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Financial Risk Management
Churches are subject to the same financial exposures as normal businesses. In many cases, churches have more exposures because of lax accounting practices and unsupervised volunteers involved in the process. We suggest the following practices to reduce the chance of financial loss.
- Written procedures for collecting, counting and depositing funds
- Two unrelated adults should be with the money from collection to deposit. We recommend placing the money in a church safe and having a church employee count the money and make the deposit.
- Train ushers on how to take collection and keep it safe
- Do not allow any funds to be taken home
- Petty cash should be kept secure and formally monitored
- Keep financial records locked up. If stored on a computer, make sure they are password protected.
- Require countersignatures on all checks
- An annual review should be done by someone not authorized to deposit or disburse funds. Most churches have members who are accountants and can form an audit team.
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