Managing a church’s finances and expenses can be a difficult and stressful responsibility for anyone. Not only do you need to manage a church’s budgets and cash flow, but you’re constantly having to hunt down and reconcile multiple expenses from many different departments. A financial assistant can help ease some of the pressure on the primary financial manager of the church. But what does a church financial assistant do?
Duties of a Church Financial Assistant
A Church Financial Assistant Alleviates Administrative Tasks
The main responsibility of a church financial assistant is to take on tasks that may be bogging down the financial manager. Tasks such as answering vendor emails, creating budget reports, managing a budget spreadsheet, or inputting data into a financial system. Financial assistants should be given administrative duties to free up the financial manager to tackle bigger projects.
The Assistant Reconciles Expenses
With all the different types of expenses happening every day, reconciling transactions can be daunting and exhausting. A financial assistant can help with reconciling each expense so that every dollar is accounted for. This may mean going expense by expense and ensuring all the proper receipts and paper trail is there. Or it may mean keeping staff members accountable by following up with them when certain expenses have not been reconciled for a certain period.
Whatever the situation may be, a good church financial assistant will reconcile each expense or ensure that each expense has been reconciled by the staff member responsible.
A Church Financial Assistant Monitors the Budget
This leads to the next responsibility of a financial assistant: managing and monitoring the overall church budget. Lead pastors and executive teams need to know how the church budget is doing so that they can plan projects. A financial assistant can
- Help manage the budget
- Determine whether or not they are under or over budget
- Help create reports for any budget meetings
Financial assistants won’t be the ones to set the budgets, but they can certainly help manage them. They need to ensure that budgets and limits are being honored and offer transparency to the church.
A Church Financial Assistant Researches
Churhc financial assistants can also help the main financial manager with different research projects. This could researching the value of a potential property or building the church wants to purchase. Financial assistants may also research healthy church spending trends, or salary comparisons and standards for staff members. Regardless of the task or project, financial assistants can investigate and study financial matters that will help benefit the church.
The Assistant Writes Spending Policies
As churches grow and add more staff members with purchasing abilities, spending policies need to be reviewed and updated. Things may have been organic when there were only a few staff members, but a larger team will need boundaries to keep the church above reproach. Financial assistants can help write spending policies that will assist in serving all the staff members.
Skills and Competencies of a Church Financial Assistant
Now that you know the responsibilities of a church financial assistant, let’s discuss what a an ideal candidate looks like. Here are some skills and competencies you will want to look for in a potential financial assistant hire:
The Ideal Candidate Has Financial or Budget Experience
Having some experience in the financial world or creating and managing budgets will be necessary when hiring a church financial assistant. You will want someone who understands how budgets work, comprehends the language, and knows how to draft a budget report.
The Ideal Candidate Is Detailed-Oriented
You will need to find someone who is extremely detail-oriented. One little mistake in the area of financial management can cause a world of problems. You need someone that pays attention to every detail and always focuses on the small things.
The Ideal Candidate Follows the Rules
Legalities, policies, and rules must be honored and followed at all times to have your church finances in good order. This is why your church financial assistant should be really good at following the rules. They need to know the rules and follow them perfectly to ensure the finances are always right.
The Ideal Candidate Displays Administrative Skills
Administratively minded people will thrive in a financial assistant role. The majority of the work will be administrative. They need to enjoy entering data, working independently, working with various software, and knowing how to manage a spreadsheet. Being administratively experienced
is vital to be successful in this role.
The Ideal Candidate Is Trustworthy
Every new hire should be trustworthy, but this character trait is especially important when hiring for a financial position. Financial assistants deal with the intimate details of a church: budget expenses, salaries, people’s giving records, and more. Church financial assistants need to understand discretion since they’ll be trusted with information that should never be shared publicly.
The Ideal Candidate Is Not Afraid to Say No
Assistants will need to say no to certain purchase requests or budget increases. They need to be comfortable with having uncomfortable conversations with staff members when they need to turn certain things down due to budget restrictions. Someone who cannot say no will have a hard time thriving in this role.
Various Responsibilities; Specific Skills
Church financial assistants have a wide range of responsibilities but have specific skills and character traits that are necessary to do well in this role. This job is very important. If you hire the right person, this can seriously relieve your main financial manager and help ensure that your church budget and expenses are always in good order. Follow the information above and your church will be in good shape when it comes to finances and managing budgets.
