How to Set Up Your Services and Schedule in Sunday Tally

Your services tell Sunday Tally when and where you gather, and what gets counted there. You'll find them in Settings → Services and Occurrences. Set them up once and your weekly entry screen lines up exactly with how your church actually meets.

A service has two parts: the "what" and the "when"

• The what — its name, the ministry it belongs to, and (if you have campuses) its location.
• The when — its schedule: which day, what time, how often.

The schedule matters more than it looks. It tells Sunday Tally which weeks to expect data, so your entry grid shows the right rows and your averages skip the weeks you didn't meet.

The one rule that keeps your numbers clean

Services that share a ministry add up together on your dashboard. So if you run a 9am and an 11am of the same service, give them both the same ministry (say, "Experience"), and the dashboard combines them into one number. Sunday Tally even reminds you of this when you pick the ministry.

That's the simplest correct setup: two service times, one ministry, one combined card, with each time still entered separately.

How often does it run?

When you set the schedule, you'll pick one of three rhythms:

• On a set day and time — a gathering like Sundays at 9 AM. Creates one occurrence each time it meets (this is most services).
• Weekly — counted once a week, with no set day or time. Perfect for giving.
• Monthly — counted once a month, no set day or time.

Your setup, step by step

All of this lives in Settings → Services and Occurrences:

1. Click "Add service."
2. Name it the way you say it out loud, "9am Experience", "Switch", "LifeKids."
3. If you have campuses, pick the location (or "Church-wide" for one shared count).
4. Choose the ministry it belongs to. Reuse the same ministry for another service time so they combine.
5. Click "Continue — set when this service runs."
6. Pick the day and time (or Weekly/Monthly for cadence-only counts like giving).
7. Confirm the start date so Sunday Tally knows which weeks to expect.
8. Click "Save service."

The card now shows its cadence (like "Sundays · 9:00 AM"), and your Entries screen has a place for it every week.

Why this setup pays off

• Your entry screen mirrors reality. You only see the services that actually meet, on the weeks they meet.
• Your two service times become one number automatically, because they share a ministry.
• Your averages stay honest, because the schedule tells the system which weeks count.
• Giving fits naturally as a once-a-week count, instead of being forced into a per-service slot.

Frequently asked questions

I run a 9am and an 11am. Two services or one?

Two services, same ministry. Add each as its own service so you can enter them separately, but give them the same ministry so the dashboard combines them into one card. Picking different ministries is the main thing to avoid, it splits one service into two cards.

How do I set up giving's schedule?

Give it the Weekly frequency, counted once a week, no set day or time. That matches how giving actually comes in: one weekend total, not a number per service.

What happens on a week we don't meet?

Nothing to set here, you just leave that week blank when you enter numbers, and the system skips it in your averages. (More on that in our guide to setting up what you track.)

A service exists but doesn't show up in Entries.

It needs at least one ministry and a schedule. Add a ministry to the service and set when it runs, and it'll appear on your weekly entry screen.