In the Trenches with the Church Treasurer

An Interview with Richard Hahn

 

The role of church treasurer is a multifaceted endeavor. Whether your title is bookkeeper, treasurer, accountant, administrative assistant, or secretary, if you are responsible for counting, reporting, or managing church finances, you have an important role to play in the life of the church. Unfortunately, when you were hired, or volunteered, for this position, you may not have received a detailed job description or procedures manual. In fact, you quickly realized that there isn’t much help out there for how to do your particular job.

 

This was the predicament that Richard Hahn faced when he was elected to fill the treasurer role at his local church six years ago. He faced an uphill road as he started his journey, but now that he is nearing the end, he can look back and see all that’s been accomplished.

 

I asked Richard to reflect on this journey and share some experiences and best practices for other bookkeepers and treasurers as they serve and resource their local church.

 

1. How did you become the church treasurer?

 

Four months after I was voted in as a board member, the current treasurer resigned, so our pastor asked me to fill in to see if it was a good fit. Having a BBA in Management, I did have a few accounting classes but had no experience as a treasurer. Thankfully, I knew of several people with financial backgrounds. It amazed me how eager they were to help.

 

2. What are some positive aspects of the position?

 

As treasurer, you are in a unique position to help leadership see how to fund the vision God has given them—to clearly show through budgeting techniques what is currently available and what is needed.

 

3. What are some difficult aspects of the position and how have you overcome those?

 

Due to the economic downturn six years ago our church, like many others, was in a pattern of decreased giving. This was a time of some tough budgeting decisions that required ministerial staff having to take on additional tasks like custodial duties, etc.

 

As treasurer, I was able to remind our pastor and board of God’s faithfulness even in challenging times. A great Scripture that reflects this is Matthew 6:33 (NIV), “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Our finances did turn around in time which shows God is faithful to His church as we seek relationship with Him.

 

4. From your experience, what are some best practices that other church treasurers should put at the top of their priority list?

 

I would suggest the following:

 

a. Reconcile all accounts each month. Reconciling is very important, and it needs to be done by someone other than the bookkeeper or person writing the checks. As a matter of fact, as treasurer, I could not withdraw funds from any account or write checks since I performed the reconciliation each month. There is safety in division of duties.

 

b. Present detailed financials to the pastor and board each month. Keep the presentation short, maybe 15–25 minutes, unless additional information is requested. Ask a board member to audit one or more transactions periodically. As an example, the financials show a $200 expense for 2-way radios. Have the board member physically verify the items are at church and being used for the intended purpose.

 

c. Give careful consideration when hiring staff. It’s my observation that board members love their pastor and want to add staff as the pastor expresses need. However, hiring staff too aggressively can run a church into financial difficulties.

 

Here is what I would recommend:

• Always obey the Holy Spirit! Add additional staff if the pastor and board members are in agreement that the Holy Spirit is leading them to increase staff and expenses.
• In the absence of item #1, which can frequently be the case, exercise cautious faith.  You can add staff even if the annual budget is not sufficient but I would suggest not exceeding 1/3 of your cash reserves. Example: a church has 3 fulltime employees but wishes to add another staff member. The church has a total of $60,000 in savings, but no excess revenue in the current annual budget. As treasurer, I would only recommend adding up to $20,000 in additional staff expenses. If funding levels stayed the same, the church could still fund this new position for three years.

5. What advice would you offer to a person just beginning as church treasurer?

 

The duties at first can seem overwhelming. Organize the responsibilities on one sheet of paper. Budget time in your schedule to focus on one item at a time. An example for me is that I had never used QuickBooks so I took a class at a local college to learn how. Ask for help from a CPA or CFO where you work. Contact treasurers of other churches and ask specific questions.

 

6. What helpful resources have you found for church treasurers?

 

Since my church uses QuickBooks, we hire a local accounting firm that is certified in QuickBooks to look over payroll withholdings each quarter and to do a quick check to see if we are complying with generally accepted accounting principles (or GAAP). Richard Hammar is an attorney that has some excellent, easy to read books on financial duties. The IRS Web site can also be helpful in answering specific questions. Also, do not be afraid to call your state’s wage and hour division for payroll questions. You might find this hard to believe but government agencies can be quite helpful.

 

About Richard Hahn:

Richard is the Safety & Environmental Services director at the AG National Leadership and Resource Center. Whether at work or at church, Richard has a heart to keep people—and finances—safe. Richard has been a church treasurer for six years.