Church accounting and nonprofit accounting is unique. They are different from most all other accounting because churches and non-profits usually utilize "fund accounting" practices.

Fund accounting is a method of accounting and presentation whereby assets and liabilities are grouped according to the purpose for which they are to be used. "Fund Accounting" creates a distinction between restricted and unrestricted funds.

In a church, ministry, or nonprofits, money is often given for a specific purpose. These gifts are "restricted". An example would be if a generous donor gave your church $20,000 for a new fellowship hall....that money would have to be kept separate from the general fund in the church's accounting records.

You would not be required to open a separate bank account, but in your accounting records, all expenses and future donations for that hall should be recorded in a separate church fund account.

"Unrestricted" funds are the tithes, offerings, or donations that come through the regular offerings or donations. These funds can be used for immediate needs, such as paying salaries or basic operational cost.

These are just a few of the challenges church and nonprofit financial administration face. There are many questions that have to be answered and researched such as:

• Are churches automatically considered "tax exempt"?
• What taxes are we required to hold out of our "minister's paycheck"?
• What is a "Housing Allowance" and is is beneficial for our minister?
• How do we set up a "Accountable Reimbursment Policy" up for our church staff?
• How do we handle "Contributions"?
• What is an "Internal Audit" and how do we conduct one?

My name is Vickey. I build this website because I wanted to share my church and non-profit accounting experience and accounting spreadsheets with other churches and non-profits.

I have been a fund accountant for a non-profit organization for almost 10 years, but didn't know much about church accounting until 5 years ago when...

I went to visit the church secretary and found her a little overwhelmed with all of her financial responsibilities of our growing and expanding church. She was trying to keep track of the church's finances by hand in a paper ledger.

I told her I would try to find a simple free accounting program or spreadsheet for churches on the web. Um...I couldn’t find anything "free". I don’t know about you, but even though our church is growing, there wasn’t any extra money to shell out on expensive church accounting software.

So...I built my own church accounting spreadsheets. They were pretty basic in the beginning; had to hand put in all the numbers in the church's financial monthly reports (did I mention I got voted in as our church's financial advisor about this time?).

But...being the perfectionist and partly lazy person that I am...I kept tweaking them until I finally come up with one that would automatically generate monthly /annual reports and a cash flow statement.

Our church secretary really likes them. She said it has cut hours off her volunteer work time and has helped her become better organized (her words not mine).So I decided there were probably a lot more churches and nonprofits that might be in the same boat we were in and I decided to...Pay It Forward.

I decided…there might be other church and nonprofit secretaries, treasurers, and church pastors who could use my free accounting spreadsheets to make life just a little easier. See a description of my "spreadsheets" and then "contact me" and I'll email you the spreadsheets you request.

Please visit my other website: www.naturalremediesforbetterhealth.com.