Category: Church Paperwork

  • How to Count Church Offerings

    How to Count Church Offerings

    Part 1 in a 4-part series on How to Count Church Offerings This is one of those areas that you can’t just improvise or fake. Every church needs to know how to count church offerings. Money can feel complicated in our American churches because money is so intertwined with our culture. All of us seem […]

  • Church Workers Comp

    Church Workers Comp

    part 4 in a 4-part series on church plant insurance issues: Church Workers Comp Insurance is mandatory in many states, but not all of them. Best not get caught without it if it’s required. First, a basic primer on Workers Comp Insurance: No More Lawsuits Back in the day, if someone got hurt on the […]

  • Insuring Church Plant Trailers

    Insuring Church Plant Trailers

    part 3 in a 4-part series on church plant insurance issues: You’re a mobile church and you tote equipment to and from your rented worship facility every week in a trailer. Even if you already have a church plant insurance policy, they don’t include insuring church plant trailers in the standard policy. Here are a […]

  • Church Insurance without a Building

    Church Insurance without a Building

    part 2 in a 4-part series on church plant insurance issues: Along with the government, the insurance industry seems to be hung up on church buildings. But you’re a church planter; how do you get church insurance without a building? You’re going to want church insurance sooner rather than later, even when it’s just a […]

  • Church Plant Insurance

    Church Plant Insurance

    part 1 in a 4-part series on church plant insurance issues: There are few things planters want to think about less than church plant insurance. But with all the lawyers and wacky lawsuits out there, your organization simply has to be covered as a cost of being a nonprofit organization here in the US. Don’t […]

  • Church Board vs Officers – What’s the Difference?

    Church Board vs Officers – What’s the Difference?

    So you’re in the throws of hammering out Bylaws for your new church. Every nonprofit needs them; they simply spell out how the association or corporation will govern itself. The sample Bylaws you got from a friend describes a Board of Directors/Elders. But then it mentions Corporate Officers. Wait, aren’t those the same thing? I’ve […]

  • Are Churches Required to File Form 990?

    Are Churches Required to File Form 990?

    Other nonprofits have to file an annual Form 990 tax return, but I sometimes get asked, “Are Churches Required to File Form 990?” Nonprofits spend hours and significant dollars preparing and filing some version of the IRS Form 990 every year. It’s important to know if your church is required to before you go committing […]

  • State Nonprofit Filing

    State Nonprofit Filing

    part 4 in a 4-part series about Church Tax Exemption Depending on where your church is, there may be a state nonprofit filing requirement. This is different from incorporating, getting federal 501c3 nonprofit status, and your sales tax exemption. I’ve seen two different reasons for state nonprofit filing requirements, depending on the state: 1. Nonprofit […]

  • How to Get Your Church Sales Tax Exemption

    How to Get Your Church Sales Tax Exemption

    part 3 in a 4-part series about Church Tax Exemption An easily-overlooked bit of paperwork for new plants is the church sales tax exemption. If you’re still paying sales tax, you could be throwing away hundreds of dollars each year, money that could be used to further your mission. No state is going to require […]