The Church Treasurer's Handbook. Robert Leach

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СКАЧАТЬ how the cash-book figure has been calculated.

      Remittance advices

      Church income usually comes from three main sources:

      1. donations from church members by standing order or cheque

      2. loose cash from collections

      3. event income, such as magazine sales and hall lettings.

      There is no need to create vouchers for every donation by standing order or cheque: it is obvious from the cash book that these are donations. Loose cash will probably have a completed sheet identifying how much has been collected in each value of note and coin, with a date, time and signature. Other income may take the form of a covering letter from the magazine editor or a completed form from the hall lettings secretary.

      Record all income

      Church income comes from various sources ranging from formal grants and tax refunds through to an envelope containing a few pounds from selling coffee after a special service. It must all be recorded.

      The church treasurer must ensure that all income receivable is received, and all income received is recorded. It is not enough for the treasurer simply to record whatever is passed to him; the treasurer must be proactive in ensuring that church income is passed to him, or at least is accounted to him. The treasurer should be sufficiently knowledgeable of church life to know of flower festivals, concerts, outings and appeals, plus arrangements for refreshments, musicians, maintenance, hall bookings, children’s and youth work, and any other aspect of church life which involves handling money. This will prevent difficult situations where someone in the church accumulates large funds of which the church authorities have no knowledge, or gets into a muddle and does not know how much has been received or spent.

      A simple system should be introduced for all regular sources of income. For example, a hall booking secretary should provide the treasurer with a list of all regular bookings (such as scouts and health clubs), plus one-off bookings (such as birthday parties and wedding receptions). The treasurer can check that all such income has been received.

      The magazine editor (or advertising manager) can provide a list of advertisers with agreed fees and when payable. The treasurer should check this against the actual advertisements in the magazine.

      Refreshment and flower-arranging teams can fill in a simple form identifying how much they receive and spend each week.

      Avoid situations where you have an envelope handed to you at inconvenient moments containing a few pounds from the sale of something after the service. If you know that someone is selling geraniums after the morning service to raise funds for the church, be proactive and give the person a simple form to record details for you.

      Never mix church cash passed to you with your own cash. When given amounts of cash, always create a written record somewhere. Some treasurers keep a notebook for odd cash amounts, other treasurers carry a receipt book, and always issue a receipt. Neither is ideal, as there will inevitably be an occasion when you do not have your notebook or receipt book with you.

      Collecting funds

      A church typically has many sources of income. The treasurer must identify them all and ensure that money owed to the church is collected. Areas where this is likely to be an issue include:

       hall bookings

       rent from property

       interest, dividends and other income from investments

       magazine subscriptions

       magazine advertisements

       sales of refreshments after services

       income from bookstall and other sales

       fees for weddings and funerals.

      A treasurer may have to be insistent that the respective officers do hand over the money. Sometimes people with responsibility in these areas may regard keeping the funds under their control as part of their duties. It must be made clear that legally they have no right to hold church funds against the wishes of the treasurer. In other words, other church officers should generally only hold church funds as a temporary measure until they can be passed to the treasurer.

      In addition to regular sources of income, there will be one-off occasions such as concerts, festivals, fetes, fund-raising events and sale of church property (such as selling old hymn books or kneelers). This does not necessarily mean that the treasurer must act as debt collector for each of these items, but it does mean that the treasurer must ensure that someone is responsible for collecting money due, and does do so. If there is a problem collecting money due, the treasurer should report this to the appropriate church authorities who should consider what further steps to take.

      The separate consideration of bounced cheques is considered below.

      Counting the collection

      A church collection typically comprises donations in envelopes for regular giving plus loose cash. The treasurer will rarely be responsible for counting and banking the collection at every service. Usually this task is delegated to sidespeople, ushers or people specially deputed for the task.

      Some basic disciplines for counting the collection are:

       the collection must be counted promptly after the end of each service

       two people must always be present when the collection is counted

       the loose cash is counted before the envelopes are opened

       the envelopes are opened, and the amounts recorded against the name or identifying number on the envelope, on a list

       a separate form is completed recording the total received in every different value of note and coin, whether from loose cash or envelopes

       notes are held together in bundles of £100 by rubber bands

       coins are bagged in cash bags provided free by banks in amounts of

      – £20 for £1 and £2 coins

      – £10 for 20p and 50p coins

      – £5 for 5p and 10p coins

      – £1 for 1p and 2p coins.

      Do not mix coins of different values in the bag. Close the bag if it contains the full value, as indicated above. Leave the bag open if it contains less than the full value

       cheques, foreign coins and anything else which has monetary value are recorded separately on the form, and are only included in the total if they can be paid into a bank account

       keep the cash safe until it can be paid into the bank. It should either be kept in a safe, using a large cloth bag such as those which banks can be persuaded to provide free, or be taken home by the treasurer

       the form should be signed or initialled by both of those who counted the collection

       a record of the amount collected must be left at church premises.

      Envelopes СКАЧАТЬ