Hearing “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” is the ultimate accomplishment for believers (Matthew 25:21).
We long to hear those words spoken on Judgment Day, declaring that we acted faithfully with what the Lord entrusted to our care.
Your church’s resources are all gifts from God, and He has called you to be a good steward of each one. This includes every dollar your congregation gives in support of your ministry.
Each time your members give to your church, they step out in faith and trust you to use those funds to fulfill your church’s mission and further the Kingdom of Heaven.
That trust relies on your ability to handle all of your finances appropriately. To be a good steward of your ministry’s resources, you must start with good accounting.
1) To be a good steward, you must wisely and strategically plan your budget.
A good steward has a plan.
Having a budget isn’t optional when you are responsible for managing your church’s finances.
Your congregants are relying on you to use ministry funds wisely. That will be very difficult if you don’t have a budget that maps out exactly how much money you anticipate coming in and how you plan to spend each dollar that goes out.
One of the first things anyone with a background in finance will tell you is that you need to have a budget and stick to it.
This isn’t just an arbitrary task. Budgeting is the backbone of your financial management and accounting process.
While your accounting tracks the actual transactions, your budget helps you plan your ministry activities, support your church’s mission, and drive your congregation toward reaching its goals for Kingdom impact.
Part of responsible financial management is taking the time to build a budget strategically and then sticking with it throughout the year.
You can’t skip this step of the accounting process if you want to be a successful financial manager. Being a successful financial manager leads to good stewardship.
2) To be a good steward, you must provide an account for every dollar.
You must have an accurate account for every dollar that comes in and goes out of your church.
Being a good steward means ensuring accuracy in your books. You can’t have confidence in your financial records without deliberately and meticulously tracking every cent.
Whether you have 5 line items in your ledger each month or 5,000 transactions that need to be documented, you need to see at a glance how the money your congregation faithfully gives is being used.
Properly tracking contributions, managing restricted and unrestricted funds appropriately, and regularly reconciling accounts all contribute to your ability to ensure accuracy and good stewardship.
You should never wonder if your numbers are right, and your congregants shouldn’t have to question if funds are being spent responsibly.
However, accurate accounting records don’t just demonstrate good stewardship of financial resources. Solid bookkeeping also protects you from financial mismanagement and tax errors.
Good accounting leaves little room for those deliberately mishandling your finances to harm your ministry. It also makes it much harder for errors to slip through in required reporting and tax filing.
A good steward must be able to give an account for every dollar that passes through the church, and you can’t do that without precise financial documentation.
3) To be a good steward, you must ensure compliance with all federal and state regulations.
In addition to the IRS guidelines, each state has its own tax filing and financial reporting requirements.
Good stewards must ensure they have met all the accounting requirements set forth by regulatory agencies.
Knowing and abiding by all tax requirements is vital to good accounting.
In Matthew 22:21, Jesus tells His listeners to “give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Believers live in the world, even though they aren’t of it, and are obligated to follow the law of the land in which they reside.
To be a good steward, one must follow the requirements for good accounting by federal and state regulations.
Not only are you instructed to comply with those requirements by Jesus Himself, but the failure to comply will also result in tangible consequences that will impact your church’s ability to share the Gospel.
One of your primary goals should be to fulfill the Great Commission by making disciples. Suppose your church faces negative repercussions for failing to comply with tax and financial reporting requirements. In that case, it will lose the credibility it needs to share the Good News with its community.
Good stewards embody integrity. To truly act as a good steward for your ministry, you must honor God by following the financial guidelines established by the government agencies He has placed in authority.
Good accounting leads to good stewardship.
While good stewardship involves more than financial management, one of the biggest parts of that charge is properly handling the funds given to your ministry.
Good accounting includes wisely and strategically planning a budget, providing an account for every dollar, and ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations.
Without any one of those, your bookkeeping will suffer. Every dollar in your ministry’s bank account is given in faith by your congregation and entrusted to you by God to use for His glory.
So if you want to be a good steward of your ministry’s resources, you must start by ensuring your books are in order and your accounting processes are above reproach.
Good stewardship starts with good accounting!
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