Wow, it's already December! Where has the time gone? It's time for the "End of the Year Checklist for Church Treasurers and Bookkeepers" (below) where we can check things off of our list to ensure that we are not forgetting nothing before January 1st, 2025! Also, check out the 2025 New Year Calendars below available for free!

I also have some very valuable information below on "Year End Tips" which includes 25 Year End Tasks and Reminders for you to check out!

Christmas is a very special holiday where we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord. Christmas is definitely one of my favorite holidays! We have some "Christmas Cards, Crafts, Games, Forms, Ideas & More" available to download and print 24/7 to help you celebrate your Christmas events at your church and/or home.

Are you finding yourself overwhelmed in the church office? Shepherdbase will save you lots of time by tracking memberships, contributions, attendance, easily access annual contribution statements/letters and much more and it's On Sale Right Now Through December 31st, 2024 By High Demand for ONLY $29.99. Also, the Pastoral Recordbase (Event/Sermon Tracking Database) is On Sale Right Now Through December 31st, 2024 by High Demand for ONLY $19.99 so Hurry and Enjoy all these Savings!

Contents-At-A-Glance

• "End of the Year Checklist for Church Treasurers and Bookkeepers"
  
• "Year End Tips"
  
• Christmas Cards, Crafts, Games, Ideas & More
  
• FreeChurchForms.com New Web Pages with New Forms
  
• Shepherdbase (Church Membership Database) on Sale Right Now!
  
• Pastoral Recordbase (Event/Sermon Tracking Database) on Sale Right Now!
  
• Church Forms CD
  
• Church Office Packages #1 & #2 – Special Limited Offer!
  
• Free eBook - ”Top 10 Tips on How to Organize Your Office”
  
• FreeChurchForms.com Table of Contents
  

"End of the Year Checklist for Church Treasurers and Bookkeepers"

Most church leaders do not look forward to December of every year which is like a whirlwind due to the long checklist of things to do!

It's the season when Pastors are planning extra holiday services, church staff members decorating the sanctuary for Christmas with all the pretty lights, etc. So when the end of the calendar year rolls around it is very easy to forget about the very important end of the year responsibilities. This is why churches need to always have an End of the year checklist available to ensure these responsibilities have been accomplished!

The checklist below for Church Treasurers and Bookkeepers (2 page document) for the end of the year includes:

