Jeremy Self, a friend of mine from Texas sent me this quote:
“Just because our heart is right with God doesn’t mean our books are right with the IRS.” Unknown
That quote really hit a cord in my heart because we started The Change Group to help churches WIN with their money. I am seeing so many pastors STRUGGLE because they are consistently scared about the finances. I wanted to equip you with a few tips on making sure your church has solid financial systems.
5 Systems that will keep you out of the DITCH financially:
1. Spending system
Most churches we work with struggle with the expense column more than the income column. You have to have accountability to MONTHLY spending for every person on the team. I see so many churches increase giving and spending all at the same time. Your problem isn’t the peoples giving, it is the staff spending.
2. Savings system
I would suggest putting back AT LEAST 10% of everything that comes in into savings. The earlier you do this the easier it is to live off of! I promise you can do this if you catch it soon enough. You will be happy you did.
3. Bookkeeping system
You must have someone doing this OUTSIDE the pastor and his wife. We suggest you have someone who is trained in bookkeeping to do this. Proper bookkeeping will help you know reality. If you can’t pull a profit/loss report or a pie chart of expenses in five minutes that are UP TO DATE and accurate, this system is jacked up. Let us help you with this. We wake up thinking about this stuff. It is worth the money. Click here and we will connect with you.
4. Auditing system
We suggest you have a CPA audit your books at least annually. Put it in your budget, it is wise to do so.
5. Counting system
We suggest building a volunteer count team. DO A BACKGROUND check on this team. Most of your donor management admin input can be done by volunteers! This is a position we usually pay people to do during the week. At my home church 90% of the contribution management is done through volunteers. We run around 2000, so church planter don’t tell me you can’t do it 
Create multiple steps of accountability! PASTORS, NEVER COUNT! Stay away from this! It will help protect your integrity with the money.
Any systems I am missing? What do you think about the quote above?
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