While working with the Journey Community Church in De Pere, WI, I noticed that they have an interesting way of allocating their offering to fund each budget. This was such a clever idea that could help churches struggling to get on top of their finances so I thought I’d share it.
This is starting a series on the Art of Being Cheap. Hopefully you’ll learn a little about thinking like a cheap accountant in order to save money on things that are unnecessary. We’ll start with looking at church credit cards.
If I had three pieces of advise I could give to a Finance Committee heading into the budget season, this would be that advice. You’ll end up with a better budget that the church should be more willing to live by.
The two people that worry the most about giving…probably the pastor and the treasurer. The pastor is hoping that the paycheck clears and the treasurer is hoping to be able to pay all the bills. Instead of worrying about giving, what if the Finance Committee focused on growing generous givers. There’s some simple things you can do that will make a big difference.
If you are a Dave Ramsey fan, you know what the baby steps are. What would the baby steps be for a church? What does financial freedom look like for a church? I believe this is possible and here are my findings on the subject.
Financial Policies are a pain put together, but, without them, your church is in for even greater pain as everyone makes up their own rules. You’ll find some instructions as well as templates to put together your own policies.
A lot of churches put off their annual audit…sometimes for years and even decades. It sounds intimidating to do, and what if you miss something? What if you find something? This is a quick primer on doing a church audit.
JCT Accounting Co 