New tools for church treasurers can ease the burden of the job

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Being a church treasurer has become more complex in recent years. This largely volunteer job goes far beyond simply doing the math to ensure the books are balanced and the bills are paid. 

Today, church treasurers and church staff in general need to be aware of the many ways the church can be defrauded, either by internal trusted people or by scammers who find ways to trick staff into disclosing information. 

And there’s tax matters to consider, including keeping the church’s 501(c)(3) status. 

Edd Breeden and Diane Case have a deep well of experience to cover all of these matters, and did so in an engaging workshop called Church Treasurer’s Training at Stewardship Kaleidoscope in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 23. Stewardship Kaleidoscope is an annual conference on church stewardship, generosity, and finances organized by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 

Both Breeden and Case work for the Presbytery of San Jose in California. Breeden is the author of “The Church Treasurers Manual.” 

Breeden noted that the main issue churches face is their 501(c)(3) status, and ensuring they maintain it. “Exemption is a privilege, not a right,” Breeden says. “If the organization looks exempt but does not act exempt, it is not exempt.” 

As always, Breeden and Case both emphasized the importance of checking with your own experts in your own region or state to ensure that you’re following the laws that apply in that area. Some matters do vary according to state law. 

Breeden and Case have seen quite a bit of fraud in their time working in churches, and there are some simple ways to prevent it. Breeden noted that 85% of all fraud comes from trusted church members. “Trust is not an internal control,” Case says. 

Good accounting processes can take away opportunities for theft or fraud; the key is to separate responsibilities. Two unrelated people count the cash that comes in during the offering; a third unrelated person takes it to the bank. 

To prevent online fraud or hacking, use Two Factor Authentication (2FA) on every account, which requires users to get a code at sign-on through email or on their phone and enter the code along with their password. This keeps accounts from getting hacked, and is useful on every kind of account, including email. Case advocated strongly for a system of sharing secure documents. Do not email any sensitive account information or attach it as an email. Instead, use a vendor such as box.com to set up documents and share them. 

With natural disasters becoming more common, it’s key to ensure you’re ready to show an insurance company what your church owns. 

Take photos of everything your church owns, including items that are in storage. 

Your church will also need a way for the head of staff (or other appropriate staff) to access immediate funds to get the church up and going again. About $10,000 emergency funds, immediately accessible, is a good rule of thumb. Creating a wish list on Amazon gives those who want to help the church a way to do so. 

Churches also need to decide if they want to continue to meet, and if so, where. Breeden advises keeping the same service time, so that members of your church have a sense of normalcy. 

And every church should do a financial review annually. Whether or not a full audit is required depends on the size of the church or ministry. Case suggested that one way for churches to find a neutral party to review the books is to find another similarly sized church and swap financial records for a financial review. 

One surprising task that Breeden outlined was to encourage the church to express gratitude for gifts that are given to the church. “The church I’m attending right now, they talk about two big things that are going on in the life of the church every Sunday,” Breeden says. “Then they always say thank you for your generosity that makes all of these things possible. They do that every Sunday. If you’re taking up an offering every Sunday and you’re not thanking people, you’re not raising much money.”

Robyn Davis Sekula, Presbyterian Foundation, Special to Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

Zenia Baker, Administrative I, Operations, Presbyterian Foundation 
Adriana Ballard, SVP, Director of Investments, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

God of solidarity, thank you that your arms stretch across this broken world. Bind us close so that with you we may engage in your gospel ministry. Amen.