Church Budget Template (Free + Paid Version)

If you're a church treasurer — especially a volunteer who got handed the role because you're "good with numbers" — you know the frustration. Generic budget templates don't work for churches. The categories are wrong, there's no place for designated funds, and you end up spending more time reformatting than actually tracking finances.

We built a church-specific budget template that actually matches how small churches handle money. Below, we'll walk through what a good church budget should track, give you a simplified free version, and explain what the full paid version adds.

What Makes Church Budgets Different

Church finances aren't business finances. If you've tried using a generic small business template, you've probably run into these problems:

• Fund accounting: Churches track money by fund (General, Building, Missions, Benevolence) — not just by category. A dollar given to the Building Fund can't pay the electric bill. Generic templates don't handle this.
• Designated vs. undesignated giving: You need to track what donors intended their gift for. This has legal implications.
• Tax-deductible tracking: Every individual gift needs to be recorded for year-end giving statements. The IRS requires written acknowledgment for gifts of $250+.
• Board reporting: Church boards aren't CFOs. They need simple, clear summaries — not accounting jargon. A good template generates board-ready reports automatically.
• Housing allowance: Pastor compensation includes a housing allowance (Section 107) that's reported differently than regular salary. Your categories need to reflect this.

What a Church Budget Template Should Include

At minimum, a useful church budget spreadsheet needs these components:

1. A Church-Specific Chart of Accounts

Not "Revenue" and "COGS." Churches need categories like:

• Tithes & General Offerings (undesignated giving)
• Designated Giving (Building Fund, Missions, Benevolence)
• Pastor Salary + Housing Allowance (separate line items)
• Facility costs (mortgage, utilities, insurance, maintenance)
• Ministry programs (children's, youth, worship, VBS)
• Missions support (monthly missionary support, short-term trips)
• Denominational dues or assessments

2. Budget vs. Actual Tracking

Enter your approved budget once, then track actual income and expenses against it throughout the year. The spreadsheet should show:

• Annual budget per category
• Year-to-date actual (auto-calculated from transactions)
• Variance in dollars and percentage
• A status indicator: "On Track" or "Over Budget"

3. Transaction Register

A place to record every deposit, check, and payment. This feeds the budget comparison and giving tracker automatically.

4. Giving Tracker

Individual donor records with date, amount, fund, and method. This is what you need to produce year-end giving statements.

5. Board Report

A one-page summary that pulls from all the other tabs. Income vs. expenses, cash position, fund balances, reconciliation status, and action items.

Sample Church Budget Categories & Amounts

If you're building a budget for the first time, here's a realistic breakdown for a small church (100-200 attendance, $250K annual budget). Adjust the numbers to fit your church:

A common guideline is 40-50% for personnel, 15-25% for facility, and 10-15% for missions. But every church is different — a church that owns its building outright will have lower facility costs and can allocate more to ministry and missions.

Free vs. Paid: What's the Difference?

The free approach: take the categories above, build your own spreadsheet, write your own formulas. It works. It just takes time, and if you're not a spreadsheet person, the formulas for SUMIF-based budget tracking can be tricky.

The paid version saves you that time. Every formula is built, every dropdown is configured, and the board report auto-populates. It's the difference between building a house and moving into one.

Tips for Managing a Church Budget

1. Enter transactions weekly. Five minutes a week beats a 4-hour monthly scramble. Set a recurring calendar reminder.
2. Reconcile monthly. Match your records to the bank statement. The longer you wait, the harder it gets.
3. Track designated funds separately. If someone gives to the Building Fund, that money must be used for the building. This isn't optional — it's a legal requirement.
4. Present to the board every month. Transparency builds trust. A clear one-page report shows the congregation their gifts are being stewarded well.
5. Get your giving statements out by January 31. Donors need them for tax filing. Late statements create frustration and undermine confidence.
6. Have two people count offerings. Always. This protects the church from loss and volunteers from accusation.

Questions We Hear From Church Treasurers

Do I need accounting software?

For most small churches (under 500 attendance), a well-built spreadsheet is enough. Accounting software like QuickBooks adds complexity and monthly fees. If your church processes more than $500K annually or has complex multi-fund accounting, software starts to make sense. Under that threshold, a good spreadsheet is simpler and cheaper.

What about the housing allowance?

The housing allowance (IRC Section 107) is a tax exclusion for ordained ministers. It must be designated in advance by the church board before the year begins. In our template, it's a separate line item from salary so it's clearly tracked for both the pastor and the IRS.

How do I handle restricted funds?

When a donor gives to a specific purpose (building, missions, benevolence), that money is legally restricted. Track it in a separate fund column. If the restriction is no longer needed, the church board must formally vote to redirect it, and ideally donors should be notified.

This article is part of our free resource library for small church leaders. See also: How to Create a Board-Ready Church Finance Report in 30 Minutes.