Now is the perfect time to use our church bookkeeping services to ensure your financial records and policies are set up correctly. Plus, since you likely have a limited team, it helps to outsource your bookkeeping so you can focus on growing your organization and never get behind.
So if you are on the fence whether to classify a worker as an employee or an independent contractor ...go ahead and classify and pay your worker as an employee!
Your church will be equipped to handle the accounting duties associated with programs such preschools or fundraising. This will make sure these programs and your ministry are a success.
If you aren't sure whether to make a worker an independent contractor (employee) or an employee, go ahead and give your worker the status of an employee.
Even if a member of your congregation is a nonprofit accountant or bookkeeper, engaging a specialist to help with your church’s bookkeeping will likely be a sizable investment. We encourage you to make this investment a priority. Doing so can benefit your church in three ways:
The Pastor may not consider hiring an "experienced" bookkeeper as a top priority. The Pastor may do the bookkeeping himself or hire a "financial" or organizational member to handle it and turn it over.
While mistakes in church bookkeeping are not uncommon, there are steps that you can take to avoid them.
Diocesan Canons state that treasurers and other officers of a church parish, mission or other institution be “bonded” according to Episcopal Church Canons. Episcopal Church Canons require that treasurers be “adequately bonded.”
seven years
Financial Records are traditionally kept for seven years. This relates to the laws of tax audits and the number of years back the IRS is allowed to look when determining an organization's tax liability.
The IRS may begin a church tax inquiry only if an appropriate high-level Treasury official reasonably believes, based on a written statement of the facts and circumstances, that the organization: (a) may not qualify for the exemption; or (b) may not be paying tax on unrelated business or other taxable activity.