Track Your Expenses

Posted by: Joel Gardner

                This week I’d like to talk about some practices that should be used to keep track of your church expenses.  Why is this important you ask?  It is important because the money you spend is really God’s money.  And the way this money is dealt with is not only a reflection on your church, but also on God and his name.  I hear of horror stories all the time of instances when there is no check and balance system in place and it leads to thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars being “lost”.  So here are 5 practices to help prevent “lost” money:

1)      Make all out going payments by check or draft.

Whether it is larger expenses like paying monthly utilities, to smaller ones like reimbursing a church member for purchasing the hotdogs for your summer cookout, making all of these payments by check or draft is the best method.  You will have a paper trail for all of your expenses and will make your treasurer’s job a lot easier.  In addition, this protects you from theft because there is no loose petty cash in your office. 

2)      Give reimbursements only when there is approved documentation for the purchases

Approved documentation, such as a signed expense request form, can be vital to controlling your operating expenses.  Before money is spent on events for the church, a designated person should approve this expenditure.  Receipts showing the exact amount spent should accompany this documentation.  This not only will help your staff stay on budget, but will also set a precedent of planning events and resources needed ahead of time, as opposed to making spontaneous purchases.

3)      Mark supporting documents “paid”

Going along with practice #2, once you receive the documentation requesting reimbursement and have written the check, then mark this expense as paid and list the date and check number, preventing any double disbursements.

4)      Secure all blank checks on hand

It is important that there are no blank checks laying around, they should all be in a secure location, preferably a locked security box.

5)      Have someone other than the individual issuing checks reconcile the bank account to the check register

Reconciliation of the bank account to the check register should be done on a regular basis.  This may be challenging for a smaller church that does not have someone other than the treasurer, but it is important to have this check and balance set up for accountability purposes.  Reconciliation is not just to check the treasurer but also to check the bank.  Banks make mistakes too, so it is good at least monthly to make sure your records and the bank’s match up.  Your church should use the register to keep track of all transactions made during the month.  It can be paper or electronic and should have the date purchased, amount spent and purpose for each transaction.

These are principles that will help your churches be the best possible stewards of God’s money.  These principles also help assure your church body that their tithes and offerings are being used carefully.  Contact me, Joel Gardner, with any questions by email at jgardner@arpsynod.org or (864) 232-8297.