• Checklist Title - End-of-the-Year Checklist for Church Treasurers and Bookkeepers
• End-of-the-Year tax and Administrative Responsibilities - It’s that time of the year! (Check the box when completed.)
• Housing Allowance – The board or congregation designate a housing allowance for [Current Year] for ministers who own or rent their home (and for ministers who live in a parsonage and who pay some of their housing expenses).
• W-4s – To ensure accurate tax withholding, REMIND all your employees that they should review their W-4 form and submit a new form if there have been any changes due to marriage, divorce or dependents (child turned 21, birth adoption, etc.) since previous year.
• Written Notice to Donors – Donors should be notified either in the church bulletin, newsletter and/or in a letter from the church not to file their federal income tax return before they receive their contribution letter/statement from the church. Currently, donors will not be able to deduct individual contributions of $250 or more if they file a tax return before receiving a contribution letter/statement from their church. If you're looking for a church membership database that will easily let you send out contribution statements and letters by your deadline then check out the database I created, Shepherdbase.
• Christmas Gifts - Christmas gifts made by the church or congregation to a minister or lay staff member has to be handled correctly. These transfers represent taxable income and not a tax-free gift a majority of the time and must be reported as income on the recipient’s W-2 form. (Download the checklist for more on Christmas Gifts.)
• End of the Year Contribution Rules - The general rule is that a contribution is effective when delivered. Example: A check deposited in the church offering in January of 2025 cannot be deducted in 2024, even if it’s backdated to 2024. One exception to the rule is checks that are mailed and postmarked in 2024 are deductible in 2024 even if they’re not received until 2025.
• End-of-the-Year Business Expenses – If your church has any outstanding reimbursements to employees, etc. reimburse those now. Caution: If you have an accountable reimbursement arrangement, distributing any balance in the reimbursement account to your employees at the end of the year may make all reimbursements for the year nonaccountable.
• End-of-the-Year Transactions – Make sure all transactions are entered by the end of the year including donations, other revenue, reimbursements, purchases and payroll (taxes, retirement, flex spending, insurance) transactions prior to closing the books.
• Review Payroll Providers – If your payroll service is holding FICA out for your minister this is incorrect. Many churches believe that holding out social security and medicate taxes on a minister’s paycheck is a choice but it is not. The IRS is very clear that ministers have a dual status with them and withholding and matching FICA is unacceptable. When it comes to paying employees, laws and the IRS have made the payroll function a time consuming nightmare for churches, nonprofit organizations, and small businesses alike. (See checklist for more on Review Payroll Providers.)
• Tax Forms and Publications – December is a good time to order your [Next Year] copy of IRS Publication 15 withholding tables), and copies of Forms W-2, W-3, 1099, and 1096 that will issue for compensation paid in [Current Year]. Other forms to reorder include W-4, W-9 and 8283. To order forms, call the IRS toll free at (800) 829-3676 or download forms from the IRS website (www.irs.gov).
• Budget - Revisit the operating and capital budget. If necessary, update and propose necessary adjustments.
• Accounts Review – Generate all the Annual Reports, Bank Account Balances, Fund Balances, Internal Controls for Next Year and Budget Preparation.
• Reclassification of Workers – Make sure to identify if any worker should be reclassified as an employee. The first of the year is the best time to reclassify them as employees. Remember, if you have any doubt that your worker(s) would be classified as an Independent Contractor…it’s better to error on the side of caution and classify them as an employee. Consult with a tax professional about correcting any previous misclassifications of ministers and lay employees for federal tax reporting purposes.
• Update Policy and Procedures – Review, update and/or create policy and procedures such as: • Benevolence • Bookkeeping Practices • Internal Audit Checklist • Travel • Contributions

"Year End Tips"

It's time to begin closing out the year for your church or nonprofit! Take a moment to review the year end checklist below that will outline the necessary steps to ensure a seamless transition into the new year with your accounting, payroll, budgets, donations, reimbursements, and more.

As the year end draws near, one of my initial tasks is to generate a report from all my clients' accounting files that provides a summary of the year's transactions "by account." Here are a few key areas I focus on:

• 1. Gift Cards: I check for any gift cards purchased for staff, gifts, prizes, or charitable purposes, as these must be "tracked"! We try to monitor these purchases right away so we can set them up in a "cash on hand" account within the accounting system. We treat the original purchase of the cards as a "transfer" from the bank account to the new "Gift Card" register. Each time a card is used or given away, we need to manually enter the "expense" ... until that "cash on hand" account is zeroed out. Lisa London, my co-writer on our How-to book for churches, has a great article on how to handle gift cards on her "accountant beside you" site AND provides a free log that you can use to track those gift cards!
• 2. Potential 1099 payments: I'll delve deeper into this more below, but it's important to note that there is a specific form required for payments to independent contractors that exceed $600. Guest speakers are a prime example of individuals who might need a 1099-NEC form.

  Starting in October, we pull "vendor summary" reports to identify who may require 1099s and ensure we have their W-9s. I export this report to Excel, sort it from highest to lowest, and remove entries under $600 for the year. Next, I refine the list by eliminating corporations and nonprofits (who do not need 1099s). We then proceed to collect W-9s for those who qualify. After closing the books for the previous year, we revisit this report in January to verify totals and check if any independent contractors have reached or exceeded the $600 threshold.

  NOTE: Do not issue 1099s for recipients of benevolence payments! However, ensure that these payments are well-documented and disbursed in accordance with the guidelines of your benevolence fund!

Christmas Cards, Crafts, Games, Ideas & More

Does your Sunday School children or children at home love to play games? If yes, then they will love these free fun, downloadable, Christmas Party Games available below!

