Property insurance challenges are becoming more common, from rate increases to policy terminations. While we can't make these problems go away, we can offer some suggestions.

What are the pros and cons of using a calendar year vs. a July 1 - June 30 fiscal year?

How can your congregation be a good employer during the COVID-19 outbreak? Caring for staff is an opportunity to model your values and spirit for the congregation, to demonstrate the kindness, creativity, and interdependence that these days ask of us....

In the months ahead, many congregations plan to offer a combination of online and in-person programming options. Will there be new budget items? How might staff hours or responsibilities be changing? Here are some considerations.

This page outlines various tax implications of insurance benefits (Health, Dental, Life, and Long-Term Disability). While references are made to UUA insurance plans, the information applies to insurance offered by other providers, as well.

In March of 2020, as COVID-19 was taking hold, the Office of Church Staff Finances offered recommendations to congregations regarding staffing and finances through June. Now, in early June, we have issued a comprehensive memo with updated guidance: Staffing and Finances for July and Beyond. This...

I was in a Zoom call the other day with lots of congregations represented. It was one of the Virtual Stewardship Salons hosted by the UUA. We broke in to separate breakout rooms and I was in a room with folks from seven different congregations....

Scammers like to strike when people are anxious. Be sure to take a breath, then remind yourself, YOUR MINISTER WILL NEVER ASK YOU TO BUY GIFT CARDS!

A big part of keeping a congregation going could be called “Back Office” tasks. These are important but hidden tasks, like emailing the newsletter and paying the bills. Doing these well can help a congregation stay healthy and vital.

Consulting Congregational Finance LLC for free and paid subscriptions to access excellent resources, including the webinar she led last winter for the New England Region UUA: Financial Management for Your Congregation led by Rev. Karen McArthur...

Endowments need special handling to ensure transparency, accountability and impact.

Introduction As organizations largely staffed by volunteers who may not have a business or accounting background, congregations will want to establish systems, policies, and procedures to reinforce financial health and vitality. It’s also vital to prevent the opportunity for mistakes or...

Embezzlement from congregations is not unusual, and it almost always occurs when one individual has been granted such a high degree of trust with no safeguards.

Rarely can congregations pay for a full-blown audit of the church books by a CPA. Audits are expensive, often ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 depending on the annual budget of the organization....

Every Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) congregation is a “church” under U.S. tax law, therefore tax exempt, charitable, and exempt from tax filing. There is no “group exemption” from the UUA, but the UUA will provide a letter saying a congregation is in good standing. This addresses...

Financial reports help the finance committee and the board assess the financial health of the congregation so they can make adjustments or decisions as needed.

A congregations’ income ebbs and flows, so it is a good idea to have some cash reserves that can help keep the bills paid in the summer when attendance and pledge payments fall off.

Your operating budget helps your congregation live its mission in the world. How you allocate your resources reflects your values and goals....

A portion of the money in the church’s checking accounts may represent money that is held for specific restricted purposes, including various religious education accounts, social action accounts, the minister’s discretionary fund, etc. They may also represent “pass through” funds such as...

Once the salary and benefits are set by the appropriate church leadership based on recommended practices, it’s important to make sure the payroll is handled accurately and confidentially. Because of the complicated nature of payroll, and especially when it comes to ministers’ salary, housing and...

There are nuanced tax rules regarding income derived from renting your building and/or parking lot, depending on its relation to your core purpose.

When it comes to tracking financial gifts from members in the form of pledge payments and other donations, it's important to remember that the gifts of money are a form of relationship, not just another financial transaction.

If dropping a check or cash into the basket is the only way your congregation invites financial gifts, many in your pews can’t participate in the offering even if they feel called to do so.

Because relationship, compassion and trust are all qualities that congregations are trying to cultivate, church members and staff can fall prey to bad actors and con artists.

Many congregations supply a credit card to more easily segregate work-related expenses. Staff members would only use the card for professional or church expenses.

Employees and volunteers should be reimbursed for approved church related expenses upon submission of receipts and accurate expense reports that conform to the annual budget and IRS requirements. Such expenses may include: Travel – transportation, lodging, meals, incidentals and other associated...

US tax law provides that staff may consider certain items as usual business expenses that are reimbursed beyond the compensation paid to individuals as a necessary expense that is not reported for income tax purposes.

When making sure that your bills are being paid efficiently, accurately and on time, your congregation also needs safeguards to make sure no one has the opportunity to use your system to embezzle funds.

In setting up church financial management software, it’s important to provide safeguards to prevent tampering with the electronic records

All financial best practices depend on reducing the risk of embezzlement or theft by increasing transparency and detection by creating systems and roles that segregate key duties.

Any petty cash kept in the building should be in a locked file cabinet or safe and should be disbursed only upon submission of a written request.

The Sunday offering is fairly vulnerable to theft or embezzlement unless good checks and balances are in place.

Money – acquiring it, managing it, protecting it, and using it in service of your mission: all of these are vital to the work of your congregation. Having a healthy culture around money – talking about it, understanding its meaning and influence in our lives, seeing it as a tool rather than an...

This video walks you through the basics of reading Congregational financial documents.

Boards have the fiduciary responsibility to make sure the overall finances of the congregation are in order and the budget is on track. But the line-item spreadsheets given to board often have too much detail and don't give related information that helps the board make sense of the information.

The power of money in our own lives often goes unexamined. This plays out in our congregations in all sorts of ways. What would it mean to your congregation to be able to talk about money in ways that are life-giving and healing?

You’ve probably heard that there are special tax rules for ministers. Most church leaders don’t need to be experts on ministerial compensation, but it’s important to understand the basics of how payroll and taxes for the minister differ from other employees. Our Ministerial Compensation...

"Deferred Maintenance" and "Building Reserves" are terms that are often tossed around when talking about the budget, but what do they mean?

We often claim that budgets are moral documents, and that congregational budgets should reflect our values. But line item budgets that include "office supplies, utilities, salary" and other such descriptions don't show how these line items serve the mission of the congregation. How might...

Congregational budget-makers frequently divide into two camps that approach the task in different ways. The first camp is likely to include children of the Great Depression, experts in finance, elementary school teachers, and persons anxious about their own money situation....

One of your top donors moves to be closer to their grandchildren. Another major donor gets a new job two states away. And then two or three of your oldest members pass away. When your annual stewardship drive comes along, your finance folks discover that--in spite of an overall growth in...

Because our congregations run on money, it's tempting to bring--along with it--assumptions about how money operates in other parts of our lives.  We go to work and we get a paycheck.  We pay the electric bill and the power company keeps our lights on. We pay at the first window...

It happens more often than you think it should. The church seems to be vital, even growing, but the money in the collection plate doesn't keep up with the growth, or there seems to be a shortfall every month. There might be grumbling about how the new folks aren't pulling their weight financially.