00 -  Designated Donations for a "General Purpose Fund" Department (00)

    Maybe at your Church you have encountered a situation where someone  (like a Parent/Grand-Parent of a Teenager who is so very very appreciative of your Ministry to their child, but they might not be a part of the Church) wants to make a donation for the Youth Department which is funded via the .General Purpose Fund.  Or the Church's policy is that there is no approved  Special Purpose Fund   for a Church's Operating Department.  Or perhaps someone wants to contribute to a project that the Church's Board of Leadership has not approved in advance.  What follows is a proposed Board of Leadership approved process for handling such requests:

01>   You deposit the money and distribute to the Church's Suspense Account.  You do NOT hold this as Undeposited until the matter is resolved.
02>   You process a letter (or Email, if applicable) to the Donor in the name of your Church Treasurer
03>   Such letter could include such information as:
                ---   Encourage the Donor as much as possible ... thank them for their interest and donation etc etc etc
                ---   But carefully explain the Church Finance policy about donor restricted donations
                ---   And explain that the Operating Departments are funded by the General Fund and why.
                ---   Plus that all  tax deductible Restricted Funds must be approved in advance by the Board of Leadership
                ---   Such funds can NOT be established by donors alone, etc.
                ---   You provide a list of existing approved Restricted Funds ... including the various Youth Scholarship Funds, etc
                ---   Or a similar Funds that you think might appeal to the Donor, etc.
                ---   Then ask the Donor where they would like to re-designate their donation.
                ---   Offer to have Church Bookkeeper provide more info by phone,  if needed
04>   Returning the money to the Donor is a possibility, but it might be best to not mention this option.
05>   Once a decision is made by the Donor, then money is moved thereto from Suspense Account, etc.

01 -  Fellow CPA who is a Ministry CFO (Chief Financial Officer)  (01)

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TO: CPA Marty xxxxxxx                                                                                                                                           FROM: Jim Bramer
RE:  Observations                                                                                                                                                        DATE xx/xx/xxxx
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         You are a very capable 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"  and rightfully analyze the ""Big Picture."   My definition of a Ministry CFO is the Ministry staff person whose primary tasks include such things as - - - -

      >>    Concentrate on being both even a better 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 or 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, as you serve Him, Marty!!

02 -  Online Ministry Finance Applications - (02)_

    Below is a grid of possible "Ministry Finance Online Applications."  It seems that Web Based uses are becoming more and more applicable to Christian Ministries and they effectively utilize the Internet as a resource in managing their finances.  Please note that the columns to the left of the grid below speak to the known use, or non-use, of that application.

xx			The application shown below is apparently not available
	xx		The application shown below is apparently available		-
			Please Click on highlighted Internet links below for more info
		Generic To:		Church	School	Scrip	MAgency	Camp
xx			Web Based Acctg via Online Volunteers - 0930	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx
	xx		Fund Accounting - 0801  -- Also see   0041	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx
	xx		Receipts via the Internet - see applicable info at: 0907	xx	xx		xx	xx
	xx		Actual to Budget by Depart Acctg Groups (DAGs)	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx
	xx		Budget via BuxBox Expense Control - 0002	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx
xx			DAGer view only Budget report/tranx detail info	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx
	xx		ePayroll - with Clergy aspects -Paycycle	xx	xx		xx	xx
xx			Complete and process time sheets Online	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx
	xx		eBill Management  - 0926	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx
	xx		eBank Reconciliation -  WeBrec - 0165	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx
xx			Internal eAuditor and Board Treasurer view only	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx
xx			External eAuditor access/view so they can do
			things during the year - like viewing tranx	xx	xx	xx	xx	xx
			and do confirmations
		:	Unique to:
		Churches 5109
xx			Counters and eDonation do record keeping - 5888	xx
	xx		eDonaMail - see ASPs in  0078	xx
		Schools
xx			eSchar (School Acct Rec) application - 7888		xx
	xx		School and Outsourcer both have equal access
			to current info -- see 7888  for details		xx
xx			Parents/Students have Online access to eSchar info		xx
xx			They pay via CrCard or Elec Funds Transfers (EFTs)		xx
		Scrip  Store (1) 0188
xx			Improve Merchandise Inventory Management			xx
	xx		Do Buyer Residual Accounting - like Fund Acctg			xx
xx			Buyer view amount of Residual Balance			xx
xx			Buyer find available inventory to buy Online			xx
xx			Make purchase or place order			xx
xx