Whenever a minister or other church employee relocates to begin a new position, the question of moving expenses commonly arises. The assumption routinely made by both the transitioning employee and the new employer is that the church can help pay moving expenses as an incentive...
If you are a member of the Clergy, you may have seen the phrase “Social Security Allowance” on your W-2 or it might be a part of your compensation package. But what does that mean exactly? To understand, we have to explain a difference between Clergy...
The W-4 form contains five steps. Not every step is applicable to every employee, so some sections might correctly remain blank. Step 1 Here, clergy and nonclergy would provides personal information. Make sure the name, address, and social security number entered match what Payroll has on...
How accurate are your employees’ job descriptions? Most places might have one during the application process but by the time you are one year in your responsibilities have morphed so many times, that it’s unrecognizable. Some organizations take the opposite approach making a description so...
Apple’s director of machine learning (Artificial Intelligence), Ian Goodfellow, resigned from his role just four years after joining Apple and returned to Google. Why? In his email to his team he said the change is due in part to Apple’s requirement that staff return to the...
In his highly influential New York Times Best-selling book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni writes: “Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.” (p. vii) Lencioni says...
Payroll and taxes are usually a confusing topic for churches that can easily find themselves in trouble with the IRS if payroll taxes are not reported correctly. Church payroll taxes can be especially tricky due to the dual-tax status of their pastoral staff. There is...
As summer ramps up so does travel, especially in ministry. Churches and nonprofits are organizing summer youth trips and conferences, mission trips and conventions around the world. While exciting, anything that disrupts a normal work week routine raises questions. Primarily, who pays for what? What do...
Question: “When paying severance, which is better: one lump sum or monthly payments over a set time period?” ANSWER: Generally, we recommend organizations provide severance spread out rather than one chunk amount because it encourages a continued amicable relationship between the church and the leaving employee. It also...
Can you modify housing allowance mid-year? The Housing Allowance can be amended (changed) as often as needed. We always recommend overestimating when designating a housing allowance. The goal would be to have enough of a buffer in the designation to end up with unused housing...