Even as a multisite church, we share and operate out of a unified bank account. All offerings go into the same account, and all expenses come from the same account. We use Budgets to track our income and expenses, but we allocate funds according to ministry strategies that our Elders approve.
Our Fiscal year follows the school calendar and runs from August through July. The budgeting process for the upcoming fiscal year begins in January with the Operations Team, then moves into campus teams for input and requests. Finance Team then finalizes the budget and the Board of Elders approves the proposal in May.
We track finances at the department level, and every department budget comes from within their campus; some unique church-wide ministries come from a "System" budget. All entries are recorded by the Finance Team using the Shelby Database. Reports publish monthly to Admins and are available upon request to all staff. No one may overspend their pre-approved Department Budget without the approval of the Operations Team. If you don’t feel that your department has been adequately resourced for your approved ministry strategy, that conversation needs to happen during the budgeting process with your Campus Operational Leadership.
Budget Reports are uploaded into the shared Admin Drive in Google. Your Department Admin should always read the report and stay briefed on your team’s financial situation throughout the year. Admins should also share the reports with your team as needed and requested.
By May, the year is coming to a close! This is a season that keeps our Finance Team incredibly busy. What follows are some pointers outlining crucial ways you can help them as the fiscal year draws to a close: