Volunteers play a big part in many churches. But volunteers can only go so far. You will need skilled professionals at some point, especially when it comes to managing the books.

Many churches can’t hire full-time accountants because they don’t have enough money. And that doesn’t count the cost of hiring someone. How much it costs to hire a full-time bookkeeper can depend on things like benefits, retirement, health insurance, and more.

Having a full-time bookkeeper can be too expensive, especially for a church that doesn’t need full-time work in that area. How can churches make the most of their budget and keep track of their finances at the same time?

Virtual church bookkeeping services could be the answer. A virtual assistant with experience in bookkeeping can help a church keep its finances in order, and they don’t have to do it full-time. So, churches can use the skills and experience of a professional who has worked as a bookkeeper before, but they don’t have to pay for it.

What a Church Bookkeeping Service Can Do

Many churches still do things the old-fashioned way when they need a bookkeeper. They might look for someone in the area who is willing to help with bookkeeping for free. The problem is that this means that as long as the volunteer is working, the church’s accounting system is only as up-to-date as its software.

When the volunteer isn’t there, what happens? A church can easily lose track of its cash flow, balance sheet, and even its financial statements. To get things done, people often have to play catch-up.

But things can be fixed with the help of a virtual assistant who knows how to keep books. By using cloud-based software to run a virtual accounting system, a church can keep its books up-to-date, correct, and ready for a virtual bookkeeping assistant. A church can take care of its accounting needs without having to hire a full-time worker.

Think about all the things a church accounting service can do:

• Using the most up-to-date accounting software. Today, churches can save money if they use good software to keep track of their finances. This software can even automatically add financial statements, which makes it easier and takes less time to keep the books up to date. A church can get this done with the help of an experienced church bookkeeping virtual assistant.
• Reconciliations at the bank. It’s important to use a bookkeeper you can trust. This kind of trust is needed to handle bank reconciliations. But it is a very important job. It checks twice to make sure the money is where the church thinks it will be. This helps avoid “surprises” in the books that come up over the course of the year.
• Simple bookkeeping services. Keeping up-to-date on your financial statements is important. But so are all the basic accounting services that keep you “in the know” when it comes to your church’s bookkeeping services. Whether it’s using a basic software service like QuickBooks or matching up your bank accounts with your own data, basic accounting services help fuel the essential church management tasks that are needed to keep things going.
• Keeping an eye on credit cards. Accounting services for churches don’t just have to deal with the parts of finances that are unique to accounting software for churches. Fraud can be found and stopped with the help of other services, like keeping an eye on an expense card.
• Reporting on money. Let’s say your church’s budgeting meeting is coming up. Do you have the financial reports you need to know where your church stands with its money right now? If you don’t, a church bookkeeping service can help you stay “in the know” by making sure you always have the right financial reports.
• More internal controls. When you handle the church’s bookkeeping yourself and hire a virtual assistant (VA), you have more internal controls. You don’t have to depend on another service and whether or not it’s open. 
• Payroll and bookkeeping services are done once a month. Churches need to keep track of their finances and pay their workers. That’s why a bookkeeper who stays the same is so important. By taking care of everything, like payroll services and monthly financial statements, your church can know what’s going on.

Getting ready for filing taxes. Everyone can get stressed out around tax time. Some of the stress of getting ready to file taxes can be reduced by hiring someone else to do some of the work.

What does life look like when a church uses online bookkeeping services?

You may already know what a simple bookkeeping service can do for you. But why go virtual? What are the benefits of using bookkeeping services for a church that work from afar? 

Here’s a look at what your life might be like if you’ve successfully outsourced your bookkeeping:

• Easier budgeting meetings. When you don’t have the right information, it’s hard to make a budget. Let’s say you meet with volunteers from the community once a month to make a budget. How much easier will their lives be if your virtual bookkeeper has kept detailed financial reports since the last meeting?
• Bookkeeper conveniences. Imagine being able to say, “I’ll give this to my bookkeeper” when you get new financial information or need to manage receipts. That’s why it’s helpful to have someone on your side.

Getting things done with your favorite software. So, let’s say you use software like Aplos. Can you be sure that a virtual bookkeeper can “onboard” into your systems and take over from there? You should not only be sure of it, but you should also expect that an experienced bookkeeper will be able to keep the same software running as you have been. There’s no reason to think that your work will stop just because you’re adding someone to help. The work should get easier, if anything.

Why hiring a virtual church bookkeeping service is a good idea

Let’s be honest. All of those things can be done for your church by a real, full-time bookkeeper. So why think about a virtual bookkeeping service in the first place?

