Audits & Fraud
Hopefully you have a trusted Finance team overseeing your contributions and finances. However, even the most honest workers need checks and balances. Do regular audits and reviews to help keep your team accountable and guard against fraud.
What I Learned from a Certified Fraud Examiner
We’ve all seen the tragic headlines about churches becoming the victims of fraud. To borrow some real-life examples: “Father and Son Pastors Plead Guilty to Stealing $3.1M from Church,” “Nebraska Archdiocese Sues Nun Accused [...]
How to Get Ready for a Financial Audit
The number of Americans calling themselves Christians has dropped sharply in recent years, according to a new Pew Research Center survey---while the population of religiously unaffiliated adults is on the rise. This trend is driven [...]
Defining Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting
The Center For Audit Quality, a non-profit group based out of Washington D.C., has published a great guide on Internal Controls. While the term "Internal Control" can seem imposing to a church, the concepts in [...]
Don’t Become a Statistic: Four Tips for Preventing Fraud
Fraud takes many different forms in today’s culture, from health care fraud to identity theft to the focus of this article: occupational fraud. There are many ways fraud can be committed at a not-for-profit organization, [...]
Church Embezzlement
The numbers just did not add up. A few years back I was working with a church that was struggling financially, yet their giving was strong. They shouldn't have been struggling to make budget. I [...]
How to Launch a Risk Management Program
“What event might occur that could take out our church?” Drop that question at the next staff meeting and you’ll feel the tone of the room take a nose-dive. No one likes to talk about [...]
Handling Cash
Consider the following scenarios: (1) A newspaper headline reads: “Sticky Fingered Deacon Pads Wallet with Offering Plate Funds.” Nobody wants this humiliating portrayal of their church to appear in the paper. (2) A senior pastor [...]
Financial Statements Matter
“What is more, he (Titus) was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. [...]
Is Your Data Secure?
Think for a moment. Where do you keep information about your congregants or donors? In an Excel file on someone's desktop computer? An Access database housed on your laptop? If someone were to steal [...]
Dashboard Indicators for the Church: Why They are Important, and Where You Should Start
In high school, a friend gave me a ride home from work late at night. We stopped for gas and I noted that her oil light was on. When I asked her about it, she [...]