Quick Start Treasurer Training
This Quick Start guide will give you enough information about the basic requirements of the church treasurer's job to get you going. This is more "how to be a treasurer" information, and less "how to use Jewel", though links in the guide will take you to further information about each topic in the Jewel Wiki.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. —-Malachi 3:10
The local church treasurer holds a position of high responsibility. He or she is the custodian of all church funds, including those of the conference, the local church, and auxiliary organizations. The treasurer is in charge of receiving all funds, disbursing them for their appropriate use, and keeping a thorough record of all financial transactions.
Setting Up A Filing System
Some of you have inherited your filing system from the previous treasurer. Some of you may have developed your own.
Whatever you use, a filing system should be simple enough that a person off the street could walk in and figure it out in minutes, and once they know the system, could go directly to a certain document or receipt without difficulty. No orphan receipts, without notation or order, drifting around at the bottom of a file folder.
If you want to try out a system that saves time, is simple and accurate, inexpensive to maintain and that makes the auditors very happy, read Filing System Quick Start.
Offerings
- It is very important to deposit the money from the offerings in the bank every week, within two business days.
- Make sure the entire amount of the offering is deposited.
- Make sure that your funds are kept in a secure location until they are deposited.
- Have two people count loose offerings when collected. Having two people count every offering is an even better reputation-protecting policy.
Entering Envelopes
- Have a tithe envelope for every offering. It is a good idea to put your Sabbath School offerings and church offerings in separate tithe envelopes and label them.
- Add up the total of all your envelopes, and make sure it agrees with the total of the cash and checks that were counted and deposited.
- Enter your envelopes into the computer. Make sure your computer total agrees with your deposit ticket.
- File the deposit ticket with the week's envelopes.
Click here for Receiving and Handling Sabbath Offerings in Jewel.
Things to Remember About Offerings
- You must enter the offerings in Jewel exactly the way that they are recorded on the tithe envelope.
- Loose offerings for church should be collected according to the annual Offering Schedule put out by the conference.
- Sabbath School Missions and Sabbath School Expense offerings should be kept separate.
- Non-tax-deductible funds should be receipted into a non-tax-deductible account. Examples are payments for health food or devotionals or pathfinder expenses, or donations specified for the benefit of a particular individual.
- Offerings should be deposited intact. No cash should be taken from the weekly offering for expenses or assistance.
- Loose offerings should be counted by at least two people immediately after collection, or alternatively locked in a secure location until counting can be done.
Donor Intent Must Be Followed
When an offering is taken for worldwide missions or for any general or local enterprise, all money placed in the offering plate (unless otherwise indicated by the donor) shall be counted as part of that particular offering. All offerings and gifts contributed by individuals to the church for a specific fund or purpose be used for that purpose. Neither the church treasurer nor the church board has the authority to divert any funds from the objective for which they were given. -- Church Manual p. 89
Sabbath School Missions and Expense
Many Sabbath Schools take offerings for Sabbath School expense. With the exception of that expense fund, all Sabbath School offerings are for the support of the mission fields and are to be passed on in their entirety by the treasurer to the conference. These funds include the regular weekly Sabbath School offering, the Thirteenth Sabbath Offering, Sabbath School Investment, and Birthday-Thank Offering. Each is to be identified as a separate fund in the financial system of the church.... No mission funds may be retained by the church or conference. The Sabbath School expense offering and the mission offering, where the calendar of offerings is being used, shall not be taken as one offering and divided according to an agreed-upon formula or percentage.” -- Church Manual p. 106.
AdventistGiving Offerings
- The transfer cutoff date is the date you use to enter the donations. So, you will only have two deposit dates each month - the 15th and last day of the month.
- The Transfer report is not generated until after the cutoff date. That means you cannot enter the last deposit or close the month until you get that report on the first of the next month.
- The money is not deposited to your bank account until a few days later. That is called the Deposit Date on the Transfer report. Only the Cutoff Date is entered into Jewel.
Use Jewel to import your AdventistGiving offerings.
Other Donation FAQs
- Can I give someone a tax deductible receipt for expenses that they pay or supplies that they purchase for the church? - No. The proper way to handle this is to write the church member a check reimbursing them for the expenses. If they then choose to donate that money back to the church, that is their decision.
- Someone donated a piano (example) to the church. Can I give her a tax deductible receipt for that? - No. You may write them a letter thanking them for the donation of a piano to your church, referencing the date of donation and a description of the donated item, but you should NOT assign a value to the piano. It is up to the donor to assign an appropriate value when claiming it as a charitable deduction on her tax return.
- One of our church members donated his time working on our new church building. Can I issue him a tax receipt for the value of his time? - No. The IRS has made it clear that donated services are not tax deductible.
- One of our church members would like to support a certain student by donating tuition through the church. Can they receive a tax deduction for that? - No. Donations given for the benefit of a specific individual are never tax deductible, even when given through the church. This includes tuition, special assistance, and pastoral appreciation gifts.
See Fund Handling Legalities here for more info.
Making Payments
- All church expenses should be paid through the church checking account. Never pay expenses in cash unless it is absolutely necessary.
