Financial Management at PCC
Inflows (the money that comes in)
Inflows (the money that comes in)
by Dennis Green,
Executive Pastor
Over the years, our financial processes have changed as our church has grown and as the volume of transactions has increased. To put it simply, managing the church’s money is much more complex than it was six years ago. In our first full year (2003), we a budget of just over $100,000. Our current (2008) budget is over $900,000!
Over the years, we have developed effective financial processes and excellent audit controls. Because these have evolved over time, we have not always done a great job of making information about our financial process easy to access. Therefore, I intend, over the course of a few postings under the label ‘PCC Finances’, to explain how money moves into and out of our church, how we manage the budget throughout the year to ensure we don’t spend more than we bring in, and how we form the budget for each year. I’ll share the oversight structure, responsibilities among various leaders, and audit controls.
Some of these conversations will be…not incredibly exciting, especially if such things have no interest for you. Still, we want to be very transparent about how we handle church money.
So, for this first conversation, I’ll share with you the basic financial systems for inflows (money that comes into the church).
Every Sunday, we collect an offering by passing baskets. The baskets are secured and all cash is then counted under ‘dual control’, which means that there is always more than one person present. This is a standard audit practice. It is important to note that most people give with checks and increasingly through automated vehicles like online banking, billpay and paypal. There is never a large amount of cash collected. The group of people who count the offering are called 'tellers'.
There are also various designated offerings. The Building Fund, Children and Youth, and our mission efforts are examples of some of the ways people give through PCC. The tellers total up the checks and cash given in the general offering and in the various designated offerings. Also reported would be any contribution that came in through paypal during the week. The result is a sheet like the one you see here:
Over the years, we have developed effective financial processes and excellent audit controls. Because these have evolved over time, we have not always done a great job of making information about our financial process easy to access. Therefore, I intend, over the course of a few postings under the label ‘PCC Finances’, to explain how money moves into and out of our church, how we manage the budget throughout the year to ensure we don’t spend more than we bring in, and how we form the budget for each year. I’ll share the oversight structure, responsibilities among various leaders, and audit controls.
Some of these conversations will be…not incredibly exciting, especially if such things have no interest for you. Still, we want to be very transparent about how we handle church money.
So, for this first conversation, I’ll share with you the basic financial systems for inflows (money that comes into the church).
Every Sunday, we collect an offering by passing baskets. The baskets are secured and all cash is then counted under ‘dual control’, which means that there is always more than one person present. This is a standard audit practice. It is important to note that most people give with checks and increasingly through automated vehicles like online banking, billpay and paypal. There is never a large amount of cash collected. The group of people who count the offering are called 'tellers'.
There are also various designated offerings. The Building Fund, Children and Youth, and our mission efforts are examples of some of the ways people give through PCC. The tellers total up the checks and cash given in the general offering and in the various designated offerings. Also reported would be any contribution that came in through paypal during the week. The result is a sheet like the one you see here:
Our Financial Secretary works closely with our Church Administrator to ensure that the records for each individual and business contribution are entered into our system accurately so that our giving statements are correct and to process and mail giving statements several times each year.
As an audit control, The Financial Secretary cannot sign checks, cannot be a teller, and cannot reconcile the checking account.
Next time, I’ll talk about money going out, who has authority to approve expenditures and how that entire process works.
As an audit control, The Financial Secretary cannot sign checks, cannot be a teller, and cannot reconcile the checking account.
Next time, I’ll talk about money going out, who has authority to approve expenditures and how that entire process works.
3 comments:
Great article. I really think this and related information is something that should be published on the PCC website in a fixed location ("Financials" link). One of the misgivings new people have about a church is "what happens to my donations?" Having this information easily accessible from the website further illustrates the open door policy at PCC in terms of finances and highlights the controls in place to eliminate the potential mistakes that can damage a church.
Thanks for sharing and I'm glad my donation is being handle with respect. It's comforting to know it's not mishandled!!! Thank you Mr. Green for the information!!
God Bless
A long time PCC member
I just had a conversation with a member about the budget process, especially the checks and balances. It's good to see the church is taking this issue on. I know it is a major concern for most new prospective members.
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