What a Successful Church Accounting Department Manager Looks Like

The traits needed for sound, reliable leadership of the church’s finances.

Running a church accounting department requires a variety of skills. While a base level of technical knowledge is required, communication and leadership abilities are also necessary.

If you will be taking on a position as a church accounting department manager, the following considerations may be helpful. If that position is currently filled, you may want to use this list to assess your current church accounting leader’s strengths and areas for improvement—even if that leader is you!

Understanding the role

The titles and responsibilities for this position can vary from church to church. Larger ministries may have an executive pastor as well as a controller in addition to various accounting positions such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, and payroll clerks. Smaller ministries may have a business administrator who is responsible for bookkeeping functions as well as facilities, IT, and human resources.

Whatever the specific title and responsibilities, however, the basic objectives of an accounting department leadership position generally include:

  • Ensuring the integrity of financial matters so all accounting policies and practices are compliant with accepted accounting principles and related oversight (e.g. Internal Revenue Service, Department of Labor, etc.)
  • Working with management on specific budgeting and expense reporting
  • Working with auditors on successful completion of the annual audit
  • Managing the finance team to best utilize the staff and volunteer resources available

Position requirements

Depending on your church, the accounting department manager job requirements may include:

A personal testimony of faith

This may or may not also require attendance at your congregation.

A team mindset

The individual needs to lead any subordinates in a way that allows them to grow professionally. He or she also needs to support other church leaders to encourage a spirit of cooperation.

Strong communication skills

There is a misconception that accountants have little interaction with other people, but it is actually important that accounting leaders be able to communicate well, both verbally and in writing.

These individuals will consistently communicate with department leaders and may be required to make presentations to boards, committees, and possibly even the congregation at large.

Strong writing skills will also help accountants prepare and maintain adequate policies and procedures manuals as well as effectively use email, the most common communication tool today.

Leadership experience

Even if there will only be a few people reporting directly to the accounting department manager, he or she will still oversee work done by others, possibly through the use of volunteers. The leader in this role needs to understand how to motivate and develop people in a way that is consistent with the church’s values.

Note. You will notice the above position requriements are applicable to nearly any church leadership position. It’s important to keep these requirements in mind even as you look for a candidate with strong financial management skills.

An ability to build and maintain effective processes

The individual in this role needs to understand the most important components of each process, whether that is how to complete payroll or maintain an adequate structure of internal controls. The leader then needs to be able to implement the steps necessary to be efficient and effective with the limited resources available.

Proficiency in accounting

Consider the individual’s accounting experience. Many people today take jobs at churches in the second half of their career. They may have valuable experience, but it’s important to realize there are some key differences between for-profit and nonprofit accounting. These individuals will need time—and probably training—to come up to speed on the unique requirements of nonprofit accounting.

You should also consider your church’s particular needs. If your church is small, your payroll is outsourced, and the only accounting requires cutting checks and making deposits, then someone with bookkeeping experience may be sufficient.

If your church is growing, has multiple revenue streams, works with a sophisticated board or finance committee, and/or enters into various financial contracts, then you need a much broader level of experience, either on staff or through outsourced arrangements.

​No matter what size your church is, the individual in this leadership position should have experience with these basic activities:

  • Maintaining a general ledger
  • Performing account reconciliations
  • Preparing financial reports
  • Preparing budgets
  • Completing month-end and year-end close procedures
  • Preparing 1099s
  • Overseeing or completing payroll processing

Experience with your accounting system

While this isn’t a “must-have,” it certainly reduces the time required to learn your church’s processes and can minimize errors made early on. If the individual doesn’t have significant experience with your system, make sure he or she connects with other users or attends training.

A willing spirit

The job description in a ministry position always seems to include “other duties as assigned.” People don’t come to work at a church for the financial rewards. It is imperative that the individual in this role senses a calling to the work and has a spirit of cooperation to do what it takes to get the job done—even if it doesn’t fall under the assigned responsibilities.

Vonna Laue has worked with ministries and churches for more than 20 years. Vonna was a partner with a national CPA firm serving not-for-profit entities through audit, review, tax, and advisory services. Most recently, she held the role of executive vice president for a Christian ministry that works to enhance trust in the church and ministry community.

This content is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. "From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations." Due to the nature of the U.S. legal system, laws and regulations constantly change. The editors encourage readers to carefully search the site for all content related to the topic of interest and consult qualified local counsel to verify the status of specific statutes, laws, regulations, and precedential court holdings.

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