Taking charge of the Church Finance health and managing your church’s financial resources can be challenging and intimidating. If you are reading this article, there is a good chance you have been tasked with improving church finances. While this is often an unacknowledged endeavor, it is a vital part of any healthy church, and church members and leadership will truly appreciate your efforts.
Whether your church is struggling financially or just looking for ways to free up more money for a particular ministry, the following tips should help you implement an optimal church budget while ensuring that your church is financially healthy.
Best Practices For Managing Church Finances
Master The Budgeting Process
The adage “You have to learn to walk before you can run” is spot-on regarding managing and improving your church’s finances. To streamline your budget and overcome the financial challenges of your church, it is imperative to clearly understand the basics of budgeting and how the budget applies to your church’s specific situation.
Reviewing the last two to three years of financial statements is an excellent place to familiarize yourself with the expenses, resources, and overall finances of your church.
Offer A Recurring Giving Program
One of the many challenges of creating and managing a Church Financing is the uncertainty related to monthly giving. One way to combat this is through online giving platforms that make it easy for church members to set up recurring tithes. There are some excellent options to help improve church finances, and automated giving is one of them.
Automated Giving Can Boost Your Church’s Finances
Online giving is a consistent and predictable source of tithing. Typically, church members who sign up for recurring giving donate more often and donate more giving units annually than those who tithe in other ways. Also, members who set up regular donations give up to 42% more per year than those who give one-time contributions.
Have An Independent Audit Performed
It is an excellent idea if your church has the attendance, corresponding contributions, and budget for an external audit. While the typical cost can run between $4000 and $15,000, the findings from the audit may show inefficiencies with your present accounting methods that might save the church considerable sums of money over the long haul. Another advantage is the increased accountability, which will safeguard your church from any legal concerns with the Internal Revenue Service.
Create a cash reserve as a safety net
While the remainder of the advice above is intended to provide you more breathing room with your church cash, this tip is more about lowering stress when something unexpected happens. Having money set aside for unforeseen occurrences is a sign of financial health, and knowing there is an emergency fund in place may put members and leaders at ease.
Are you ready to manage the church financing? Financing Solutions was built to solve the unique accounting needs of churches like yours. Our award-winning software allows you the power to manage tithes, budget by the fund, create customizable financial reports, and conveniently utilize and track internet contributions. Refer website for more details!
Originally published at https://www.mogulvalley.com on September 28, 2022.
