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Community Survey Prayer Spring Branch Church Plant PNC Information
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8. Finance Resources Initial Financial Investment - fortunately the up-front money needed to get the new church's financial function underway is minimal. A PC in a secure environment, a hook-up to the internet, and inexpensive software off the shelf are all that is initially needed. Personal Resources - are the most important resource to effectively get the new church's finances underway. The church should strive for a correct balance among paid staff, volunteer church members, and consultants. It will be helpful if at least one of the initial staff possesses some basic record keeping skills and can post detailed cash receipts and disbursements in computer software. Due to budget constraints this person might be part-time. However, it is very important that detail posting be done promptly and professionally. If a part-timer is utilized, that person should be assigned consistent times to complete ongoing record keeping tasks. The church must not let routine bookeeping fall behind. Pay financial staff at a reasonable rate - underpaid personnel create difficulties. Hopefully, the new church will be able to recruit some member volunteers with practical experience in accounting, auditing, and finance. Volunteers should function as overseers to record keeping, internal control and banking relations. Should volunteers with needed backgrounds not be in the early congregation, the MDPC Finance Committee and Financial Staff can provide personnel suppport until financial volunteers can be "home grown". In order to get systems installed and up and running promptly, the young church may consider using paid consultants. Qualified consultants may possess the experience to get financial systems installed efficiently when busy staff and unpaid volunteers may not have the time or experience. A word or two of caution about consultants; avoid open-ended deals and avoid cut-rate deals. Engaging a consultant without a firm timetable or budget may waste time and money. Engaging a consultant who makes a cut-rate proposal usually means that the consultant will put you at the end of the line behind his higher paying clients. Educational Resources - The educational resources available for new church finance are numerous and readily available. The internet provides more information than is practical to review. Use a search engine to call up references to "Church Finance", "Church Accounting", or "Church Internal Control" and start clicking. Some of the most useful information is listed in Section 9 - References, Templates and Samples. Last Modified 12/7/04 8:25 PM | Hide Tools |