Churches are under most of the same labor and employment laws that "for-profit" organizations are under. This includes the guidelines for classifying your workers as employees or independent contractors.
Still, every church has to deal with finances. There are tithes and offerings coming in weekly. Meanwhile, there are bills to pay, needs to meet, and (often) salaries to be paid. It�s a lot to keep track of. Accounting church software programs can help you navigate this terrain, even if you�re not a whiz in Excel and don�t know a debit from a credit.
Your church has a very important mission. Don't let bookkeeping get in the path of that mission. The right software for church accounting can make it easy to do church bookkeeping accurately and quickly. This will allow you and your administrative staff to get back to what really matters to you ministry.
Absolutely, we can have regular meetings so you can advise on the reporting you need and you can access your bookkeeping online at any time to pull reports and review the books.
We know. You didn�t enter ministry to become an accounting professional. You are a church leader because you want to make disciples and share Jesus Christ's good news.
Maintaining a check register is not a reliable church bookkeeping system.
The tip to avoid this church bookkeeping error is to thoroughly look at each individual you are paying for a service they do for the church and using the IRS guidelines (link in the Misclassification article) to determine if they should be classified as an employee with all proper payroll tax withholding and matching or could be classified as an independent contractor.
Churches call the traditional balance sheet a statement of financial position. It uses the accounting equation “Assets = Liabilities + Equity” to show a snapshot of your organization's financial health. It also shows the current balance of each of your funds if you've been implementing fund accounting for your church.
Churches And Transparency
The standards of the Evangelical Council on Financial Accountability require that member organizations provide audited financial statements on request.
Churches and religious nonprofits must maintain highly accurate accounting and bookkeeping records in order to maintain their nonprofit status, budget accurately, and provide reporting to government entities and their parishoners or members.