Nonprofit and Church Accounting for Church Treasurers, Financial Secretaries, and Administration
Nonprofit and church 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 nonprofit, 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 in church accounting such as:
Are churches automatically considered "tax exempt"?
These are just a few of the church accounting questions answered on this site.
My name is Vickey Boatright. I built 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 6 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 started intensively studying church accounting and then built my own church accounting spreadsheets. 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).She has since then built her own website to help other churches. It is freechurchforms.com. She has built a variety of church forms to give away free and she also has built an amazing database to keep track of church members' information and contributions. It is very reasonable priced for all the features she has built in it.
I decided to give all of my spreadsheets away free of charge as a special thank you for anyone who signs up for my free newsletter.
"Stewardship" is loaded with valuable church accounting information and special deals available for Stewardship subscribers only.
The information provided on this site is not meant to substitute for the advice and covered opinions of a qualified tax professional. The materials contained on this website are provided for general information purposes only and do not constitute legal or other professional advice on any subject matter. The tax advice on freechurchaccounting.com does not fall within the IRS definition of a covered opinion; therefore, it cannot be used to avoid IRS penalties. www.freechurchaccounting.com does not accept any responsibility for any loss which may arise from reliance on information contained on this site or use of its free software.
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Nonprofit and church accounting is unique. They are different from most all other accounting because churches and non-profits usually utilize fund accounting practices.
