Are you aware churches that prepare routine monthly financial reports are better prepared and equipped with the resources needed to serve their local assemblies and community?
Over the years, accounting regulations have changed. Hard copies, scraps of paper, and ledger books function as great source documents, but standing alone are inadequate tools of reporting the financial position of your organization. Proper accounting procedures and reporting have always been necessary for the church. However in carrying out the vision of the ministry, many times this task is overlooked and sometimes neglected. Perhaps the personnel needed to carry forth these tasks are not available and over time a few receipts, bill copies, canceled checks, and statements soon become boxes of documents to be organized. Non-profit organizations operate mainly from contributions, and much attention is being directed to the manner in which these contributions are being received, recorded, and disbursed.
Ecclesia Accounting Solutions, LLC provides controller, CFO, accounting/bookkeeping, and training services to churches. We can take complete responsibility for the financial side of your church or non-profit organization, or we can function purely on a need basis as an accounting consultant for any of your financial needs or projects. We do not participate in the collection or depositing of your funds. Every church is different, therefore we custom design our services accordingly. Ecclesia Accounting Solutions, LLC is targeted towards small to medium-sized churches. Why? Statistics show that most small to medium sized churches are not in a position to hire a full time accountant to fulfill the accounting responsibilities of their ministry. Ecclesia Accounting Solutions, LLC was founded to meet this need.
Our services are customized to meet your individual needs. Among our service we can:
Prepare Financial Statements:
It is critically important that churches understand and utilize financial statements. While most churches create financial statements in order to prepare tax filings or to file loan applications, the real benefit financial statements can provide is that they can help you at a glance see the financial position and welfare of your ministry. This information is not only useful for the general operations of the church but for planning your various outreach projects. Preparing financial statements that are useful to your financial/trustee team is one of the key Controller/CFO Services Ecclesia Accounting Solutions, LLC provides.
Assist with Forecasting:
More important than understanding how your church has performed in the past is having a firm grasp on how your church is likely to perform financially in the future. In fact, the main reason to think about what has happened in the past is to gain insights as to what is likely to happen going forward and to assist in the development of cash management in order to meet the needs and vision of the ministry.
Prepare Management Reports such as:
- Analysis of Major Expenses: As important as knowing where your cash is coming from is the knowledge of where your cash is going. It is especially imperative to understand exactly how specific expenses are contributing to the financial progress of your church. We can assist you in identifying and tracking your expenses and create a model that assists in minimizing your financial output to maximize the use of your contributions being used.
- Budgeting Reports: Budgeting can be one of the most difficult tasks your management team has to perform. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most important. Inaccurate budgeting can lead to harmful decisions and even the financial demise of your church. Ecclesia Accounting Solutions, LLC will work with you to ensure that in creating your budget all consideration is given to the possibilities that can affect both your financial inflow and expenses, and that they are budgeted accordingly. "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish." Luke 14:28-30
- Cash Flow Reports: Ecclesiastes 10:19 tells us "A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all [things]." Money is needed for the execution of the operations of the church. Knowing how much you have, how much you need, what to do with excess cash, and what you will do if your cash runs out is essential. A key part of CFO Services is assisting ministries with managing cash effectively.
Custom Reports:
Ecclesia Accounting Solutions, LLC can custom design reports to meet the needs of the ministry.
Manage Membership Contribution Records
Churches are in the business of ministering to the needs of its members and community. In order to create outreach efforts to accomplish this goal, churches must identify their audience and the resources needed to execute their programs. Member contributions are one of the major sources of income for churches and budgets are projected from this source. Of course, in order to create annual membership contribution reports, create financial statements, and project cash flow - the weekly recording of contributions must be accurately maintained. To this end, we can assist you in setting up systems with internal controls to record and track your contributions or we can take on this task for you on a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis. Whether you maintain the contribution records or have us record and track this data, Ecclesia Financial Solutions, LLC can also generate specialized monthly or annual contribution reports for your financial team.
Membership Reports:
Contributors to Churches and Non-profit organizations are vital to their survival. As each member contributes it is the task of the organization to provide their members with annual contribution reports. Ecclesia Accounting Solutions provides services to generate these notices and forward via mail to contributors by January 31st for their contributions from the prior tax year.
Preparing presentations for General Body Meetings and Financial Committee Meetings
We work with you to create custom presentation reports for different purposes.
Internal Control Audit Services
A major benefit of having an annual audit is the confidence gained by the membership in the financial integrity of church leaders who handle the church's finances. Audits are conducted for several reasons, one of which is to check the accuracy of the records, but there are other important reasons as well. A major reason for keeping financial records is to record information that is vital to the management of your church. With that in mind, the records should be complete, accurate, and truthful; and they should also be informative and easily maintainable. An audit verifies, discovers, recommends, and maintains the integrity of the church and its leadership stewardship of church funds. It is always a wise decision to hire an external accounting company for this task.
TAX PREPARATION SERVICES
Tax preparation services are available for the church, clergy, and members.
GENERAL ACCOUNTING SERVICES
- Bank Reconciliation
- Monthly bookkeeping
- Preparation of Accounting records from original source documents
- Preparation and posting of general ledger
- Statement of Financial Position
- Establishment of Accounting Procedures & Processes
- Statement of Monthly Income & Expenses
- Set Up & Training of Accounting Software
- Month End and Year End Reports
- Assist with Cost Control
- Electronic Reports
- Internal Audits complete with analysis
- Additional financial services available
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