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Compliance · Most Read
The Complete Minister Housing Allowance Guide
Everything a pastor and church board needs to know about designating, reporting, and staying compliant with the housing allowance exclusion.
Complete guide
Church Planting
Church Planting Financial Guide
Everything you need to get the business side of your new church set up right — from legal entity formation and EIN to accounting, payroll, and online giving. A step-by-step walkthrough for church planters who are wearing every hat at once.
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Leadership
The financial conversations every senior pastor and executive pastor eventually faces.
4 articles
Leadership
Pastor Compensation: What's Appropriate?
A framework for setting fair, defensible pastor pay — including how to benchmark, what benefits count, and how to document the decision.
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Leadership
Financial Transparency in the Church
How much should you share with your congregation, and how? A practical guide to building trust without opening every line item.
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Leadership
How to Build and Fund a Salary Support Plan
Step-by-step guidance for ministry leaders raising personal support — including the financial infrastructure you need before you ask anyone for a dollar.
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Leadership
When Does a Church Need a CFO?
The signals that tell you it's time for financial leadership — and what options actually make sense at your stage and budget.
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Compliance
The rules that protect your organization, your donors, and your staff. Get these right.
5 articles
Compliance · Most Read
The Complete Minister Housing Allowance Guide
How the housing allowance works, how to designate it correctly, what happens if you get it wrong, and how Dime handles it for clients.
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Compliance
Does Your Church Need 501(c)(3) Status?
Churches are automatically tax-exempt — so what's the actual reason to file? We break it down without the jargon.
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Compliance
Should Your Church File Form 1023 and 990?
The honest answer to two questions that trip up a lot of churches — and what the filing actually protects you from.
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Compliance
1099s for Churches: What You Need to Know
Who gets one, when they're due, what happens if you miss the deadline, and how to make sure you don't.
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Compliance
Classifying Church Workers: Employee or Contractor?
Getting this wrong creates real IRS exposure. Here's how to classify correctly — including the minister gray area most churches don't know about.
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Financial Health
What good financial management actually looks like for a growing church.
4 articles
Financial Health
How Much Cash Reserve Should Your Church Have?
The target number, how most churches stack up, and a simple plan to build toward it without disrupting your budget.
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Financial Health
How Much Debt Can Your Church Afford?
Debt is a tool, not a trap — if you size it correctly. Here's how lenders think about church debt capacity, and how you should too.
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Financial Health
Budgeting for New and Growing Churches
How to build a realistic first budget, what categories most new churches forget, and when a budget stops being useful.
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Financial Health
What Financial Health Actually Looks Like for a Church
Not "profitability" — but what the actual metrics are for a church that's operating from a position of strength and margin.
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Giving
How gifts work, what's deductible, and the special situations that catch churches off guard.
5 articles
Giving
Are Donations to Your Church Tax Deductible?
The answer is usually yes — but there are specific conditions, and some common giving scenarios that aren't deductible at all.
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Giving
How to Accept Stock Donations at Your Church
Stock gifts are one of the most tax-efficient ways to give — here's how to set up the infrastructure to accept them and what to do when they arrive.
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Giving
Can Your Church Accept Crypto Donations?
Yes — and it's simpler than you'd think. Here's how crypto giving works, what the IRS requires, and how to handle it without a finance degree.
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Giving
Are Missionary Payments Taxable?
How to structure payments to missionaries correctly — the difference between taxable compensation and non-taxable support, and how to document it.
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Giving
How to Plan and Fund a Capital Project
Building campaigns, designated funds, and restricted gifts — the financial structure your capital project needs before you announce anything publicly.
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Year End
Close the year right. The deadlines you can't miss and the tasks most churches forget.
2 articles
Year End
The Complete Church Accounting Year-End Checklist
Every task your finance team needs to complete before January 31 — organized by deadline, with notes on what to do if you're behind.
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Year End
How to Prepare Year-End Giving Statements
What every giving statement must include, common mistakes that invalidate the deduction for your donors, and how to send them on time every year.
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Still have questions? That's what we're here for.
The Guidebook covers the most common questions. But every church is different — and if your situation is more complicated, our team is a quick conversation away.