Prep Work - what to do, what to do...

It's good to have resources, and maybe even some experience.  I sat down yesterday and wondered what I could do for the group that would make a huge impact but not take a lot of money.  Having an extensive background in accounting and organization development I started thinking about the accounting structure for the church.  I researched some of the most common commercial accouting software packages - the most inexpensive I found was $199.  Ok, admittedly that's retail price. But from experience I know that there's a place I could go to get the same software packages for a fraction of the cost - EBAY.

I've been using EBAY for years and have accumulated a list of vendors whom I have done business with and have networked with over the years.  In short, I found an accounting package from a company that I currently do business with.  This same accounting package was $229 online, a 2010 version no less. It comes unopened in its original packaging and unregistered. I went ahead and bought it.  Total cost with shipping and handling?  $4.   

In dealing with several local, small nonprofits over the years, I have found that the accounting aspect is one of the most neglected area in the organization. That's how organizational money goes missing. The accounting system or any nonprofit should make that nearly impossible. Another of the almost universal "failures" of most small nonprofits is the signatory structure.  I have a checks and balance philosophy that on the surface seems redundant, perhaps even unnecessary, but in the end it circumvents all of the typical problems of misappropriation of funds that plagues a lot of nonprofits.

I will spend the next couple of days working on a skeleton proposal for the accounting system for the Church.  Someone may ask at this point, "You mean you are setting up the accounting structure that the church will run on?"  My answer is, no.  What I will do is come up with a proposal that is a starting point for the church to work from. It will be up to the Board to design and implement the final structure.  This just gives the Board an idea about how to start, and what should be included in the financial structure of the organization.  It also gives the Board a commercially recognized software program with which to do it without having to buy one later down the road.