Most churches budget on a calendar year, meaning the spreadsheets come out in full force about the same time as pumpkin spice lattes. Budget season is just around the corner.
Creating a church budget is a laborious—and somewhat thankless—task. It can take several weeks to finalize an annual budget.
Every line item matters. God brought this point to my mind a few years ago during the budget process at my church. As we poured over pages of documents, a mundane expense stood out to me: $1,500 for Bibles. It’s a small amount in our overall budget and easily overlooked. Then, I thought about all the stories tied to that budget line item.
We give away Bibles. We ask our members to take Bibles and give them to others. I’ve heard countless stories from my church about these Bibles. Stories of people coming to Christ. Stories of people weeping over receiving a copy of God’s Word. Stories of family members, coworkers, and friends who were reached because someone took them a Bible. God works miracles in the ordinary. Every line in the budget matters because every person matters to Jesus.
The process of creating the church budget is important. In many ways, it’s a ministry roadmap for the upcoming year. As you walk through this budget season, here are six quick tips to consider.
- Start by projecting revenue first. Too many churches start by projecting expenses. It’s an understandable mistake because expenses represent how funds are spent on ministry. The problem is you can’t spend the funds unless they are first given. Dreaming about big-ticket ministry efforts may be fun, but it’s not wise to dream up a budget. When you start with what you expect to take in, you can better prioritize your expenses.
- Include deferred maintenance in your operating budget. Deferred maintenance is what happens when you postpone needed repairs to save money. The problem with deferring these repairs is that they become more expensive the longer you delay them. Repairing a leaky roof doesn’t get any cheaper with time. Put a deferred maintenance line item in your budget to take care of delayed repairs. Some churches have decades of delayed deferred maintenance projects. Start working on them this year.
- Include a contingency fund in your operating budget. Many churches do not have a contingency fund for unforeseen expenses. A church should have about three months of expenses set aside for emergencies. Start building this fund through your operating budget. In essence, you pay yourself with this tactic. As funds come into the operating budget, a portion is set aside for the contingency fund.
- Keep personnel costs between 45% and 55% of the total budget. Personnel costs include the salaries and benefits of all employees, part-time and full-time. A church with limited or no debt can be on the higher end of this range. A church with substantial debt will need to be on the lower end of this range, if not lower.
- Create a priority list for any year-end surplus ahead of time. Whatever group makes the financial decisions for the church should have a good idea of how any surpluses will be allocated. Don’t wait until the surplus exists. It’s more challenging to prioritize projects after a surplus exists than before a surplus exists. People tend to fight harder for their own agenda when money is in the bank. Negotiate ahead of time and save yourself a headache.
- Pray through every line item. We should not expect God to work through the budget unless it gets special attention through prayer.
Crafting a budget is not the most exciting ministry, but it’s critical to the health of the church. A carefully planned budget will facilitate more efficient ministry and encourage generous people to give. God rewards a church that honors Him through good financial practices.
