​Church finance offices have a myriad of Word docs and Excel spreadsheets which they create and use regularly. Many of the documents churches create are similar to the docs that other churches create. This is a loss of productivity since churches are “re-inventing the wheel” over and over again.
 
Over the 30-plus years I’ve worked in churches and non-profit organizations, I’ve created most of the documents that churches need repeatedly (and quite a few that are used just one time). www.churchbestpractices.org has a LOT of free documents which can be downloaded and altered to meet your church’s needs.
 
Here is are a few of them:

• Revenue Forecast: spreadsheet which uses historical and partial data from the current year to predict final revenues for the current year
• Sex Offender Covenant
• Endowment Agreement Template
• Personnel Budget Spreadsheet
• Gift Acceptance Policy
• Employee Evaluation Form
• Employee Orientation Checklist
• Employee Termination Checklist
• Employee Action Form (for new hires and changes in current employee status)

If you need a form which isn’t in this file, please let me know. I’ve probably created it and haven’t loaded on this site. I’ve got several that I still need to load (just trying to find time, you know how that goes).
 
I want to share these resources for free. That said, I do hope you’ll buy some of the manuals on this site (so that my family and I can eat and live indoors). So, if you like what you’re seeing, please make a purchase or two. If you don’t like what you see or want more, please let me know. My goal is to help churches – that’s what my boss (aka, God) asks me to do.
 
And tell your friends about this site, please.
 
Thanks and Merry Christmas

​A finance manual is critical. Church finances require the utmost level of trust from the donors and members toward the pastors and finance staff. A finance manual establishes the policies by which the church’s money will be governed and used. Parts of this document are a legal requirement but most of it is designed to ensure confidence in the handling of funds.
 
If a church does not have a finance manual, it can create the appearance of lack of integrity and a haphazard attitude towards donated money. That is not the biblical standard. Paul tells the Corinthians to do all things in their church “decently and in order.”
 
A good finance manual will address accounting, banking, record-keeping, software and hardware, document retention, communication with donors, accounts payable, financial reporting, audits, gift acknowledgement, and too many other things to list here. These policies ensure that even though staff may come and go, the practices within the Finance Office remain constant and completely above board.
 
A personnel manual is a living document – it must be reviewed every year and updated at least every other year. Not doing that minimal step is a failure by management. Most policies will remain the same such as contribution processing, payroll, or accounts payable. But as times change, new policies must be written and old policies changed to address changes in the law or accounting standards regarding overtime, designated funds, and PP&E (property, plant, & equipment).
 
The finance manual template at www.churchbestpractices.org has

• A Gift Acceptance Policy to help the church know what gifts can be accepted without question versus those which require research
• A policy for using church-issued credit cards and reporting the expenses charged on the card
• Fundraising ethics standards to ensure the church abides by IRS rules

 
This manual is only $30. It is updated annually to ensure its compliance with the latest legal and tax changes.  This manual is a great starting point for churches needing to develop a manual scratch or to update their current one. It will save hours of research and writing. By using this manual, a church will need only to add sections that are specific to their situation and/or remove non-legal policies which don’t apply to them.

​Many churches don’t have a personnel manual or their manual is seriously outdated. And that is fine so long as it passes this test: will whatever you have stand up in court?
 
Personnel manuals are founded in personnel law which is written by Congress and the Department of Labor. If a church’s manual does not keep up with the current laws, then the church is open to a lawsuit. AND, if a church does not abide by its own manual, then every judge will rule harshly against the church.
 
A personnel manual is a living document – it must be reviewed every year and updated at least every other year. Not doing that minimal step is a failure by management. Most policies will remain the same such as employee benefits, grievance guidelines, etc. But as times change, new policies must be written and old policies changed.
 
For instance, most churches do not have a “social media policy” which instructs their staff on how to write about their church and/or boss on social media sites and blogs. Does your church have an updated weapons policy? What about political statements and statuses advocated publicly by lay leaders and staff?
 
The personnel manual template at www.churchbestpractices.org has

• Typical employee classifications which meet legal standards
• Common benefits for employees (while salaries get an employee inside the door, benefits KEEP employees inside)
• Dozens of other policies which help churches, their staffs, and their members

 
This manual is only $30. It is updated annually to ensure its compliance with the latest legal and tax changes.  This manual is a great starting point for churches needing to develop a manual scratch or to update their current one. It will save hours of research and writing. By using this manual, a church will need only to add sections that are specific to their situation and/or remove non-legal policies which don’t apply to them.