There are a number of good things about this. The first one? Cost. Simply put, it will be cheaper to hire a virtual assistant than a full-time bookkeeper. “Companies that hire virtual assistants save money because they don’t have to pay for benefits, equipment, training, or bonuses,” says Value Walk. There’s no reason to think this wouldn’t work for churches that want to get more for their money.

Productivity is the second good thing. You might not believe it, but working from home can make a person much more productive. In fact, 91% of people who work from home say they feel more productive when they do so. A worker who works eight hours a day is only productive for about three of those hours, on average. 

For churches, it’s important to get the most out of every dollar. It’s not easy to get those dollars. This is why it can be a good idea to pay a virtual assistant for their bookkeeping services, and only their bookkeeping services. It means that you only pay for work that has already been done. It’s a fair deal that helps you get the most out of keeping your books. And for the virtual assistant, it provides a stable, flexible source of income.

How Churches Can Get Started with a Virtual Bookkeeping Service

Maybe you agree now. Great! But if you’ve never hired anyone online before, how do you get started with a virtual bookkeeping assistant? Don’t be afraid. The steps are a lot easier than you might think:

• First, sign up for a VA FLIX account. You can check out our pricing page and choose the option that fits your budget the best. You can join by making a free account.
• Next, work with a staffing manager. We want you to have someone on your side who can help guide you through the next steps. Now is the time to decide exactly what you want from a virtual bookkeeper. What will you most often need them to do? What kind of software will they have to use? What kind of experience will you be looking for?
• Select your virtual assistant. This is an exciting step because it means you’re almost ready to get things going. Review the skills and experience of the potential virtual assistants and choose the one whose experience fits your needs the best.
• Bring your VA aboard. Tell them what software you use, what your church’s bookkeeping needs are, and anything else that might affect how they do your books. Tell them what they need to know to get connected to your systems. It’s time to start keeping books!

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VA FLIX can help you grow your business and cut costs.

1. Meet your assistant

We’ll ask you some questions to find you a virtual assistant and a backup virtual assistant.

2. Make a workflow

You can make a workflow that fits your life with the help of our platform. You decide how to keep track of time, talk to your assistant, and share files.

3. Start delegating

You can talk to your virtual assistant from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in your own time zone. Start giving tasks to other people and grow as you need to.

FAQs on Bookkeeping for Churches

Didn’t find an answer to any of your questions above? Let’s look at some of the questions that people most often ask.

What do I do next if I do want to hire a virtual bookkeeping assistant?

It’s simple: Fill out the VA FLIX Contact Form! This is a simple process, but if you find any portion of it difficult, one of our staffing managers will assist you in moving on to the next stage without difficulty.

How do I know if a bookkeeper can use the software I’m using?

Let’s say you’ve used QuickBooks before. How can you be sure that the bookkeeper you hire for your church will be able to handle it? Simple: You can look for people who know how to use QuickBooks. In your onboarding document, you should also include some basic facts about what you need from QuickBooks.

How can I help someone with financial reports and cash flow if I don’t know how?

You might be used to running a church, but not so much to keeping its books. So how do you know if your bookkeeper is doing a good job? How can you help them figure out what they should do? First, you should look for a virtual assistant who understands what you need. You might be able to help them more than they can help you. After all, it’s in the job title.

What about accounting for groups that don’t have to pay taxes?

Many of the rules are the same whether you work for an organization that doesn’t have to pay taxes, like a church, or for an organization that does. A bookkeeper has to keep track of all the money that comes in and goes out. They need to balance the books. They need to keep an eye on how the books are doing and get ready for tax time. Even though your church may be different, it still needs to follow many of the basic rules.

Can the bookkeeper run software like Aplos?

Aplos is accounting software for nonprofits and churches. It does everything, from simple accounting to processing credit cards. You should have no doubt that your online church bookkeeper will be able to work with the system you have set up. In fact, this structure is important to keep in mind as you look for the right bookkeeper for your church. The assistant you hire shouldn’t know nothing about software like Aplos.

Can I first get a quote?

It’s not hard to guess how much it might cost to work with a virtual bookkeeping assistant who can help you manage your church’s finances. Here at VA FLIX, you can look through our pages to get an idea of the different price levels. You’ll find that they give you more choices and are often less expensive and more flexible than hiring someone full-time. We suggest that you look at our different pricing options to get an idea of how much you can spend. Keep in mind that you can choose lighter options that only require a small investment or heavier options that look much more like a full-time assistant.