The Role of the PCC Treasurer
A short guide to the responsibilities of a parish treasurer
The Treasurers’ role
The Church of England has no formal guidelines as to who should be a treasurer. He/she does not have to be a qualified accountant but the role is more than just a bookkeeper. The knowledge needed and the amount of work involved will depend on the size of parish, and whether there is any support from others.
The most important point of reference is “The Charities Act 1993 and the PCC” published by Church House Publishing. Two copies of the 3rd edition, which includes the SORP 2005 revisions, were sent to every parish at the end of 2006. This includes examples of annual accounts together with explanations of most areas of concern. You can download a copy from http://www.cofe.anglican.org/papers/index.html. Another useful reference book is “Practical Church Management” by the barrister James Behrens which is a useful guide for both the PCC treasurer and the PCC in general.
This latter book lists the main tasks of a treasurer as:-
§ Carry out the financial policy of the PCC
§ Prepare a budget
§ Record all cash transactions
§ Keep a watch on the finances of the church
§ Keep the PCC aware of its duties
§ Encourage the wider mission of the church
§ Set up a system of book-keeping
§ Prepare the annual accounts for the APCM
§ Free the parish priest from worry over church finances
But, it is important to remember that the PCC is ultimately responsible for the financial affairs of the parish, and that the treasurer does the work on its behalf.
§ make sure you understand the difference between unrestricted and restricted funds – the accounting guidelines insist that restricted income must be shown completely separately – that is using separate columns, or a separate account
§ designated accounts may also be used to earmark certain funds for a particular purpose, without them actually being legally restricted – this is more flexible and a better choice for such things as flower funds etc
§ you do not need a separate bank account for each fund, and conversely a single fund may be spread across more than one bank account eg the General Fund may be in both a current account and interest bearing deposit account.
Having kept the accounts for the year you come to the dreaded annual accounts. To be correct it is the Annual Report and Accounts as there are quite specific legal requirement as to the content of the report. This report should be given to the Independent Examiner together with the accounts. However, I hasten to add that it is not the Treasurer’s job to write the annual report. It is the PCC’s joint responsibility, and very often the PCC secretary will combine the various bits of information required.
As far as the accounts are concerned I cannot emphasise enough the need to follow the guidelines. The accounts do not need to be complicated, but if the suggested headings are used they will make it easier to complete the Annual Finance Return to the Archbishops’ Council. This return is used for national statistics from which this Diocese’s Quota to the National Church is calculated, and it is important that it is completed accurately, as soon as possible after you have had your accounts approved.
Although the rules may be frustrating, they are the law of the land which we have to follow if we are to retain charitable status – worth £38M in tax recovery to the Church in 1998.
Keeping records
If I was asked to give just one piece of advice to a parish treasurer it would be write the books up every week, and reconcile the books to the bank statement regularly. All right, that’s two, but they are closely linked because most problems are caused by putting off the paperwork until it builds up to a mountain, and then having difficulty tracing the unrecorded transactions.
In addition:-
§ record everything
§ pay as little out in cash as possible
§ always have two people to sign cheques, and never sign cheques in blank
§ maximise the income on spare parish money – most parishes opt to use the CBF Deposit account.
§ try to be consistent when entering items in the cash book analysis – this will make the preparation of the year end accounts much easier
§ make sure you receive a bank statement at least monthly.
§ if you think your bank charges are excessive be prepared to change banks – tell your bank you have negotiated a better deal, and the likelihood is they will match it (but make sure you have tied up the deal before using this threat!)
In many parishes, possibly the majority, the treasurer’s job can be a lonely one. So, encourage spreading the load.
§ Consider setting up a finance group, consisting of three or four people who are prepared to support you, and do some of the leg work.
§ Ideally it should not be the treasurer who promotes Christian Stewardship – you want to avoid “the treasurer is always asking for money syndrome”
§ Can somebody be found to keep the planned giving records?
§ Is there someone who would oversee handling the cash? On this subject, always use two people to count loose cash, including planned giving envelopes.
§ Try to go to meetings and seminars arranged by the Diocese and your Deanery to pick up ideas from others
§ In large parishes with a paid administrator, that person might be able to keep the computerised accounts.
Of course, if others are handling cash there needs to be a system set up. Use a weekly collection sheet to suit you – such as the one in James Behrens’ book.
Accounting Records
Accounts can be kept in manual ledgers, or on a computer. A standard accounting book such as the “Cathedral” analysis books can be used, or we can supply headed accounting sheets at nominal cost. Transferring monthly analysis totals from the cash books to a spreadsheet package such as Excel makes the year-end accounts much simpler and enables performance against budget to be evaluated on a regular basis.
If you wish to use a computer system virtually any accounts package can be used, but be careful when keeping track of the different funds; this is the “3rd entry” not available in most commercial packages. Alternatively you can use a specialised church accounting package such as the one produced by Data Developments called “Cashcall” (further details of this and other programmes can be obtained from the Parish Finance Adviser). If you do use a computer please remember to back up regularly and, if you are using your own computer, consider how you will pass your records to your successor. The Inland Revenue requires that all accounts records are kept for a minimum of six years.
What to do and when
You can download a brief summary of the main tasks and when to do them by clicking here.
Advice
The Parish Finance Adviser, Mary Makin, is available to assist you. She can be contacted on 023 9289 9655 during normal office hours most Wednesdays and Fridays or on mary.makin@portsmouth.anglican.org
Published by the Parish Finance Adviser, Diocese of Portsmouth 08/07
