Additionally, seminaries usually do not provide training in administrative skills. The result of this lack of preparation may be, in the extreme, exposure to theft or significant financial loss. More likely, the pastor may be faced with unpaid bills that are lost in the shuffle, sloppy and confusing bookkeeping, and unfiled paperwork. The purpose of this article is to provide pastors of small to medium-sized parishes with a sample of financial procedures that would fulfill the reasonable requirements of basic financial control and streamline the paperwork. Obviously, the article is not intended to manage the peculiarities of every parish, but a thoughtful application of the procedures in the main may prevent a serious breakdown in financial control.
Most people know how to control a checkbook.
But the pastor has the fiduciary responsibility before God and, well, a government that often plays God to accurately record and control incoming monies and properly pay all bills. So the categories under consideration include controlling deposits and expenditures, monthly, quarterly and annual procedures. Collections on Sundays are operating income . Holy day collections and special second collections in most dioceses are not considered operating income. The pastor secures the collection after every Mass and makes sure that the funds are secured in the parish safe.