Church Admin Toolkit
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Church administration guides

Plain-English answers to the questions church administrators, treasurers and board members ask most.

Money

Budgets, staffing costs and financial controls.

Money

How much should a church spend on staff?

What percent of a church budget typically goes to salaries and benefits, what the common ranges are, and how to judge your own number.

Money

How to build a church budget

A step-by-step process for building a realistic church budget: start with actuals, estimate giving, set priorities, and keep it on track.

Money

Church financial controls checklist

Practical internal controls for counting offerings, paying bills, reconciling bank accounts and protecting your church from theft and error.

People

Hiring, handbooks, pay and leave.

People

Employee or independent contractor? A guide for churches

How the IRS decides whether a church worker is an employee or contractor, which church roles are tricky, and what to do about ministers and California.

People

What to include in a church employee handbook

A section-by-section list for a church employee handbook, from at-will language and anti-harassment policies to leave, expenses and technology.

People

How to hire church staff: a practical process

A step-by-step hiring process for church staff: define the need, write the job description, interview well, check references and make a clean offer.

People

Paid sick leave for California churches

What California's paid sick leave law requires of church employers: the 40-hour minimum, accrual and caps, permitted uses and recordkeeping.

Governance

Bylaws, boards, meetings and minutes.

Governance

How a church board works: three common models

The main church governance models, who makes which decisions, and the duties every board member owes to the church.

Governance

Church bylaws: what to include

A plain-English outline of the sections most church bylaws contain, with sample bylaws from two denominations to compare against your own.

Governance

Robert's Rules of Order for church meetings, simplified

The handful of Robert's Rules ideas that cover most church meetings: motions, quorum, voting thresholds and when your bylaws override the book.

Governance

How to run a church board meeting

A practical approach to preparing, chairing and following up a church board meeting so it is shorter, calmer and produces decisions.

Governance

How to write church meeting minutes

What church minutes should and should not include, a simple structure, and tips for keeping them accurate and useful.

Compliance

Year-end filings, insurance and safety policies.

Compliance

Church year-end payroll and tax reporting checklist

A checklist of the year-end payroll, contractor and donor-receipt tasks a church office typically handles, with the key IRS deadlines.

Compliance

Church insurance basics: coverage to ask about

The main types of insurance a church should review, what each covers in plain terms, and questions to ask your agent.

Compliance

Church volunteer screening policy: what to include

The common elements of a volunteer screening policy for children and youth ministry, and why legal review matters.

General information only, not legal, tax or HR advice. Check your bylaws and local rules.