Individuals preparing to enter the ministry anticipate preparing sermons and praying with individuals in need. In addition to these tasks, church leaders increasingly need strong business skills to perform their duties and grow their church community effectively. While some leaders oversee large teams of staff and volunteers, others are struggling to balance the books and cover expenses.
Whether your church has multiple services to accommodate a large congregation or a devoted congregation who fills your pews once a week, you may be wondering how to manage your church’s financial needs. One way to ensure tasks are handled professionally is to outsource your accounting services. Outsourcing is contracting an external company to provide specific services. This means that the people who provide these services are not your employees. Learn more about the benefits of working with an outside accounting firm for financial management.
Who provides outsourced services?
there are plenty of options for a small business to obtain greater financial insight by working with an outside accounting firm. You can turn to reputable outsourced accounting firms to handle your church’s financial needs. Outsourcing companies hire professionals and ensure they have the credentials and training needed to meet all your needs. They provide daily reports to ensure you have an up-to-date, accurate account of your current finances. They’ll ensure their team customizes their services to meet your specific needs and ensure all legal requirements are fulfilled.
Are there other tasks accountants or bookkeepers perform?
Accountants prepare financial reports. Their duties can include processing donations, issuing receipts for donations, invoicing vendors, managing payroll, depositing money, and producing an operating budget.
Your accounting firm can also provide advisory services and help you determine ways to meet your needs and save money. For example, when it’s time to buy new pastors robes, your accounting team can help you determine how to find quality merchandise while keeping the bill low. They will also consider all of your purchasing needs and ensure you have access to hymnals, Bibles, robes for the pastors, decorations, and curriculum supplies. Your accounting team can establish accounts with reputable vendors and negotiate discounts for your church if you buy your robes along with other supplies you need.
An outsourced accounting firm can also provide financial guidance and determine the best investments your church can make to generate revenue.
What are the benefits of outsourcing?
You will save money outsourcing services because you do not need to provide staff benefits, such as paid leave or paid sick time. Many companies also benefit from contracting because they do not need to pay to train employees to perform routine duties. Churches have specific accounting needs and financial transactions, but it is the outsourced accounting firm’s responsibility to train their accountants and bookkeepers to perform those duties properly.
Outsourcing also allows you to save time and maintain continuity of services. You don’t need to worry about your accountant going on vacation and having tasks left undone until they return. If a staff member from the contracted company is ill or has a personal emergency, the accounting firm will have another staff member step in to perform their duties.
Contract companies have access to multiple staff members, which is also advantageous during your busiest times of the year. Many churches receive a high percentage of their annual donations during the weeks before Christmas and other high-attendance occasions, such as Easter and Mother’s Day. If you outsource your accounting services, they can add additional staff to accommodate the increased demand when required.
Contracting services will enable your ministry team to focus on their strengths while ensuring that all essential tasks are promptly performed.
When you become the accounting firm’s client, the outsourced accountant at the firm can access a wide range of knowledge from multiple professionals who work together. This means they’re more likely to be aware of pertinent information that can affect your financial decisions.
Are there other services you can outsource?
In addition to your accounting services, you can also contract your marketing team. Outsourced marketing teams can provide long-term, ongoing services or manage short-term event-specific campaigns, such as promoting holiday events. The continuity and cost savings make outsourcing marketing teams appealing to small businesses and churches.
It’s also common to outsource administrative services. You may opt to hire a church secretary but can supplement your administrative team during your busiest months with contractors who will enable your staff to meet the increased demand.
Churches need IT services, and contracting these services is an effective way of ensuring your IT demands are met without incurring the cost of hiring an employee. IT contractors can respond when you have technical issues or train you to use new products or software. They can also install anti-virus software and perform security checks to ensure your systems are protected from hackers. Often, contracting services like IT, accounting services and marketing is the best solution for churches, so it’s worth it to consider the option of an outside accounting department or PR firm for your faith community.
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