- - - Rejoice in the Lord always ... again I say Rejoice !!! - - -

                                 TO:  Interested Ministries                                                                                         FROM: Jim Bramer, Retired CPA - Auditor
                                                                                                                                                                         FILE:  0014-01/all

                                  RE:  Chief Financial Officer  (CPA) Suggestions                                               ORIGINATED:  July 1991                                

    The essence of the following Inter-Office Memo was provided to this very special Ministry staff person .... perhaps others might gain from it !!!

TO: CPA Marty xxxxxxx                                                                                                  FROM: Jim Bramer

RE:  Observations                                                                                                                    DATE xx/xx/xxxx

         You are a very capable Certified Public Accountant (CPA) professional, Marty ...... you obviously have training, experience and people skills from which to build.  You do a good job of expressing yourself and getting your point across.  Since you are now serving on the staff of XYZ Ministry, my prayer is that this memo,  from this 'ol codger' fellow CPA-Auditor Consultant, will encourage you to function effectively as a Ministry Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with even further professional excellence as unto the Lord.
         You guessed it, Marty .. this memo has the same theme that we discussed recently ---- namely, that you discover how to be less of a financial "transaction processor" and more of a trainer/teacher and a "result of transactions interpreter."
         My definition of a Ministry CFO is the Ministry staff person whose primary tasks include the following:

  •    View the "big picture" financially ..... not necessarily be the finance transaction processor or historian.
  •     Be the needed corporate financial planner .... evaluate the financial impact of the immediate and probable future plans of the Ministry.
  •     Make financial system conclusions ... design and implement methods re: 
    a >  Accounting system infrastructure; 
    b>  Periodic and annual reporting of ministry finances to those who should understand and make fiscal decisions; 
    c>  Appropriate computerization of any of the foregoing.

          Non-CFO titles might include Business Manager, Comptroller, Office Manager, Internal Accountant. Regardless of the title, the job involves being a financial transaction:  

  1. Communicator
  2. Interpreter
  3. Authorizer
  4. Processor
  5. and Historian

    I encourage you to - - - -

  >>    Concentrate on being both a Communicator and also an Interpreter ---- granted you need to do a portion of  the other work to intelligently be of service, but, in my view, the real professional value of serving as a Ministry CFO is for you to help others understand what has happened financially (past history) and the financial consequences of projected plans (probable future).
  >>   Exercise the fine art of "this financial info does not look quite right ... let's look into that more deeply"; thereby insuring the decision makers of reliable financial reports for wise judgment.
  >>   Adhere to the following truism, or principle: "Enter a verified number once, then the system replicate it in the appropriate manner."  Too often, I find that numbers are inefficiently entered, posted, transferred, combined and reported.  Use the many fine tools and resources (primarily computer systems) to maximize this Truism.
 >>    Know about and utilize contemporary computer systems that reduce the amount of paper that is processed in accomplishing your job as a ministry finance practitioner.
>>    Focus on being an instructor/trainer of less qualified people than yourself as they do the processor/historian tasks so you can zero in on being the professional that you are.  The emphasis is to be sure that things are done the way you want them done, but not necessarily do them yourself.  Believe me, most of the time it is NOT efficient to do it yourself and "make sure it is done 100% right."  For example, if three people were following your instructions and doing it just 90% "right", think of how much more is getting done by all of you.

   I wish you well, Marty, as you serve Him !!

" FREQUENTLY USED TERMS"   BELOW INCLUDE:

                    CPA = Certified Public Accountant
                    CFO = Chief Financial Officer
                     FinCom = Board Finance Committee
                    MFT or MFTeam = Ministry Finance Team

  This was .  UPTD: May 11, 2008

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     (1) An Onliner Document, or WRIT (Writing), may be applicable to all Ministries, or it may be designed for just groups like: Evangelical Church, School, Missionary Agency or Organization, Christian Camp / Conference, or other named group.
       (2) WRIT formats include the perspective of   Jim@bcidot.org  via IOMs (Inter-Office Memos) to the Ministry Finance Team (MFTeam); THRDs, a hypothetical Online conversation with members of the MFTeam; GLEANINGS, or Scripture within context of the MFTeam; FWIW; A periodic editorial (For What it is Worth); TRUISM, or believed Ministry Finance principles; the FAQ, response to Frequently Asked Questions