The board has approved bringing in an outside bookkeeper, or is close to it, and the practical question follows: what actually happens next, and what will be asked of us? The first three months are mostly about order. Each step depends on the one before it, and a church that knows the sequence can tell whether things are on track.
The outline below follows the four steps Danielson Bookkeeping & Consulting uses, described on how we work: consultation, records review, written scope, then onboarding and a monthly rhythm. Most careful bookkeepers follow a similar order. This guide describes sequence, not dates. How long each step takes depends on the state of the records, so a firm schedule belongs in the written scope.
Step 1: The consultation
The first step is a conversation about your organization, your current bookkeeping, your software, and what leadership needs to see. Nothing is fixed or entered at this stage. The church explains how money comes in and goes out today and who handles each part; the bookkeeper explains what they do and do not do. A short list of accounts, funds and current roles makes this conversation far more productive. See what to gather before a consultation.
Step 2: The records review
Next comes a look at the books and statements to understand how current and accurate they are. This is where the real starting point becomes clear. Typical findings in a church file include bank accounts that have not been reconciled for some months, fund balances that do not add up to the cash in the bank, and giving records that disagree with deposits.
None of that is unusual, and it is not a verdict on the volunteer who kept the books. It simply determines whether the work ahead is ordinary monthly bookkeeping, or cleanup first. The guide to what a church books cleanup covers explains what that project involves.
Step 3: The written scope
Before any work starts, the church receives a written scope: what is included, what is not, the schedule, and the fee. This is the document the board approves. It should make clear who does each task, the monthly dates both sides commit to, and whether cleanup is a separate piece of work. If anything discussed in the consultation is missing from the page, ask for it to be added. See what a scope of work should spell out.
Step 4: Onboarding, then cleanup if it is needed
Onboarding has two parts, and the order matters.
- Access is set up. The bookkeeper is added as a separate, named user in the accounting software wherever the software allows it, with access limited to what the work requires. View-only access to bank information is used where it is enough. The church and the bookkeeper agree how statements and payroll documents will be shared.
- Any cleanup is completed. If the review found unreconciled accounts, miscoded transactions or fund balances that need rebuilding, that work is done before the monthly routine begins. Monthly reports rest on the balances carried forward, so starting the routine on top of unreliable numbers only repeats the problem.
The monthly rhythm
Once the opening position is sound, the work settles into a cycle: transactions recorded and coded to the right fund, every bank and card account reconciled, and reports delivered to leadership on an agreed monthly date. The first report or two usually prompt questions and small changes to layout as the board works out what it wants to see. The guide to a financial report for church leadership describes what a complete monthly package contains.
What the church still does
Outsourcing the bookkeeping does not outsource responsibility for the money. Four jobs stay with the church, and the monthly dates depend on them.
- Grant and maintain access. Someone with administrator rights adds the bookkeeper, and tells them when an account, card or giving platform is opened or closed.
- Keep counting and depositing. Offerings are still counted by two people, recorded on a signed count sheet and deposited intact, with the count sheet passed to the bookkeeper. The routine is in counting and depositing offerings.
- Approve bills. The people authorized by the church approve invoices and sign checks or release payments. The person recording a transaction should not be the person approving it.
- Answer coding questions. Each month a few transactions will need explaining: which fund a gift was for, what a card charge bought, which ministry an invoice belongs to. Name one person to answer, and agree how quickly.
A reasonable check at the end of three months
Dates will vary, but by the end of the first quarter a church can fairly ask a few yes-or-no questions. Is every account reconciled through the last closed month? Do the fund balances add up to the cash on hand? Are reports arriving on the agreed date? Does the board understand what it is reading? Where the answer is no, the reason should be something specific that both sides can name, such as cleanup still in progress or documents not yet received.
To begin at step one, request a consultation, or read how the firm approaches church bookkeeping.
