Handling of payment to childcare workers 
We are going to pay individuals for childcare during our church activities. What is the best way to handle this? Should these people be treated as independent ...

Signing Checks 
We require 2 signatures on all checks written from either of our fund accounts. We have 5 people on the signature card at the bank.

Two of the signers ...

allowance 
Is the minister allowed to use the churches credit card for personals

Answer

No. Church credit cards are for church business only.

Correcting entry regarding income entries(QUESTION) 
1)Contributions are made and the initial entry is a debit to regular checking account(unrestricted fund)and a credit to adult church support(income account)...

1099 vs. W-2? Housing vs. Salary vs. Love Offerings? 
Question regarding pastoral support:

I've read through a ton of your posts and first want to say thank you and the other participants. I am helping ...

Accounting for loose offering 
Sometimes we don't make payroll for our pastor. The finance person takes the loose offering and gives it to him to makeup for what he has not received....

Gas Allowance 
Our church has a charge account at one of the local gas stations. Pastor and staff is able to charge gas and the church is billed monthly for the gas purchases....

Designated Funds or Restricted Funds 
What's the difference between designated funds and restricted funds.

[Know the answer? Face the same situation? Please post your answer or comment ...

Hospitality or Benevolence 
What is the difference between hospitailty expenses and benevolence expenses? When groceries are brought with a church check to prepare a meal after a ...

CLERGY/PASTOR KNOWLEDGE OF GIVING 
Having served as a Pastor for several years in large and small congregations ..........

It seems the Senior Pastor may want to know if his
leadership ...

BALANCE SHEET 
Vickey, Thank you for your kindness and generosity in sharing your expertise. So sorry to learn of your husband's challenge and yours also.

I am working ...

Filing church records 
I need to know from church secretaries what filing system they use to file church correspondence, financial records, personnel records, etc. or can they ...

Returned Check 
How should a small church handle returned checks?

[Know the answer? Face the same situation? Please post your answer or comment by using the "comment"...

How does the church record & report for tax purposes when giving the pastor a car? 
Our church board has approved the purchase of a car for our pastor to replace his old one. As church secretary/treasurer, how would I record & report this ...

Couples in the Finance Ministry 
We have a couple in our ministry that donate a lot of their time. She works in the finance ministry and he does maintenance. However, sometimes she will ...

Loan from General Fund to Pastor 
We have a small 200-300 member church located in Maryland.

Recently the air-conditioning/heating unit at our pastor's residence went bad. (he does ...

Church Paying Medical Expenses Considered Income? 
In addition to paying the premium on our Pastor's Individual insurance plan our church has decided to cover certain additional medical and dental expenses ...

Filing church taxes 
Do all small churches, no mater how small, file church taxes each year if they are set up as non proper/tax exempt?

[Know the answer? Face the same ...

Worker's Comp Insurance 
Are churches required to carry a worker compensation policy?

[Know the answer? Face the same situation? Please post your answer or comment by using ...

Automobile Mileage 
My church pays a mileage allowance at the federal standard rate for the pastor's automobile. It is a part of an accountable reimbursement plan for the ...

Treasurer 
I have a couple of questions:

1. We are a very small church (about 60 regular attendees). Our pastor has a jail ministry and at this time has a married ...

CPA accounting for small churches 
Should pastors do books and know who pays tithes within a small church?

Answer

That depends on the pastor and the availability of staff.

Some ...

Paying Visiting Ministers 
I have handled accounting for several small churches in the past/present. I continually hear disagreements on what to call the amount of money given to ...

what tax forms do we need to file? 
We are a small church(less than 50 members).We don't have any employees and we don't pay a pastor. Do we need to file any tax forms with the IRS?

Answer...

Annual Financial Report - When should you give it out? 
My husband and I are the Youth Pastor's at our church and we just had our Annual Review meeting for our church (Febuary 2010). We were given the Annual ...

Bank Accounts 
Is it OK for a pastor to have a separate personal bank account in the name of the church?

Answer

The only way I can think of that would be acceptable ...

Mail Merge Question 
Question about using mail merge for annual contribution statement:

Vickey,
We've used your contribution spreadsheets this past year, and they have ...

Amount of Time to Decide to use Monies From Building Fund 
We have a small church (about 125 in attendance). We don't have any building projects in progress or any planned for the future presently. But sometimes ...

Church Bank Accounts 
Is it illegal for the women’s auxiliary to have their own Bank account.


[Know the answer? Face the same situation? Please post your answer or comment ...

severence pay 
What is the average severance pay for an assistant pastor that worked for 2 1/2 years, that is laid off due to church's financial situation and the economy?...

Timecards and Salaried/Exempt employees 
Is it a common practice to have salaried employees fill out timecards and sign them. Our payroll clerk fills out a timecard sheet for all salaried employees ...

Training workshops  Not rated yet
I have more of a question.....Are there ever any workshops or seminars for Administrators of growing churches?

Church Accounting Book  Not rated yet
Do you have the Church Accounting Book in "book" form instead of E Book? I like something in my hand I can read.

vickey's reply

Yes and no. No,...

