http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/church-accounting-blog.html The Accounting Blog will insert reminders when payroll forms are due in the U.S. and will also keep you up-to-date with all the changes and additions to freechurchaccounting.com en-us church accounting Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:03:23 GMT Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:03:23 GMT freechurchaccounting.com http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/church-budget.html Do you have to list the pay amount for each employee on the church budget report that's handed out to members during quarterly Financial meeting? Can that Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:03:19 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/what-happens-if-you-cant-get-the-end-of-year-statements-out-by-january-31st.html We sent most of the statements out by the end of January; however, some statements were sent out in February and unfortunately, a few were sent out the Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:51:14 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/ministers-taxes-withheld-incorrectly.html If Minister had fed, social security,and medicare taxes withheld in first quarter of the year , but not the next 3 quarters . How can this be corrected Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:55:18 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/prayer-testimonie.html 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. Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:29:41 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/what-should-thehousing-allowance-letter-say.html What should the letter on clergy housing say? Answer Are you talking about the letter you give your minister to inform him how much his housing allowance Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:42:22 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/w2can-it-be-handwritten-or-is-there-free-software-to-print-them-with.html I have to get a W2 out and bought some forms from the office supply store, but don't know if I can handwritten or if there is software to print with? Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:56:43 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/church_embezzlement.html Church embezzlement is on the rise. Learn what you can do to protect your church against this financial crime. Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:14:37 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/941-and-w2-dont-match.html in 2007 the treasurer filed 941 and gave w-2s for the minister and his wife. The minister chose to not have any taxes witheld. however, there were soc.sec/medic Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:45:56 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/minister-not-receiving-a-salary-but-does-receive-pastoral-support-how-would-you-file-this-on-your-income-taxes.html Pastor started a church the church is unable to support him financialy, however he is provided financial support by the members giving him a seperate offering Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:44:05 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/1099-misc-vs-w2.html My husband is a youth pastor at a church and for the last 3 years has received a 1099-MISC. This past year we have a new financial secretary and she has Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:53:42 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/what-percentage-of-budget-is-average-for-salaries.html What is the average of salaries in a church budget? Answer It kind of depends... Dan Busby, CPA, states that employees of churches may receive reasonable Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:15:57 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/legality-of-copying-donor-checks.html In order to facilitate the ability to record donor information, we copy donor checks, place them in a bank safety sealed pouch, and hand them to our church Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:10:09 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/sending-in-w2-to-ssa-if-minister-is-exempt.html Does the church have to send in a W-2 and a W-3 if the Minister has filed Form 4361 and is exempt from Social Security and Medicare Taxes? Answer Yes...because Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:53:19 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/reporting-a-housing-allowance.html I receive all my salary in HA. I do not get a W2. How do I report that to the IRS? Answer You will report it on a Schedule SE. Zondervan 2010 Minister's Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:40:08 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/fixed-asset-depreciation.html I have bought some furniture and mini bus for our small church. As far as accounting is concerned these are classified as fixed assets. 1. How do I record Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:30:03 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/how-do-i-report-a-housing-allowance-if-no-income-is-received.html A clergy member who does not receive income just has the housing allowance needs to report additional expenses as well as depreciation for the church van Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:29:14 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/budget-tracking-vs-financial-accounting.html I am new on our church Budget/Finance Committee. The Financial Secretary produces: 1)A monthly Year-to-Date Budget Comparison and a monthly financial Sun, 28 Feb 2010 02:49:29 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/do-i-write-2-separate-checks-one-for-the-housing-allowance-and-one-for-the-pastors-salary.html We are writing 2 separate checks to our pastor. One is a payroll check for his salary and the other is out of our payables for the housing allowance. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:29:08 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/clergy-tax-preparation.html 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 Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:36:36 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/medicare-and-social-security-withheld-from-wages.html I just realized that the church withheld Medicare and Social Security taxes all year for my husband (a new minister). The w-2 reflects this as well as Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:12:09 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/posting-interest-on-cds.html I inherited the policies of this church and was not here when the system was set-up The church uses fund accounting and everything goes pretty smoothly. Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:58:40 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/annual-financial-report-when-should-you-give-it-out.html 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 Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:47:05 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/quickbooks-and-fund-accounting.html Question on fund accounting in QuickBooks: Thanks so much for your site! I am the secretary for a small church and am responsible for helping our new Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:59:03 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/contributions.html Contributions receipt rules have changed in the last few years. Do you know the new rules? Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:54:11 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/pastoral-gifts.html Once a month our ministry has a set date to give our pastor a monetary gift. If the amount is not a certain number, an additional check is written out Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:15:21 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/bank-accounts.html 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 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:02:10 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/selling-a-donated-item.html We are thinking of selling the church piano. It was donated to the church over 20 years ago and the member who donated it has since passed away. Is there Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:33:09 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/funds-received-from-anniversary.html I'm not sure how to handle the funds received in our Pastor's Anniversary. Our pastor does not receive a salary and so the monies received during the Anniversary Sat, 20 Feb 2010 15:25:12 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/quickbooks.html How much instruction and examples does this program provide for setting up the churches records in quick books? If I choose to purchase this and quick Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:41:37 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/tax-breaks.html I am a church organist. They pay my social security but no federal or state tax is withheld. What are the chances of requesting state and federal withholdings. Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:24:47 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/what-to-report-on-schedule-se.html I receive about 80 of my income as housing allowance, which isn't taxed by my church. The other 20 is taxed. Do I just report my housing allowance Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:11:49 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/medical-insurance-life-insurance-health-savings-accounts-for-pastors.html 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 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:00:04 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/how-do-i-write-a-housing-allowance-letter-for-tax-purpose.html I am the bookkeeper for our church. I need to write a letter stI am the bookkeeper for our church. I need to write a letter stating that our ministers Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:24:30 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/cash-or-accrual.html Do most churches 400 members or less use accrual or cash base accounting? Answer Most small churches use the cash basis method of accounting. See this Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:35:48 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/housing-allowance-for-youthmusic-minister.html Do you have to report Housing allowance for a youth/music minister that you do a misc 1099 on? I have just recently taken over this job and the prior Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:59:14 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/basic_church_accounting.html This eBook covers basic church accounting concepts. It includes samples of financial statements, accounting entries, and much more. Wed, 17 Feb 2010 14:27:06 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/processing-love-offerings.html We've had a question arise concerning love offerings. I understand the basic rationale for the offering being non-deductible for the giver, but also not Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:55:19 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/monthly-love-offering.html Is it legal for a pastor to receive a monthly love offering and a salary? Vickey's Reply It's perfectly legal. It is also most probably taxable income. Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:38:56 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/pastors-love-offerings-and-reimbursements-part-2.html I would like to clarify one part of my previous submission on Pastor's Love Offerings and Reimbursements: I said If I write a check to one of the officers Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:35:54 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/pastors-love-offerings-and-reimbursements.html I have two questions regarding love offerings for our pastor and reimbursements. 1. I just read your answer about love gifts for pastors/individuals. Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:25:28 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/memorial-gift-designated-to-a-staff-member.html As at wishes of the family of a deceased person, our church collected donations as a memorial gift that was going to be used to 'buy a car for a single Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:22:04 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/love-offering-for-visiting-songwriter.html Question regarding a love offering for a visiting songwriter: We are having a concert in which a songwriter (not an employee, or having any affiliation Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:17:53 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/love-offering-tax-deductible.html Question regarding love offering: Once a month we have musician come play at our church. Is my love offering made payable to the church tax deductible? Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:05:56 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/speaker-fees-love-offerings.html When we have a speaker come and pay him a fee, plus give him a love offering (for which the church members expect a tax-donation) - are we supposed to Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:01:57 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/guest-speaker-receiving-love-offerings-only.html Question regarding guest speakers and love offerings: I am Treasurer of our Church. Our Board has agreed that this year Guest Speakers would be paid based Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:57:41 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/love_offerings.html Love offerings should follow a guideline to determine if they are taxable to the recipient and tax deductible to the donor. Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:54:10 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/fund-balance-sheet-accounts-within-quickbooks-class-accounting.html In your Fund Accounting book, when using Quickbooks, the Class Tracking is recommended. Having done that I see how to run P&L type reports but is there Mon, 15 Feb 2010 03:27:23 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/fixed-assets-and-depreciation.html Are fixed assets and depreciation recorded in Fund Accounting similar to corporate accounting? As it relates to capitalization policies, asset lives and Mon, 15 Feb 2010 02:45:28 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/copies-of-offering-checks.html Does a church need to make copies of all offering checks received? We record the name, amount and check number in QuickBooks. Wouldn't this be enough? Mon, 15 Feb 2010 02:40:47 GMT http://www.freechurchaccounting.com/housing-allowance1.html I am a Reverend in my church, but not the Pastor. I meet four of the five separate tests (I only minister occasionally) I do not have any management responsibilities. Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:55:41 GMT