“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
1) Does the finance committee meet regularly and are the members’ professional backgrounds appropriate for service on the committee?
2) Does the finance committee present a proposed annual budget to the parish council for review and then to the general assembly for review and approval? Is this report made available to the general membership prior to the general assembly? Does the finance committee publish a monthly financial report and post this publicly in the parish facility for all to see? Or include this as part of the e-newsletter to the community?
3) Does the finance committee routinely publish statistics including number of registered and/or pledged parishioners, stewardship giving and an annual end of the year comprehensive financial statement which includes revenue, expenses and a balance sheet?
4) Does the finance committee include statistics from prior years for comparison and identify trends?
5) Does the finance committee release quarterly or semi-annual “budget updates” that show how actual revenues and expenses compare to the approved budget?
6) Does the finance committee ensure that the parish has sufficient operational reserves in an unrestricted fund?
7) Does the finance committee working with the parish council undertake an effort to establish an endowment fund encouraging parishioners to remember the parish in their estate plans?
8) Does the finance committee have policies on conflicts of interest whistleblowers as recommended by the best practices for nonprofits?
9) Is there a regularly scheduled audit of the parish finances which is conducted by an independent audit committee? Are the results of this audit made available to the parishioners?
10) Are the parish facilities inspected by a competent building inspector periodically for routine maintenance? Are the inspection results taken into account when budgeting?
11) Are there sufficient oversight policies for receipting/handling and disbursement of parish funds handled by individuals? Are bank and other account statements received and reviewed independently by more than one individual?
12) Is the parish well served by the software presently being utilized to manage all finances? Is the information backed up daily?