Contribution Letter for the Donation on an Organ  Not rated yet
I need to write an annual contribution letter for the donation of an organ to someone so they can have documentation for tax purposes. Does any have a ...

Can't locate w-2 for pastor  Not rated yet
Where do we get a W-2 for the pastor

vickey's reply

You cannot download a W-2 form, you can order official IRS forms, call 1-800-TAX-FORM (1-800-...

Moving Expenses  Not rated yet
My husband (ordained elder) and I moved to Florida to because he was offered a position as assistant pastor at a church. However, after moving that position ...

Treasurer  Not rated yet
Question:
What is the standard definition of Severance Pay, and how is it used on your employees?
I was always under the impression severance pay was ...

Stipends  Not rated yet
Do we have to withhold tax for stipends given to a seminary student ministering in our church? Thanks.

[Know the answer? Face the same situation? Please ...

Wife of a Retiring Minister  Not rated yet
My husband is retiring after 35 years of full time ministry as a pastor.

My question is: can he deduct our moving expenses to relocate to the place ...

Health Insurance Payment  Not rated yet
I am a part of a small church. Both myself and the other pastor have private health insurance.

1) Are the health insurance costs considered benefits ...

Health Savings Account  Not rated yet
Can the church pay directly into a Pastor's Health Savings Account? If they can does that exempt the pastor from Self-employment taxes on the Health Savings ...

Church Personnel Policy Manual  Not rated yet
Guidelines for vacation, personal time, and sick for senior pastor and youth pastor.

The Board does not have a policy prepare as of yet we are a 4 year ...

Gifts of Property  Not rated yet
How do we handle gifts of property to the church such as car, boat, house?

Answer

There are special IRS requirements for contributions of autos,...

1099 question  Not rated yet
In your article on 1099-MISC filing you state, 'direct payment to traveling evangelists and missionaries would also receive a 1009-MISC. Does that include ...

Tax Exempt Letter  Not rated yet
We are a church with a 501-c and my question is about the tax exempt letter you take when you go shopping for the church.

We live in North Carolina ...

Debit or Credit  Not rated yet
I took an intensive accounting course for six weeks, prayerfully got a "B" but never understood fully what you count as a "debit or credit". Can anyone ...

Salaries & Benefits vs Total Budget  Not rated yet
What is the business ratio for Salaries and Benefits versus the Total Budget for the church? 25% in the budget, 50% of the budget? We are reviewing our ...

Church Loan  Not rated yet
Can a member loan the church money? If so, how is the repayment amounts recorded in the books? I would like to hear your advice/comments.

Answer

I ...

Using the Reimbursement method???  Not rated yet
Is it a best way to reimburse the Staff who take care of buying materials, supplies for the church. He/She turns in the receipts with total then the church ...

Missionary Support  Not rated yet
Our church has been receiving missionary support for a couple who were getting ready to go overseas.

They were going through the process of being ...

Permanent record retention schedule  Not rated yet
Our church closed & reopened under district ruling. do we need to keep the past churches bank statements & ccl checks etc. or can we destroy them since ...

checking acct.  Not rated yet
Can there be more than 1 member of a family on the church checking account?

Answer

Yes. It is not an ideal situation, but for some small and/or ...

CPE Units?  Not rated yet
Hello, I was recently told that anyone handling church bookkeeping needs to have something like 21 units of CPE credits annually.

Can you help shed ...

Is it required by the IRS to save the tithe envelopes?  Not rated yet
We are a small church and we have some tithe envelopes that some of our people use to put their tithes and offerings in. Not all of our people use the ...

Is our church truly exempt from tax filing?  Not rated yet
Our church has never filed a Form 941 to my knowledge. However, I want to make sure we are right in not doing it.

I am the pastor and the only employee ...

depreciation  Not rated yet
How does a church record depreciation? Is it reported on tax filings?

Answer

See this post .

This post explains more about depreciation .

There ...

Prayer / Testimonie  Not rated yet
God be with you and your husband Kevin, Vickie through this tough time, this is just another hurdle for you to climb using your faith, God is the greatest....

Clergy Tax Preparation  Not rated yet
Can you direct me towards a good clergy tax preparing in my area? I have been sending my taxes out of town for the past 20 years. :) Burnsville, MN ...

Medical Insurance, Life Insurance & Health Savings Accounts for Pastor's  Not rated yet
We are in the process of having the board write up a church plan to be placed in our board minutes to exclude certain benefits from taxable income for ...

Automatic Bill Pay  Not rated yet
Question regarding on-line bill paying:

Our treasurer is trying to retire after many years of being our treasurer. Everything has been done by hand ...

Changed Budget Mid-Year  Not rated yet
We just voted in a changed budget 6 months into the year. Do we put the budget amount in to divide it up by 12 months or keep the past six months figures ...

Startup Budget  Not rated yet
I am building a business plan for a new work in Oregon. My question is how to setup a budget for the first year with projections out to 5 years.

I will ...