A church that has enough money to do everything it wants is in serious danger. How can having enough money be dangerous? John Wesley was very strong about warning people about riches and increasing riches. This applies to churches as well. Just as people need to guard their hearts against trusting in money instead of…
Single Board Governance #1 – What’s the problem?
Could it be that your church’s governance is hurting it’s own mission? Most United Methodist churches are structured according to the Book of Discipline (ΒΆ243-258), and most churches struggle filling a slew committee positions. Some churches seem to have about as many positions as they do members. You end up wasting a lot of time…
Does the church need to do the Form 941?
If you’re a new church treasurer, and, after three months, you finally are feeling comfortable cutting paychecks for your pastor and lay employees. Then the IRS comes in demanding information on the Form 941. Does a church really have to fill out this form? That depends. The short answer is, if you just have a…
Paying a Lay Employee…manually
Like I said in a previous post, payroll is the most intimidating part of being a church treasurer. What makes it worse is that most churches just a handful of employees…maybe a part-time custodian and secretary. It just doesn’t make financial sense to shell out much for payroll software when your payroll is minimal. Without…
How do you pay your Pastor?
When I became a church treasurer, the scariest part of the job was payroll. I was a CPA. I worked as an auditor for the State of North Dakotas. I knew about taxes and payroll liabilities and all that fun stuff, but I’d never actually cut a payroll check before. To make matters worse, no…
Are Pastors covered by Workers’ Compensation?
A lot of churches have tight budgets so they cut Worker’s Comp coverage. Can they do this legally in North or South Dakota? Should they do this? Honestly, I’m a little murky on the North Dakota answer. I read in the Century Code how they do not consider church work to be “Hazardous Employment.” They…
Year Round Stewardship Plan
Hopefully this is timely and helpful for any church struggling financially. Here’s the bad news: There is no silver bullet when it comes to raising up generous givers. If your church is struggling financially, there is no quick fix. There is a strong spiritual element connected to our relationship with money…and practically nothing happens quickly…
JCT Accounting Co 