We (MinistryCPA) were recently asked our opinion on the setup of a church's budget. Question: A church wants to know if their budget should individually list the compensation of each staff person instead of combining employee salaries/wage for each type of employee that the church employs. For example, the church budget has a line for the pastor, youth minister, church secretary, etc., but then the budget combines all the part-time employees, such as nursery and accompanists. There have been discussions concerning the privacy of the employees, so how detailed should each line item be? Answer: In our experience, churches use a wide array of practices when it comes to budget and personnel. One extreme is including each employee's pay--even a breakdown of the compensation package. The opposite extreme is one number on the budget for the total of all the compensation, including benefits, of all the employees. We like the approach of developing a budget on a per-program ...
This blog posts answers to questions given to us by ministers and others serving in Christian ministries advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ. It also discusses other financial topics that those in gospel ministries face. We trust the information provided can be helpful to you.