Just click on the link below to access the free printable Christmas cards, crafts, games, forms, ideas and activities for your events at your church and/or home.

FreeChurchForms.com New Web Pages with New Forms

• 2025 Church Calendar (One Page)
• 2025 Scriptural Monthly Calendar

Shepherdbase (Church Membership Database) on Sale Right Now!

Shepherdbase (Church Membership Database) is a very simple and user friendly, but very powerful and will:

• Track member's information along with a place for member's picture and information in the Directory Report, plus automates First Time Visitor Letters for new members,
• Track member's contributions and automates their IRS Contribution Statements and merges Annual Contribution Letters at the end of the year along with merges First Time Visitor Letters and Donation Receipts,
• Filter church member's information with the click of a button,
• Track Church Attendance and automates Attendance Report.

Pastoral Recordbase (Event/Sermon Tracking Database) on Sale Right Now!

You will also receive the Event Certificate Templates (4) and the Event Planning Tracker in MS Excel free as a Bonus for purchasing Pastoral Recordbase! Hurry and Enjoy these Savings!

Pastoral Recordbase is a very simple and user friendly, but very powerful and will:

• Track Different Types of Events (Baby Dedications, Baptisms, Funerals, Weddings, and Any type of Events). Also, certificates, documents, and reports can be easily attached to review or print if needed.
• Track Sermons (Pastor's or any other sermons). Also, sermon notes, documents, and reports can be easily attached to review or print if needed.
• Track Phone Numbers (Pastor's phone book to include ministers, etc.). Also, attachments and reports can be easily attached to review or print if needed. Track Church Information (Church name, address, etc.)


If you purchased Pastoral Recordbase before December 3rd, 2022 and would like to receive the latest new updated version (upgraded the Baptismal Record/Report) free of charge contact me with your name, email and the approximate date of your purchase and I will email you the updated/free version of the Pastoral Recordbase Package and new guide ASAP.

Church Forms CD

The Church CD includes:

• Church forms, certificates, flyers...(1,000+ forms each in PDF and Microsoft Office Word 2007 or higher version format - some in Excel). Also continually updated to include the latest forms created.

• FreeChurchForms.com Table of Contents that includes folders/subfolders named the page in which they were generated and the name of the files under the folders.
• Bonus#1 - Church Offering Envelope Templates#2 (short and long) are included in the CD.
• Bonus#2 - Expense Report in MS Excel format that will automatically calculate expenses.
• Bonus#3 - Beautiful 12 Month Photo Auto-Year Calendar in Microsoft Office Excel format that you can easily automate any year you want with the click of a button and change any of the photos very easily on any month you choose.
• Bonus#4 -eBook - "Top Ten Tips on How to Organize Your Office"

Church Office Packages #1 & #2 – Special Limited Offer!

The Church Office Package #1 Instant Download (No CDs) is now available for anyone in or outside the United States for only $40.99 - No Shipping Costs! So Hurry and Enjoy these Savings!!

The Church Office Package #2 includes Shepherdbase (Church Membership Database) CD, Pastoral Recordbase (Event/Sermon Tracking Database) and the Church Forms CD along with all the Free Bonuses and a Special Business Card Templates (4) Bonus for only $57.99 plus shipping and handling ($10.00 in U.S. Only)! Savings of $12.98!

The Church Office Package #2 Instant Download (No CDs) is now available for anyone in or outside the U.S. for only $57.99 - No Shipping Costs! So Hurry and Enjoy these Savings!!

Free eBook - ”Top Ten Tips on How to Organize Your Office”

I have worked as Church Secretary for over 27 years and in several different secretarial areas with different jobs, and I have learned the hard way how to organize more than one office. Take advantage of these tips in this free eBook and they will help get your office organized. Just click on the link below to download your free copy today.

FreeChurchForms.com Table of Contents

If you have any questions, you can easily contact me or reply to this newsletter. I will get back to you promptly with any questions you might have.

Have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

Terressa

Editor & Owner of FreeChurchForms.com