Church treasurer's report template

Reconcile each account before you write the report

Start with the bank statement, not your books. Don't give the board a single balance until the two agree.

Take the statement's ending balance. Add deposits you've made that the bank hasn't posted yet, called deposits in transit. Subtract checks you've written that haven't cleared, called outstanding checks. What's left is the adjusted bank balance, and it should equal your books. When it does, the template's Status column reads Reconciled.

Bank fees and interest work the other way: they're on the statement but not in your books yet. Record them as a disbursement or a receipt first, then reconcile.

In the sample month, Example Community Church's checking statement ends September at $19,437.50. A $1,240 deposit made on the 30th didn't post until October 1, and two checks for $3,812.50 haven't cleared. A board member reading the statement would think the church has $2,572.50 more than it does.

If the adjusted balance doesn't match, the Status column shows how far off it is. Find the difference before the meeting. It's usually a deposit or check that's missing from one side, an amount typed wrong, or a fee you haven't recorded.

Write the report: start, in, out, end

Robert's Rules of Order says a treasurer's report can be as short as the cash balance on hand, "or of this balance less outstanding obligations." The template gives each bank account one row: the balance at the start of the month, receipts, disbursements, transfers between your own accounts, and the balance at the end. Receipts and disbursements then break into categories, and each total has to match section 1 (Cash by bank account).

The sample church started September with $56,740 in two accounts, took in $44,625, paid out $43,985, and ended with $57,380. It moved $2,000 of building fund gifts from checking to savings. That's a transfer, not spending, so the transfers cancel out.

Then use the second version Robert's gives: subtract the bills you owe but haven't paid. The sample church owes $2,180, so its cash less unpaid bills is $55,200. That's the number to say out loud at the meeting.

Fund balances and budget vs. actual go on a different report, the church financial report template.

Hand it to someone who doesn't sign checks

Before the meeting, give the bank statement, the reconciliation, and the list of deposits in transit and outstanding checks to someone who doesn't write or sign checks. A treasurer's manual from a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) presbytery calls it "desirable" for the person who reconciles to have no authority to sign checks or make deposits, and Church Law & Tax says to "have someone outside the bookkeeping process handle monthly bank reconciliations." That person checks each balance against the statement, marks off each item on the list, and signs the "Reconciliation checked by" line.

At the board meeting

If your board follows Robert's Rules, it doesn't vote on the monthly report. Robert's says no action of acceptance is "required—or proper" on a treasurer's financial report. If your bylaws or denomination require one, follow them.

A vote wouldn't protect you anyway. It only says the board heard the report. What protects you is a reconciliation and a second signature that anyone can check against the bank.

The year-end report is different. Robert's says an annual report should always be audited, and a committee of two or more members can do it. The board then accepts the auditors' report, not the treasurer's.

Matching bank activity in Grain

The template works as long as someone types in each month's balances and marks off each check by hand. Grain imports your bank activity through Plaid, and you match and categorize it in one place, with a complete audit trail. It keeps restricted and unrestricted fund balances too. Starter is free for churches with up to $20,000 a month in expenses. See church bank reconciliation in Grain.

To close the month before you write the report, use the church month-end checklist.