- All payments should be paid from the appropriate fund. Don't pay Pathfinder expenses from Church Budget when there's a Pathfinder fund.
- If a church department or auxiliary organization has need for funds, they are to request them from the treasurer.
- Fund disbursements beyond the regularly-incurred expenses must be approved by the church board.
- When making a payment, make sure that you have a receipt or invoice!! This is very important. You must have some type of backup for every payment you make.
- If you’re asked to send money to someone in need of special assistance, before you make the payment it must be voted and approved by the Church Board. A copy of the board minutes needs to be included with the treasurer report.
- After you make the payment, write the check number or method of payment and the date on the receipt and file it in your monthly file in check or date order.
- Electronic Transactions: Many churches today are using debit or check cards, or have their bills paid by automatic deduction. Make sure you document these transactions just as clearly as if they were a check. Your bank statement is not sufficient documentation.
Click here to learn how to enter payments in Jewel.
Guidelines for Credit/Debit Cards
- The use of credit or debit cards should be closely monitored because of the potential for abuse. Cardholders should be approved by the church board.
- The cards should only be used for church-related expenses, never for personal use. Personal use of the church credit card, even if done with the intention of repayment, is considered a misappropriation of church funds, and could potentially be a reportable offense.
- Receipts should be turned in for all transactions. The credit card statement alone is not sufficient substantiation.
For more considerations on credit/debit card use, and how to record transactions in Jewel, see the Credit Cards and Debit Cards sections in Entering Other Transaction Types.
Remember!
Enter each weekly offering deposit and all other deposits for the month as they happen. Enter payments as needed throughout the month. Then when you're done entering offerings, and have written all payments except the remittance, follow the NextStep button through the Month-end Processes, including writing your remittance check and completing the bank reconciliation. You don't need to remember the steps to close the month, because Jewel will walk you through them each time.
- Your remittance check to the conference should always be the last check written in the month, even if technically you are writing it in the subsequent month. In other words, do not write any checks for the new month until you have written the check to the conference. Why? It keeps all the business for one month together and makes it easier to balance your books. (Some churches may wish to use the exception here.)
Reconciling Your Bank Statement
- Keeping your bank reconciliations current is one of the most important things to do as treasurer. Many of the problems found while auditing could have been avoided if the treasurer had reconciled their bank statement every month.
- Jewel provides a bank reconciliation feature that is very simple and easy to use.
- If transactions are missing in Jewel or corrections need to be made, click the links for instructions.
After Completing Your Reconciliation
- Attach the bank reconciliation printout to your bank statement.
- Have the pastor or designated board member verify the bank reconciliation.
- We recommend that you receive your cancelled checks back in some form with your bank statements. Many banks now provide check images along with the statement. The conference auditor should able to review your cancelled checks during the church audit.
Reporting
- What reports should I give to the church board?
- The Financial Summary for the month.
- The Check Report for the month.
- Other specific reports the board might request.
- What reports should I give to the church members?
- You should provide them with a detailed receipt of their donations as soon as possible after the close of the year.
- You should also provide them with a receipt at other times upon their request.
- What reports should I give to the pastor?
- You should provide him with whatever information he needs if he asks for it. Although you are required as treasurer to keep donor information otherwise strictly confidential, the pastor does have the right to view this information.
- What reports should I give to the conference?
- As long as Jewel is sending the Remittance Report and the Month-end Backup to the conference each month, you do not need to send any printed reports to the conference.
- If your conference does not accept Jewel's electronic Remittance Report, then verify with them what reports you need to send, and whether you can email pdf reports, or need to mail paper reports.
- The conference should receive your remittance report and payment by the 10th of the month. This is easiest when Jewel's ACH remittance feature is used, so check with your conference to set that up!
- What reports should I print for my files?
- Bank Reconciliation (print this when you complete the bank rec)
- And Jewel automatically prints the rest via the NextStep "Print Monthly Reports" at the end of each month:
- Financial Summary for the month
- Financial Summary year-to-date
- Contribution
- Deposit
- Check
- Transfer/Allocation
Note: Jewel reports can be printed to pdf for easier distribution.
Backing Up Your Database
Jewel will prompt you to back up your database as the last step of closing each month.
- Must: Use a flash drive (sometimes called a memory stick, USB drive, or thumb drive) to back up when the NextStep button prompts you at the end of each month.
- Enable "Send Month-End Backup to Conference Server" in Maintenance / Properties / Internet tab for an extra layer of protection, in case of catastrophic loss.
Your First Church Board Meeting
If you really don't know what you are supposed to do, other than hand out the financial reports and then sit there, hoping no one asks a question that you can't answer, then this page is for you! Here are some concrete suggestions of what to do for your board.
- Take the reports listed above that Jewel printed out for you when you closed the month and make copies for each of your board members, and/or send pdf copies via email.
- Take your treasury laptop to the meeting. Try to arrive early and hand out the reports. Your board will probably go easy on you at first but they may ask you questions about the reports that you do not know how to answer. That’s ok. “I don’t know but I will find out and bring the answer to the next meeting.” is a perfectly acceptable answer. And then write the question down and make sure you bring the answer back next month. Contact your tech support if you need help with a question.
