HR & Benefits
3 Job Description Misses that Might Cost You
How accurate are your employees’ job descriptions? Most places I’ve worked might present a job description during the application process, but by the time the employee is one year in, their responsibilities have morphed [...]
Are Furry Coworkers in Your Future?
Normal working conditions changed considerably in the past few years. I’m not sure we would have envisioned executives in pajamas from the waist down with a cat in their lap and kids running through the [...]
Burnout in Your Church: Recognize the Signs
As someone who has been burned out, I know it’s not a question of if your staff is experiencing burnout, but how many of them are already burnt out. Most people have no clue. [...]
Ten Biggest Tax Mistakes, Part 2
In Part 1, we had so many questions from the live audiences, that we only got half way through the "10 Biggest Mistakes." Now for the second half! With decades of experience [...]
10 Biggest Tax Mistakes Made By Pastors and Churches
With decades of experience in publishing annual tax guides for ministers and churches, ECFA (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability) is uniquely qualified to identify and explain the top tax mistakes made by [...]
Pastor Tax 101—Federal Tax Benefits and Rules Applicable to Ministers
Pastors and federal tax issues is always a hot topic. We all want to use the most benefits that are available ... but are we? This broadcast with Fletch and Michele will [...]
How Can We Do a ‘Love Offering’
Hey Fletch … We occasionally receive love offerings for our senior pastor and other staff members. How should we handle these gifts? DRF—There are so many questions floating out there about restricted gifts to churches. [...]
Can a Church Pay FICA for a Pastor?
Hey Fletch … It’s been one month after I got your answer to my question. I still don’t have my head wrapped around this issue of FICA vs. SECA and how it relates to Housing [...]
New Year Help on Taxes
Monday, January 7, 2019 Hey Fletch … I heard you say at the Smart Money workshop, "If a pastor has low housing costs, it can actually hurt them financially." My question is how? Isn't it [...]
Benevolence Gifts for Staff Pastor
Thursday, December 27, 2018 Hey Fletch … How do churches handle Benevolence Fund needs when a staff member is the candidate? The Board is trying to find out how other churches handle benevolence for [...]
PEO to handle Church HR
Wednesday, December 26, 2018 Hey Fletch … I recently hired a PEO to handle most of our HR services. On the first two payrolls they issued, they collected federal and state unemployment tax. Historically, [...]
Maximum Contributions in Affordable Care Act?
Saturday, December 15, 2018 Hey Fletch … Our church requires any employee who uses our health insurance to pay part of the premium. I heard somewhere that there is a maximum that we can charge. [...]
Volunteer Hours for Emergency Relief
Tuesday, December 11, 2018 Hey Fletch … I’m wondering if our non-exempt staff can put in extra hours during an emergency. Do they have to be paid for this? I found this online as it [...]
Data on Health Benefits for Pastors
Saturday, December 1, 2018 Hey Fletch … I read your column from Monday, October 22, 2018 on “Poll of Church Health Insurance Benefits.” As you have looked into this, were you able to find [...]
Did I Break the Law in Opting Out of Social Security?
Friday, November 30, 2018 Hey Fletch … When I first became a pastor, people advised me to opt out of Social Security. I had been in business for over 20 years and they said, “you [...]
Are Discounts to Church Events Taxable Income?
Saturday, November 24, 2018 Hey Fletch … We are thinking of offering all staff who work 32 hours a week or more discounts to church retreats and functions for which there is a charge. My [...]
Donations for Funeral Expenses
Friday, November 23, 2018 Hey Fletch … I have a question related to a special donation. A family in our church had a very unexpected death in their family. Another family in the church would [...]
Attorney Needed for Pastor Who Opted Out of Social Security
Monday, November 19, 2018 Hey Fletch … A few months ago we discussed our pastor’s lack of retirement planning. You mentioned you could recommend a non-profit attorney for a consultation. One of my “strategies” is [...]
Paid Time for Classes
Saturday, November 10, 2018 Hey Fletch … If a church requires its ministry staff to attend a course, such as a discipleship class, after hours, 3 hours a week for 12 weeks, is the church [...]
More Questions on Paying Salaried People for Hours Worked
Tuesday, November 6, 2018 Hey Fletch … Thank you for your earlier response to my question about how our church is paying salaried people for the number of hours worked. My church leaders are insisting [...]
Are Preschool Teachers Exempt Employees?
Monday, November 5 Hey Fletch … Our church has a preschool with part-time teachers. We have been treating them as exempt employees, as they are teachers. They don’t get paid for working after hours, home [...]
Not Reporting All Hours on a Time Card
Tuesday, October 30, 2018 Hey Fletch … I hope your ongoing national workshop tour with Smart Money for Church Salaries is going well. I have a question for my church. We have a part-time [...]
New Tax Court Case Says “Gifts” to Pastor Are Taxable
In a recently issued Tax Court case, Judge Mark Holmes rendered a decision that may be the most thorough judicial analysis of the law surrounding “love gifts” for pastors that has ever been published. [...]
Overtime for an Administrative Assistant on a Retreat
Thursday, October 25, 2018 Hey Fletch … We have a full-time youth pastor and a part-time youth administrative assistant. We have a youth retreat coming up and we are trying to figure out how [...]