Categories are the key to tracking and reporting accurate data in your Church Metrics account. Categories are set by each church and should match how you measure attendance and giving. Accounts are set up with some default categories, but always feel free to add, modify, or delete categories in your account. For instructions on adding a new Category, see Creating a Custom Category.
Keep in mind what metrics you want to track, and what you want to see on reports and charts. Ask yourself "What meaningful decision could I make by tracking this metric?" And try to keep it simple! Your volunteers will thank you 😉
Typical format
Total Attendance (Attendance, Parent category)
Adults (Attendance)
Nursery (Attendance)
Kids (Attendance)
Teens (Attendance)
Total Contributions (Contributions, Parent category)
Tithes (Contributions)
Offerings (Contributions)
First Time Visitors (Other)
Visitor Follow Ups (Other)
Volunteers (Other)
Salvations (Salvations)
Baptisms (Other)
Life Groups (Other)
Some churches want to know the average tithe by adult. In that case, you may want to exclude kids from your Total Attendance, or use just the "Adults" category. e.g. Average Tithe = Total Contributions / Adults.
ChurchMetrics isn't really designed for tracking groups, but you are free to add custom categories for that. See also Tracking Individuals.