# Using Chariot
Once your Chariot account is set up, it becomes the place where you track incoming donations, understand where funds are, and manage how that data flows into your external systems.
### Accessing Data
As gifts are sent to your organization, funds from [Payment Sources](/getting-started/payment-sources.md#connected-sources) will arrive in your Chariot account as **deposits**.
* Each deposit includes one or more **donations**, which represent the individual gifts behind that payment.
* Each donation includes a **payment status**, which tells you where the money is.
***
### Exporting Data
As donations come in, your team can review and export donation data for use in your CRM or Accounting systems.
You can export donation data from:
* **Deposits Page** → To download the subset of donations tied to a specific payment
* **Donations Page** → To download all received donations across multiple deposits
When exporting, you can choose (1) all available fields or (2) a custom selection of columns, to format your data for your specific systems.
{% hint style="info" %}
When recording donations to your CRM, make sure to include the **Deposit ID** to link donation records to the corresponding deposit (payment) in Chariot.
{% endhint %}
***
### Reconciling Funds
Your Chariot Deposit Account is an **FDIC-insured bank account\* in your organization’s name**, and all funds received in this account are legally yours. Unlike payment processors such as PayPal or Stripe, Chariot is a receiving account where funds are deposited directly in your organization’s name.
Every payment from a connected payment source arrives as a **deposit**. These deposits should be recorded as line items in your accounting system and used for reconciliation, using the **Deposit ID** to match donation data to payments.
When you transfer funds from Chariot to your [external financial account](/account-management/money-movement.md), this is considered an **internal transfer**. Your outbound transfers often combine multiple deposits into a single amount.
Because of this, we **strongly recommend reconciling funds against your Chariot Deposit Account**, not your external bank account. Your Chariot account is designed to show deposits already tied to donation line items, giving you a clean and structured view for reconciliation.
{% hint style="danger" %}
If you try to reconcile using your external bank account, you will only see lump sum transfers from Chariot that do not map cleanly to individual deposits. This undoes the reconciliation structure Chariot provides and creates unnecessary manual work.\
\
All transfers from your Chariot Deposit Account to your linked External Financial Account will appear as "ACH DEPOSIT {{NONPROFIT NAME}} - CHARIOT".
{% endhint %}
***
### Received Outside Of Chariot
If a donation has a payment status of **`Received Outside Chariot`** or **`Incoming Outside Chariot`**, the funds will **not** be deposited into your Chariot account.
{% hint style="info" %}
Only applicable for DAFpay gifts that were initiated from DAF providers that are not yet a Connected Payment Source on your account.
{% endhint %}
Use the available details—such as the **DAFpay tracking ID, external ID, and other donation information**—to identify the payment outside of Chariot. Once confirmed, locate the corresponding donation in Chariot and mark it as **'Received Outside Chariot'** to keep your records accurate.
If you frequently receive donations outside of Chariot from a payment source, we strongly encourage you to connect it so future payments can be delivered electronically into your Chariot account.
{% hint style="warning" %}
Some DAF providers do not send DAFpay Tracking IDs. **If the Tracking ID and DAFpay note are not available,** first check for an **External Grant ID**. If you cannot find one, use the **donor’s fund name, gift amount, and other grant details** to match the inbound gift to the correct DAFpay donation line item.
{% endhint %}
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