For CFOs, controllers, and other leaders serving churches and ministries, managing the complexities of nonprofit accounting and financial reporting while upholding biblical standards of stewardship and transparency can be a significant challenge.

The new Accounting and Financial Reporting Guide for Churches and Ministries, published by the Accounting Committee for Churches and Ministries, is a vital resource designed to help you meet these unique challenges. Based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and enriched with industry-specific insights from the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and other industry sources, this comprehensive guide offers in-depth insight, practical guidance, and useful examples to help you ensure transparency, compliance, and accountability.

Guidance with a Ministry Focus

The guide goes beyond general accounting by addressing the specific needs of churches and ministries of all types and sizes. It offers detailed information on a wide range of topics, including:

• The unique requirements and considerations for nonprofit financial reporting, including alternative bases of accounting such as cash and modified-cash basis
• Financial management, including management reporting, internal controls, cash management, and ratios
• Programmatic investments, which are unique to nonprofits, and property held in other countries
• How to record interest and transactions
• Liquidity and donor restriction disclosures
• How to handle annuities, trusts, life estates, and other split-interest agreements as a trustee or recipient
• Best practices for contribution policies, pledges and faith promises, honoraria, pass-through gifts, non-cash gifts, legacies and bequests, and other contributions to support a specific ministry or missionary
• Functional allocation of ministry expenses
• Relationships between nonprofit and for-profit entities
• Reporting of related entities, including affiliates, subsidiaries, and brother/sister organizations, with information about reporting for mergers and acquisitions specific to church and ministry organizations
• Unique regulations and tax implications at the federal, state, and international level
• Unrelated business income, charitable solicitation registrations, political activities, and international activities

Practical Tools and Real-World Examples

The guide also features valuable resources such as:

• Sample financial statements for large Christian organizations, small ministries, and churches to help you simplify your financial reporting and present financial data clearly and effectively
• Tools to help with decision-making around accounting for support and revenue supplemental information
• Considerations for investment pools, internal controls, functional allocations, and more
• Flowcharts to help with reporting related entities, accounting for split-interest gifts, and distinguishing contributions from exchange, agency, and other transactions
• Policy examples

Sponsored by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, the Association for Biblical Higher Education, Christian Leadership Alliance, Missio Nexus, and The Capin Center for Nonprofit Excellence, this guide is more than a technical manual — it’s a strategic tool you can reference for years to come. With clear explanations and a ministry-first approach, it helps financial leaders implement best practices confidently.

You can learn more and order your paperback or e-book copy from Amazon here.