any column header to sort the list
Use the filter bar at the top to narrow results (see Filtering below)
Activities are paginated if you have many of them

Creating an Activity

Go to Activities
Click New Activity
Fill in the fields:
- Name: A clear, descriptive name (e.g., “Spring Auction 2026” or “STEM Program”)
- Type: Choose Program or Fundraiser
Select the income and expense accounts to link (see Linking Accounts below)
Click Save

The activity name must be unique within your organization and can be up to 100 characters.

Editing an Activity

Go to Activities
Click the activity name to open it
Click Edit
Update the name, type, linked accounts, or archive status
Click Save

Viewing Activity Details

The activity detail page gives you a financial snapshot:

Total Income: Sum of all credits to linked income accounts for this activity
Total Expenses: Sum of all debits to linked expense accounts for this activity
Net Income: Income minus expenses (positive means the activity made money)

Below the summary, you will see:

Linked Accounts: A table showing each linked account, its type, and its balance for this activity
Journal Entry History: The 10 most recent journal entries tagged with this activity, showing date, reference number, payee, and amount

Archiving an Activity

When a program ends or an event is over and you no longer need it in active lists:

Open the activity
Click Edit
Check the Archive checkbox
Click Save

Archived activities:

Do not appear in search/autocomplete results
Preserve all historical data and journal entries
Can be unarchived at any time by unchecking the box

Deleting an Activity

Open the activity
Click Delete
Confirm the action

If the activity has any journal entries, BeeKeeper will not allow deletion. Archive the activity instead.

Linking Accounts to Activities

Linking accounts is how BeeKeeper knows which financial data belongs to an activity. When you create or edit an activity, you will see two columns of checkboxes:

Income Accounts - All active income accounts in your chart of accounts
Expense Accounts - All active expense accounts in your chart of accounts

How to Link Accounts

Create or edit an activity
In the accounts section, check the boxes next to each relevant account
Click Save

Choosing the Right Accounts

For a fundraiser like a Spring Auction, you might link:

Income: “Fundraiser - Spring Auction Income”
Expenses: “Fundraiser - Spring Auction Expenses”, “Fundraiser - Auction Supplies”

For a program like STEM Enrichment, you might link:

Income: “Program - STEM Donations”, “Program - STEM Grants”
Expenses: “Program - STEM Supplies”, “Program - STEM Instructor Fees”

An account can be linked to multiple activities. For example, a general “Printing Costs” expense account could be linked to several events that each incur printing costs.

When Balances Appear

Linking accounts to an activity does not retroactively assign old transactions. Balances reflect journal entries that are tagged with the activity. When you record a new journal entry, select the activity from the Activity dropdown to associate it.

Filtering and Searching

The activity list includes a filter bar with three options:

Filter by Type

Click the Type dropdown
Select Program or Fundraiser
The list updates to show only that type

Filter by Status

Click the Status toggle
Choose to show active, archived, or all activities

Search by Name

Type a name or partial name in the search box
The list filters as you type

You can combine all three filters. For example, show only active fundraisers matching “auction”.

Autocomplete Search

When recording a journal entry, the Activity field uses autocomplete. Start typing the activity name and BeeKeeper suggests matching active activities. This search matches anywhere in the name, so typing “auction” will find “Spring Auction 2026”.

Tips

Name Activities Consistently

Use a naming convention that makes filtering and sorting easy:

“Fundraiser - Spring Auction 2026”
“Fundraiser - Fun Run 2026”
“Program - STEM Enrichment”
“Program - Teacher Grants”

Or keep it simple if your organization runs fewer activities:

“Spring Auction”
“STEM Program”
“Teacher Appreciation”

Create Activities Before Recording Transactions

Set up your activities at the start of the fiscal year (or before an event begins). This way, every transaction can be tagged from day one and your totals will be complete.

Archive After Year-End Review

At the end of your fiscal year, archive activities for completed events. This keeps your active list clean while preserving the data for reports and audits.

Use Activities with Budgets

Activities pair well with your budget. If your budget has line items for “Fall Carnival” and “STEM Program”, create matching activities so you can compare planned versus actual spending at the activity level.

Review Net Income Regularly

Check activity detail pages monthly. A fundraiser showing negative net income early on might indicate costs are running ahead of revenue, giving you time to adjust.

Limitations

Activity names must be unique within your organization
Activity names cannot exceed 100 characters
You cannot delete an activity that has journal entries (archive it instead)
Only income and expense accounts can be linked to activities (not asset, liability, or equity accounts)
An activity’s financial totals only include journal entries explicitly tagged with that activity
There is no way to bulk-assign existing journal entries to an activity after the fact

Common Questions

What is the difference between an activity and an account? An account is a single financial category (like “Auction Income”). An activity groups multiple related accounts together (like “Spring Auction” which includes both its income and expense accounts). Activities give you a big-picture view of a program or event.

Can I link the same account to multiple activities? Yes. A shared expense account like “Printing” can be linked to several activities. The balance shown on each activity’s detail page reflects only the journal entries tagged with that specific activity.

Do I have to use activities? No. Activities are optional. If your organization is small or you only run a few programs, you might not need them. You can always add them later.

What happens to journal entries when I archive an activity? Nothing changes. The journal entries remain intact and continue to appear in reports. Archiving only removes the activity from active lists and autocomplete suggestions.

Can I change an activity’s type after creation? Yes. You can switch between Program and Fundraiser at any time by editing the activity. This does not affect any linked accounts or journal entries.

How do I see a full financial report for an activity? Open the activity detail page. It shows total income, total expenses, net income, account-level balances, and recent journal entries. For a more detailed view, run a Profit & Loss report and review the accounts linked to that activity.