Ongoing COVID Legal Issues for Churches
Ongoing COVID Legal Issues for Churches The COVID-19 pandemic has caused churches to make challenging programming and financial decisions for the past year and half. Early on during the pandemic churches were forced to pivot much of their programming and meetings online to protect people from gathering in person. Although live gatherings and meetings have…
Church Budgeting
Church Budgeting As the fourth quarter of the year approaches, churches that follow the calendar year as their fiscal year should begin the 2022 budgeting process. Especially for churches with large and complex budgets, the process should begin early in the fourth quarter. The church’s bookkeeper can help take the current year-to-date income and expense…
How to Set Church Compensation Amounts
How to Set Church Compensation Amounts How does a church go about determining the amounts it should pay its ministers and other employees? Church boards, or those to whom they delegate, must determine what amounts to pay each staff position. The experience and competence of those making the decisions vary greatly from church to church….
Mid-Year Review of Church Budget
Mid-Year Review of Church Budget Whether your church’s budget is based on the calendar year (January – December), or a different starting point based on the fiscal year, it is a good practice to re-visit the budget at some point during the year to see if projections are close to actual numbers. In light of…
Understanding Types of Church Compensation
Understanding Types of Church Compensation One of the hardest things to determine as the leader of a church is what to pay your staff members. From your pastor and youth pastor to your finance director, what should their salaries be? While part of this will ultimately depend on your church’s budget, paying your staff fairly…
Payroll Compliance Requirement
As part of new banking direct deposit compliance requirements, we are required to recertify certain aspects of the church’s bank account. We will need the following information to recertify your account: • Recent Church Bank Statement • Bank Signer’s Verification (only 1 individual needed) • Copy of Driver’s License Upload • SSN (only the number,…
Does My Church Need an Employee Handbook?
In general, having an employee handbook or policy manual is a good business practice, but specifically, there are some good reasons, from a legal standpoint, to create an employee handbook. The Purpose of an Employee Handbook Employees like to know what is expected of them and they want to know that they are being treated…
How Do Churches Navigate Commercial Lease Agreements?
How Do Churches Navigate Commercial Lease Agreements? Though many established churches are long-time building owners, there are many newer churches or churches that have outgrown older facilities, which find themselves entering into commercial lease agreements. Just like the documents involved in purchasing a new residence or a new car, the commercial lease agreement may be…
4 Unavoidable Legal Issues For Your Church
4 Unavoidable Legal Issues For Your Church As a church leader, there are certain things we don’t like to think about, but in the end, we cannot avoid them. 1) UNDERSTANDING YOUR CHURCH COULD GET SUED . . . AT ANY TIME It is a bad day when a summons is served. Yet in reality,…
New law extends COVID tax credit for Churches
The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is a refundable payroll tax credit for up to $5,000 per employee in 2020 and $28,000 in 2021. This temporary credit was enacted by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA). On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue…