Let me be blunt. The fact that a church has never had an incident of fraud is due to one of two things: luck or planning. Needless to say, the odds of successfully avoiding fraud are much higher with the latter approach. If a church has been relying on the first approach and has never […]
“The priests who guarded the entrance put into the chest all the money that was brought to the temple of the LORD.” (2 Kings 12:9) Almost in passing, this verse mentions that the money collecting process was being protected. Priests were posted at the entrance to the temple where the collection chest had been […]
Financial “bad behavior” is becoming rampant in the church. You would have to be living in a cave to not recognize this. There is not a week that goes by without another headline appearing that tells the sad story of a “trusted” church employee “gone bad”. The good part of this, if there is a […]
I am a “youngster” when it comes to accounting, and especially accounting for churches and non-profits. One thing that has caught me off guard about the inner world of some non-profits (some churches!) is their excessive desire for funds and financial position. Most churches seem to get it right; some do not. In my subconscious […]
“He placed it beside the altar…” (2 Kings 12:9) Jehoiada, the High Priest, placed the chest by the altar. I have no way of knowing of course, but I get a sense that this was intentional. As I read through the passage two thoughts came to mind. Perhaps Jehoiada placed the collection chest close […]
“We’re ok. We performed a fraud risk assessment two years ago…” First, this church should be commended because very few churches ever get around to assessing its susceptibility to fraud. But, determining exposure to fraud at one period in time is not sufficient. Fraud protection is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process. […]
“We do an audit every year. Our auditors would have told us if anything was wrong…” One of the mysteries of the Enron scandal was how could an auditing firm issue a clean opinion on the company only to have it collapse shortly after. One of the reasons, in my humble opinion, is an expectation […]