The SunPlus team from the Southern Asia-Pacific Division conducted a SunPlus Workshop for the accounting personnel of the missions and conferences under the Central Philippine Union Conference.
The workshop took place from Nov. 27 to 29, 2024, at the CPUC headquarters in Gorordo Ave., Cebu City, and was attended by accounting staff from all the missions and conferences under CPUC.
Spearheading the lecture were Annie Asoy, SunPlus Services director, and Vicmar Gandeza, SunPlus Services manager.
During the opening program, Pastor Eliezer ‘Joer’ Barlizo Jr., CPUC president, and Pastor Renito Inapan, CPUC treasurer, welcomed the delegates. Both administrators expressed a desire for a positive outcome of this event during their addresses.
Pastor Elly Abejero, CPUC 1000 Missionary Movement associate director, opened the event with a self-reflecting message that drew lessons from Judas Iscariot’s life. He emphasized Judas’s significant role in the disciples’ finances, but he betrayed that trust through theft and, ultimately, his betrayal of Jesus.
By citing Judas’ blunders, he relates to the crucial role of accountability and integrity in handling finances, especially within a religious organization. Thus, the objective of this training.
The SunPlus Workshop emphasizes proper financial management, transparency, and adherence to ethical standards, which are essential to preventing fund misuse and maintaining trust within the church.
At the start of the training, Asoy introduced SunPlus as an integral part of the Adventist Church’s ministry, helping treasury personnel carry out their important responsibilities in support of the church’s missions.
Soon after, she discussed SunPlus Systems, its networks, products, and services to help the participants understand the system. She aimed to promote a deeper understanding of the SunPlus accounting software, its functionalities, and how it is used within the Adventist church’s financial structure.
She also delved into various SunPlus modules, encouraging participants to utilize the software effectively for their specific roles. Furthermore, she emphasized key Adventist accounting principles from the Seventh-Day Adventist Accounting Manual (SDAAM), including fund and dimensional accounting, focusing on the standardized global dimensional chart of accounts adopted by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
This practice ensured all attendees were aligned with the worldwide church’s financial reporting standards.
The workshop also offered hands-on experience, with the participants doing practical exercises and simulations to familiarize themselves with some tasks introduced during the lecture. One example was making ledger detail and summary reports on Infor Excel.
Further into the three-day training, lecturers tackled topics such as Infor Query and Analysis(Q&A), which included ledger import and macro setup and designing reports in Q&A Executive. These topics included troubleshooting common errors and unexplored functions in SunSystems.
On the third day, the lecturers discussed the “Fixed Assets Management V6 module in SunPlus Systems.” It provides a comprehensive solution for managing an organization’s fixed assets. It covers key functionalities such as defining asset classes, maintaining an asset register, and implementing various depreciation methods.
The module also facilitates processes like asset acquisition, disposal, and revaluation while offering advanced features like budgeting, insurance tracking, and barcode integration.
Within the context of the CPUC training, this module will focus on its practical application within the Adventist Church, ensuring compliance with church policies and efficient management of church-owned assets.
The event culminated with Pastor Inapan’s reminders of the sacredness of these delegates’ line of work. In his closing remarks, he stressed that when a crisis happens, the personnel handling the treasury must evaluate themselves. He stressed that faithfulness in the work always means blessings, and crisis can mean otherwise.
He quoted Colossians 3: 23-25 as a reminder from the Lord to the sacred trust He entrusts to His children in the treasury. It says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
“It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.”