To complement a church financial report’s narrative, a variety of church finance visuals can help enhance a report’s readability and accessibility. I define the term “visuals” broadly, including any graphs, charts, pictures, tables, even art that displays data to accompany a concept, topic, or method. The Chinese proverb, a picture is worth a thousand words, speaks well for the impact visuals can have on virtually any report. Alternatively, I also like to say in fun, when you put together a visual and the picture is not worth at least 250 words, consider not including it!

Open up any word processing, spreadsheet, or presentation software and you will find an endless list of visuals that you can use. However, remember that beautiful colors, stylish charts or graphs may make a report look good, the question is whether the visual adds value to the information being conveyed? Another key question – what is the goal of including a particular visual?

Opportunities for Church Finance Visuals are Endless – Choose Well

Once the questions above are answered, there a variety of visuals you can choose. Without the time in this article to describe every visual available, over the next series of posts,  I will discuss a few of the most common used in church financial reports.

As you can imagine, the choice of which visual to include for your particular situation will be subjective based on a variety of circumstances. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but there are some general parameters that you can use.

Pie Charts

Pie charts are useful when your goal is to present data on a category/topic as a percentage of the whole. Pie pieces can be easily arranged by color, shape, and highlighted to emphasize information.

Pie Chart Advantages

• The pie chart is easy to read, understand, and people are familiar with this visual.
• The pie chart is particularly useful to show relative proportions, or percentages of information.The use of colors and pie shapes display well any differentiation among categories.
• The use of colors and pie shapes display well any differentiation among categories.

Pie Chart Cautions

• Pie charts are often overused without regard to whether these charts are the best choice for displaying certain types of data. For example, a pie chart that offers no distinction between the data (unless this is a goal of your visual) does not add value to the report. If you have more than one data set, it can be difficult for people to look at multiple pie charts and make comparisons.
• The recommendation is to use a pie chart when you have between three and seven categories, otherwise, the pie chart may become messy and confusing.
• Avoid “miscellaneous” or “other” categories. These terms are confusing and can be misleading. If they are included, ensure that the definitions are clear.

Of course, pie charts are not your only choice. Learn the advantages and disadvantages of the infamous bar/column charts and line graphs!

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The one financial related shelf document I’d like you to have is our book, Parish Finance — otherwise, your church budget should be in your desk, not on your shelf! I am joking about the book, but not about the budget!

Tip 8: Keep the church budget at your desk, and not on a shelf!

Often, the budget is prepared, discussed, approved by a Finance Council or Vestry, and entered into the accounting system. After the fiscal year starts, budget reports are generated either monthly or worse, quarterly.

However, there is a problem. Budget reporting and review processes often miss the most important value-add that the budget brings to an organization. Along with being the plan for revenues and expenses, a budget should be used as an active management tool to review whether church finances are aligning to the pastoral priorities outlined in the budget development process.

The question I’d like you to consider is, “How is the budget used as a tool and not just a monthly revenue and expense report?”

Most budget reports show a series of columns that usually include at least the budget plan and actuals for a given time period. When budget management is merely mechanical, it loses the most important power of budgeting – helping you manage priorities!  

As the pastoral leader, I am not (necessarily) recommending that you need to check the budget every day, but, at least at regular intervals, answer the question, “Is the budget meeting the priorities we outlined when we created it?” 

Stay Tuned – More to come on this topic when we discuss budget execution and control in the coming weeks!

Questions/Comments? Email Mike Castrilli at mjcastrilli@gmail.com!

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“Sorry, it’s not in the budget.” This is not a terrible response in and of itself, the problem is when the budget is used often as a penalty stick or prison.

To some people, the budget is used as a weapon of passive aggressive destruction.

“Well, the church budget committee doesn’t meet until 2023. Sorry, you are out of luck.”

As we have discussed, budgets are not created for constraint, but to offer freedom. A budget is a management tool that allows you the freedom to connect resources to mission priorities. 

The budget is also not to be used as a weapon —  it is a plan that offers leaders and organizations the insights they need to make informed financial decisions. Yes, the budget offers parameters on how much you expect to receive and to spend. But, the budget is also a GPS to help direct you to your destination. However, as we all know, directions are only as good as the person driving. The driver must be able to adjust for conditions on the ground – weather, road closures, accidents. The budget can offer this flexibility.

In fact, the budget empowers effective decision-making by providing directions for saying “yes” or “no” as circumstances arise. But, the budget should never be used as a simple way to say “no”  because someone has not taken the time to establish priorities and create a resource plan that is collaborative, transparent, and reflects the needs of the organization.

When the budget is used as an excuse, leaders risk losing the trust, credibility, and morale of those they lead.

Developed and executed well, the budget is never a negative excuse — it’s a positive reality.

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Read Parish Finance: Best Practices in Church Management