How to Create a Board-Ready Church Finance Report in 30 Minutes

The board meeting is Tuesday. You need a finance report. You've got a spreadsheet full of transactions, a stack of bank statements, and that familiar sinking feeling that you're going to spend your whole Saturday trying to make it presentable.

It doesn't have to be that hard. A good church finance report has five sections, fits on one page, and takes about 30 minutes to prepare — if your underlying records are current. Here's exactly how to do it.

The 5 Sections Every Board Report Needs

Church board members are volunteers. They're pastors, teachers, small business owners, retirees. Some have financial backgrounds; most don't. Your report needs to answer their questions without requiring them to interpret an income statement.

Here's what they actually want to know:

1. Are we on budget? (Financial Summary)
2. Are people giving? (Giving Summary)
3. How much cash do we have? (Cash Position)
4. Is everything accounted for? (Reconciliation Status)
5. Is there anything we need to discuss? (Notes & Action Items)

That's your report. Five sections, one page. Let's build it.

Section 1: Financial Summary (10 minutes)

This is the headline. Three lines:

If it's February, you're 2/12 of the way through the year, so 16.7% of budget is the target. Income at 16.8% and expenses at 15.5% means you're slightly ahead of pace on both. That's the story in one glance.

How to calculate it: Sum all income transactions year-to-date. Sum all expense transactions year-to-date. Compare to the annual budget that the congregation approved. The formulas are straightforward SUMIF functions — sum transactions where the account number matches each budget category.

What to flag: If any major category is more than 10% over or under budget, mention it in the Notes section. "Utility costs are running 15% over budget due to the cold January" gives the board context without making them hunt through line items.

Section 2: Giving Summary (5 minutes)

Break out giving by fund, because this is what the board cares most about:

This tells the board that General Fund giving is healthy (19.2% vs. the expected 16.7%), but Building Fund and Missions are running behind. Maybe January is always low for designated giving, or maybe it's a trend to watch.

Don't include individual donor names. The board report is a summary. Individual giving records are confidential and should only be accessible to the treasurer (and possibly the senior pastor, depending on your church's policy).

Section 3: Cash Position (5 minutes)

How much money does the church actually have? List every bank account:

Get these numbers directly from your bank statements or online banking. Beginning balance = last month's ending balance. Ending balance = what the bank says on the last day of the month.

Why this matters: The cash position tells the board whether the church can pay its bills. If General Checking drops below one month of expenses (~$15K in our example), that's worth discussing. If it drops below two weeks, that's an emergency.

Section 4: Reconciliation Status (5 minutes)

This is a trust signal. It tells the board that someone is actually verifying the numbers:

• Transactions reconciled: 47
• Transactions pending: 3
• Bank statement date: January 31, 2026

If you've reconciled all accounts and the difference is $0.00, say so. If there's an unresolved difference, explain it. "There is a $12.50 difference in General Checking that I'm investigating — likely a bank fee not yet recorded" is transparent and professional.

If you haven't reconciled: Be honest. "January reconciliation is in progress and will be completed before the next board meeting." Not ideal, but better than faking it.

Section 5: Notes & Action Items (5 minutes)

This is where you add context and flag anything the board needs to know or act on:

• Utility costs were $342 over budget in January due to extended cold weather
• Annual property insurance premium of $3,600 is due March 15
• Online giving platform (Pushpay) processed $8,200 in January — 24% of total giving
• Recommendation: Move $5,000 from savings to checking to maintain 2-month operating reserve
• Year-end giving statements were mailed January 28 to all 2025 donors

This section turns your report from a spreadsheet printout into a useful document. It shows you're not just tracking numbers — you're managing finances.

Presenting the Report

A few tips from treasurers who've been doing this for decades:

Keep it to one page

The board doesn't need a 15-page printout of every transaction. One-page summary. If someone wants detail, have the full ledger available — but don't force everyone to read it.

Lead with the headline

"We're on budget, cash is healthy, and giving is slightly ahead of last year." Start there, then walk through the details. Board members who aren't financially oriented will appreciate knowing the bottom line upfront.

Explain variances, don't hide them

If something is over budget, say why. "Maintenance was $800 over budget because the furnace needed emergency repair" is a perfectly reasonable explanation. The board doesn't want perfection — they want understanding.

Ask for what you need

If you need a board vote to transfer funds, or approval for a purchase, put it in the Action Items. The finance report is your time to advocate for good stewardship.

Print copies

Not everyone has a laptop at the board meeting. Print enough copies for every board member, plus one for the church secretary to file with the minutes.

The 30-Minute Workflow

Here's the actual process, assuming your transactions are already entered (which they should be if you're entering them weekly):

1. Minutes 1-10: Open your bank statements. Enter beginning and ending balances for each account in the Cash Position section.
2. Minutes 10-15: Verify the auto-calculated income and expense totals look right. Spot-check a few numbers against your transaction register.
3. Minutes 15-20: Check the reconciliation status. If you reconciled this month, note the count. If not, note where you stand.
4. Minutes 20-25: Write 3-5 bullet points for Notes & Action Items. What's unusual? What's coming up? What does the board need to decide?
5. Minutes 25-30: Print it. Sign it. You're done.

The key is that most of the report is just looking at numbers that already exist. If your underlying records are current, the report practically writes itself.

What If Our Records Are a Mess?

If you're taking over as treasurer and the books are disorganized, here's the honest path forward:

1. Start clean. Pick the first day of the next month. Get the bank balances. Enter every transaction going forward.
2. Don't try to reconstruct the past all at once. Work backward one month at a time as you have capacity.
3. Be transparent with the board. "I'm bringing the records current. January is fully reconciled. I expect to have all of 2025 cleaned up by March."
4. Set up a system. A consistent spreadsheet template, a weekly entry habit, and a monthly close checklist will prevent the mess from recurring.

This article is part of our free resource library for small church leaders. See also: Church Budget Template (Free + Paid Version).