- As time goes on, learn to find historical information in Jewel so you can spot trends. Learn to navigate around so that you can answer questions right there at the meeting.
- Become the kind of treasurer that your church board can trust and respect. Yes, your job is to try to follow proper procedure, but you are working for them, and if you create an adversarial relationship with your board, the mission of the church will be negatively affected. Recommend and request? Yes, absolutely. Bring suggestions for compliance or ways to save time or money? Of course. Know your reports and be able to answer their questions? They will love you! Work with your board, not against them.
Complying with IRS and Labor Dept Policies
Pastoral Gifts
For pastors from your own conference:
- Pastors cannot receive any financial compensation regardless of the amount, it must be run through payroll.
- If they are full time, additional compensation can be a policy violation issue.
For pastors from other conferences:
- If the pastor is from another conference, preaching at a church in your conference, it is a policy violation to give them gifts.
- The church can offer to pay for travel/hotel expenses but no additional compensation beyond that.
For pastors from outside of the country:
- Giving gifts to pastors that are outside of the country is a violation of Federal laws.
- The church can offer to pay for travel/hotel expenses but no additional compensation beyond that.
Forms 1099
Payments for services to individuals, contractors, or unincorporated businesses totaling (as of 2026) $2000.00 or more in a calendar year must receive a 1099-NEC form by January 31 of the following year.
- See Form 1099 Information here for help with classifying employees.
- If in doubt, contact Human Resources at your conference office for assistance. Remember that all employment forms must be filled out prior to the employee’s first day of work.
- Also be aware that employees working over a specified number of hours a week may be required to be added to healthcare insurance or other benefits.
Other Important Items
- It is strongly recommended that you have at least two persons designated by the board as being able to sign checks, in case of emergencies.
- Have your board establish a limitation on purchases needing board approval. For example, a board could stipulate that any purchases over $100, or $200, or $500, must be approved by the board before purchase.
- Never make loans to anyone from church funds, even if authorized to do so by the church board.
- Verify with the conference whether your church or company should have its own Federal tax identification number, or if the conference has a number for you to use.
Complying with IRS & Labor Dept Policies contains more information on these topics.
Core Treasurer Standards
- Amounts are deposited every week when there are funds available for deposit
- The deposit ticket must equal the amount entered into Jewel.
- Cash and coin must be counted by two individuals not related, with their signatures on the receipt. (Cash Count Sheet forms are available for printing here.)
- Bank reconciliations must be done monthly and signed off on by the board's designee.
- Offerings must be receipted to the account they are designated or restricted for.
- All disbursements need appropriate backup (receipts, etc.)
- Disbursements that fall outside the normal voted budget need special board votes.
- All credit and debit card expenditures must be supported by purchase receipts and have appropriate approvals.
- Disbursements written to the treasurer need a signed approval by the pastor or head elder.
- A list showing disbursements made during the month must be presented to the board. Jewel's Check Report fulfills this requirement.
- Financial reports should be presented each month to the board and voted into the minutes.
- A budget should be presented and voted into the minutes once per year, then implemented in Jewel.
- No person should be paid by the church unless they qualify as an independent contractor. Otherwise, they need to be treated as an employee and paid through the conference. Please contact the conference’s HR department.
- Please never pay anyone in cash.
- All independent contractors must receive a 1099-NEC.
- All donors must receive a receipt of their donations at least once per year. These must be issued no later than January 31. If receipts cannot be directly delivered, they must be mailed by January 31. This is an IRS requirement.
- Charitable donation receipts cannot be given to a donor who specifies that their donation benefit a specific person or family.
- Remittances must be made on time. This is important.
Record Retention Information
This is a general guide. Check with your conference auditing department for information specific to your conference.
- 2 full years (if audited)
- Tithe envelopes
- 7 full years (if audited)
- Tithe receipts, bank statements, paid invoices.
- Permanent
- Tax exemption letters/certificates, general ledger, insurance information, building project information, all other.
- Do not throw records away! Make sure that records are destroyed when disposed of, usually by shredding.
For a more complete list, see File Management, Recordkeeping, Form Info
Church Audits!!
The treasurer’s books and other financial records relating to the work of the treasurer, the church school treasurer, and the treasurer of any other organization may be called for and inspected at any time by the conference auditor or by the pastor, district leader, first elder, or by any others authorized by the church board, but should not be made available to unauthorized persons (see p. 147). -- Church Manual p. 91
An audit may be intimidating but it is nothing to fear. Having your books audited is a good thing. These policies are in place to help protect the treasurer from allegations. Following these polices reduces the risk of embezzlement. If polices are not followed this can increase the risk of embezzlement along with hurting the creditability of the church and the treasurer.
Your conference auditors will let you know exactly what they need from you, and make the audit process as pain-free as possible.
Getting Help
Return to main page of Jewel Handbook
This page is based on material provided to Jewel by the Rocky Mountain Conference Audit Team.