The other day, I received a call from our wonderful church in Eureka, South Dakota. Their pastor needed to be reimbursed for something, and the church didn’t have an expense voucher. That made me wonder…where do church Expense Vouchers come from? Most of the time the expense voucher is the copy of a copy of a copy where the original has long since been lost. So here’s my attempt at immortality by releasing my templates to the public. After I’m long gone, these might still be able to find copies of these in church offices. By the way, the templates are shown in the video and links can be found below.
The important thing about the church expense voucher is that it helps you properly document an expense. It forces you to answer the following questions:
- Who? Who are you paying, and who is approving the expense.
- What? What is the expense for. If the business purposes isn’t clear, that should also be documented.
- When? The date of the transaction and the date of the approval.
- How Much? The amount authorized or being requested.
If you are able to consistently answer these questions for each expense, you will build trust and accountability which is a huge asset for the church.
Useful Links
- Expense Voucher Template: https://www.dakotasumc.org/media/files/CONFERENCE/5_Conf_Finance_Benefits/Finance/Expense_Voucher.docx
- Credit Card Log Template: https://www.dakotasumc.org/media/files/CONFERENCE/5_Conf_Finance_Benefits/Finance/Credit_Card_Log.xlsx
- Mileage Log Template: https://www.dakotasumc.org/media/files/CONFERENCE/5_Conf_Finance_Benefits/Finance/Mileage_Reimbursement.xlsx
- Post on Church Credit Cards: http://jctaccounting.com/2021/04/09/art-of-being-cheap-church-credit-cards/