Skip to main content

Non-GAAP Accounting Question: Capital Assets

By
Question:

 If a church has recorded the acquisition costs for capital assets but chooses not to depreciate (thereby, not being in compliance with FASB 93) how do these capital assets get removed from the books at time of disposal or replacement?

 Answer:

 While two wrongs don't make a right, I suppose the ministry here would be required to make a general journal entry reducing capital assets and recording a gain or loss depending on the cash proceeds received, if any.

 I recommend that churches that do not need to follow Generally Accepted Accounting Principles use a modified cash basis in which capital asset acquisitions are recorded at the time of purchase as disbursements on a Statement of Receipts and Disbursements. Note that I do not call it an income statement or a statement of activities since it is not consistent with the use of GAAP.

 Further, checks written for mortgage payments (both principal and interest) are recorded as disbursements. Only current assets and current liabilities are recorded on the Balance Sheet. Additional disclosures to the ministry should be made regarding the status of long-term debt (e.g., report the beginning mortgage balance, principal payments applied, and ending balance).

 While use of the modified cash basis as described here is not GAAP, at least most non-accountants associated with these ministries can understand the budgeting process used in these cases since it very closely relates to "cash in and cash out."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Church Car Purchase for Pastor

By
Question: A church would like to purchase a car for the pastor's use. What is the best method to accomplish this goal? Should the car be titled in the pastor's name? What will be the tax consequences of this arrangement? Answer: The church has two main alternatives for this purchase:  Title the car in the pastor's name and reimburse him for business expenses Title it in the church's name and treat personal use as taxable compensation There are fewer immediate tax consequences for the latter. Since both are viable options, we will discuss both situations in this post. If the church chooses to give the car to the pastor and register it in his name, he is free to use it for whatever personal use he desires with no tax consequences. However, the fair value of the car is taxable as compensation at the time it is given to the pastor. Internal Revenue Code section 102(c) clearly states that gifts given to employees by their employers are taxable compensation. The...
2 comments
Read more

Can Form 4361 be filed after the deadline?

By
Question:   Is it possible to opt out of Social Security after the 2-year deadline? Answer:  Unlike other employees, a licensed or ordained minister has the option to opt out of Social Security and Medicare (FICA). If a minister wants to opt out they must file Form 4361 by the tax deadline including extension, in the second year in which they have received ministerial income of $400 or more. This election is final, and the minister cannot opt back into FICA taxes.  At MinistryCPA, we have received questions from ministers who have exceeded the two year deadline and desire to opt-out. There have been several court cases which provide guidance in answering this question. Some have argued that the minister was unaware of the deadline, had mistakenly believed they had filed a timely election, were given incorrect advice by an IRS employee, or their opposition to participate in Social Security and Medicare did not arise until after the 2-year deadline had passed. In each of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rental of a Church Parsonage to a Non-Minister

By
Question: A church owns a parsonage, but the pastor does not use it as he owns his own home. The church rents the parsonage to a tenant other than a minister or employee of the church. Will the church be responsible for paying income tax on these monies as Unrelated Business Income (filing a Form 990-T) even if the money is used to carry on the business of the church? Answer: Whether the money is used for church purposes is irrelevant.  IRS Publication 598  states: "If an exempt organization regularly carries on a trade or business not substantially related to its exempt purpose, except that it provides funds to carry out that purpose, the organization is subject to tax on its income from that unrelated trade or business." Fortunately, in the case of rental income from real property, such income is "excluded in computing unrelated business taxable income" (Publication 598). Caution: see content below regarding debt-financed property.  However, a second concern not a...
Post a Comment
Read more