Church Cashbook Maintenance Manual

Verify snapshot file generation and integrity.

What the transaction snapshot is

The transaction snapshot is a pre-generated CSV export of all transactions, produced on demand and stored in church_records/exports/. It provides a recoverable off-database copy of the transaction record and supports the independent examination process. It is not a live view — it reflects the state of the database at the time it was last generated.

Verifying the snapshot

Monthly, confirm the following via Admin → System Info → Recent operational files:

The most recent export file exists and has a plausible modification timestamp (within the last month for an active parish).
The file size is non-zero and consistent with the expected number of transactions. A file that is significantly smaller than usual may indicate a partial export.

To regenerate the snapshot manually, use the export function within the application. The snapshot should be regenerated after any significant batch of transaction entries — particularly before year-end or before providing data to an independent examiner.

Integrity check

The system tracks whether the snapshot is current via a transactions_snapshot_dirty flag in site settings. When this flag is set, the snapshot may not reflect recent changes. The admin interface indicates when the snapshot needs regenerating.

Retention: Snapshot files accumulate in the exports directory. Periodically archive or remove older snapshot files to manage storage, but retain at least the most recent copy and any snapshot produced for an independent examination.