What is the Parish Finance Committee?

Canon Law requires collaboration between parish priests and the people of the parish to ensure that the parish finances are properly maintained, and that the parish maintains a sound financial footing. Canon Law requires that every parish has a finance committee to help and advise the parish priest (who is responsible for all financial decisions) in the administration of the goods of the parish and to ensure that the requirements of the Charity Commission (since the church and diocese are a registered charity) are fully complied with. These requirements are:

• all bank accounts are operated by more than one person
• all property of the charity is under the control of the trustees
• full and accurate accounting records are kept
• accounts are presented to the faithful on an annual basis in accordance with Canon Law

The Parish Finance Committee (PFC) comprises the parish priest and assistant priests together with at least three lay people, relevant to the size of the parish, including a finance person or someone with bookkeeping ability, a person with relevant property expertise and a person to oversee fundraising and Gift Aid. The members are appointed by the parish priest, normally for an initial three-year term.

Areas for Discussion

A finance report is prepared and circulated to the Committee Members each month. The PFC meets once per quarter, or more often if required, and discusses:

• The current state of the finances and any actions needed to ensure they are maintained in a healthy state.
• Current and planned major expenditure – any major expenditure must be agreed by the committee.
• Offertory, planned giving and Gift Aid
• New initiatives such as contactless giving
• Potential impact of any legal and accounting changes
• Anything else that may impact the finances of the parish such as legislative changes and changes in accounting practices.

Day-to-day Responsibilities

On a day-to-day basis members of the PFC are involved in:

• the counting and banking of the weekly offertory basket collection
• processing Gift Aid donations and making regular claims to HMRC
• processing contactless donations and the associated Gift Aid
• bookkeeping – the entry into the accounts of income and expenditure and regular reconciliation of bank statements
• month-end and year-end reporting, including the Annual Financial Return to the diocese each January
• preparation of an annual budget and regular monitoring of actual performance against the agreed budget
• participation in both internal and external audits

Want to join us?

If you would be interested in becoming a member of the PFC, please initially contact the Parish Office.