Example of a Church Budget and Budget Tips

The example of a church budget below will give you an idea where to start creating a budget for your own church.

Some people dread the concept of budgeting, but you should "think of preparing an annual budget as a way to require the church to consider the priorities of its congregation.

There is a limit to the donations expected to be received, and therefore also a limit to the services that can be offered. The budgeting process can assist wit the prioritization of your church's goals." excerpt from the Church Accounting How To Guide.

Example of a church budget...

When using the following example of a budget, keep a few key points in mind:

• Some churches may use all these categories and some may use just a few of them.
• Every church is different and unique. This example of a church budget is simply a guide to aid in setting up a budget.

Income:

Pledges

$60,000

Special Offerings

$30,000

Cash Plate Offerings

$20,000

Sunday School Offerings

$3,000

Restricted Gifts

$25,000

Interest & Dividend Income

$5,000

Rental Income

$3,000

Miscellaneous Activities

$14,000

Total

$160,000

Expenditures:

Pastor-Related

Salary

Housing Allowance

Educational Allowance

Pension

$20,000

$10,000

$1,000

$5,000

Pastor-Related Subtotal:

$36,000

Administration

Salary

Supplies 

Property Maintenance

Utilities

Insurance

Telephone

Postage

Literature

Flowers

Computer-new

Bus Expense

Publicity

$23,000

$5,000

$6,000

$4,000

$3,000

$700

$1,000

$300

$200

$3,000

$2,800

$1,000

Administration Subtotal:

$50,000

Program/Ministries

Youth

Music

Worship

$5,000

$4,000

$2,000

Program/Ministries Subtotal:

$11,000

Missions

Local 

Foreign

$8,000

$12,000

Missions Subtotal:

$20,000

Debt Retirement Fund

Building Fund

Contingency Reserve

$5,000

$35,000

$3,000

Total

$160,000

The following Spreadsheet Package contains an accounting workbook that will not only track income and expenses, but has a budget worksheet. The budget worksheet allows you to compare your actual year to date income and expenses to your budget at any point during the year...

Forecasts...

No matter how carefully and thoughtfully you work through your budget process, situations can change. To help you anticipate what these changes will mean for your church, you may want to prepare a forecast.

Budgets are typically created annually and stay stable throughout the year. Forecasts are used as a "what if" tool and are useful when change is anticipated. A forecast is not meant to replace a budget, but to give the administration tools to understand and plan for the changes before they occur. (taken from Church Accounting: How To Guide)

See step by step instructions on creating and developing a forecast in the Church Accounting: How To Guide. The author details how to set up a spreadsheet you can use to create an effective forecast in Chapter 8 or how to take the accounting spreadsheets offered on this site and add three columns to the Budget to Actual worksheet to make a very effective forecasting tool.