Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography

At MAG Bookkeeping, we see churches up close & personal. Sometimes what we see isn’t pretty. We also see the organized and tidy churches too.

Below are seven church-finance chores that we see … are commonly overlooked by church leaders … tied to managing/controlling your finances.

1. Re-read your lease or rental agreement. Are you paying more than you should? Do you know the terms of your lease/rent?
2. Know your employer-related requirements tied to benefits? Do you have an HR professional to help you guide this effort? Negotiating health insurance and other insurances are just one of many benefits of working with a knowledgeable HR professional.
3. Review your insurance(s). Check your deductibles. Can you raise them to save some cost? How many policies are you carrying? For what?
4. Check your service payments. Are you using that membership like you did before? Go through your monthly bills and cancel services you don’t need or use any more.
5. Read credit card Agreements. Call customer service and get a better rate. If they don’t … cancel. Great rates are out there with minimal effort. You can save tons of money doing this – especially if you carry a balance.
6. Consolidate bank accounts. Do you have 89 checking accounts for every single, tiny ministry in your church? If you pay access/service fees on those accounts … you could be just burning money for no good reason.
7. Check investment accounts. Are you getting the rate of return you should? Savings accounts and CDs not performing – even a little? Are your being a good steward with your church’s investments? Get to the bottom of your ROI. Or, find someone qualified to help you.

Spending a couple of days a year looking at your Agreements and making calls to clarify will pay off. Terms and conditions can change often with your Agreements so be prepared to adjust.

We know these tasks are sometimes boring and can be cumbersome. However, they are important … and saving money is AWESOME!

Would you agree?