Church chart of accounts: free template and how to set it up

A church chart of accounts is the list of the accounts your church has that you record your church's money in. This page has a sample of our chart of accounts you can copy, the single line test for the account or fund question, and how to adapt the sample to your church.

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Church chart of accounts sample

Number	Account	Type	What to put in it
Number 1010	Account Cash in hand	Type Asset	What to put in it Sunday cash prior to hitting the bank.
Number 1020	Account Bank account	Type Asset	What to put in it Deposits and disbursements from your main account
Number 1030	Account Savings or reserve	Type Asset	What to put in it Money provided by an organization in the event of a breakdown, for example a repair reserve.
Number 1100	Account Land and building	Type Asset	What to put in it Church property, at cost
Number 2010	Account Bills payable	Type Liability	What to put in it Received invoices but not paid
Number 2020	Account Loans payable	Type Liability	What to put in it Building loan or any money borrowed
Number 3010	Account General net assets	Type Net assets	What to put in it Money a church can use for any reason.
Number 3020	Account Restricted net assets	Type Net assets	What to put in it Money given for a specific reason and not used yet
Number 4010	Account Tithes	Type Income	What to put in it Tithes from members
Number 4020	Account Sunday offerings	Type Income	What to put in it Regular weekly offerings
Number 4030	Account Thanksgiving and special offerings Income	Type Income	What to put in it Thanksgiving, first fruit and other special collections
Number 4040	Account Contributions to the Building	Type Income	What to put in it Giving to the building project
Number 4050	Account Mission gifts	Type Income	What to put in it Gifts for missions
Number 5010	Account Pastor and staff support	Type Expense	What to put in it Salaries and allowances
Number 5020	Account Ministry Programs	Type Expense	What to put in it Cost Children, Youth, Women, Sunday School
Number 5030	Account Building repairs and maintenance	Type Expense	What to put in it Repairs, painting, and cleaning products.
Number 5040	Account Utilities	Type Expense	What to put in it Electricity, water and internet
Number 5050	Account outreach and missions	Type Expense	What to put in it Missions trips, missionary support and local outreach
Number 5060	Account Administration	Type Expense	What to put in it Printing, stationery and bank charges

Familiar numbering system Assets are 1's, liabilities are 2's, net assets are 3's, income are 4's and expenses are 5's. Leave gaps between numbers so you can add accounts later without renumbering.

Download the free PDF and get a longer chart (50+ accounts) as well as a list of funds.

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Account or fund? How to receive special offerings

An account defines the type of money. A fund defines the purpose of the money. A building gift is income (the account) that you allocate to the building fund (a fund).

If you report it by kind, like income or expense, it is an account. If you report it by purpose, like building or missions, it is a fund.

How you record it depends on your tools:

Spreadsheet or simple software: Set up a different income account for each category of money, such as "Building gifts" and "Mission gifts".
Software: have one income account and assign a fund to each record. You don't have a long list of close duplicate accounts.

If you want more information, check out our guide to church fund accounting.

How to set up a church chart of accounts

Rewritten starting from the sample text above.

Delete what you don't have. You don't have a loan? Remove 2020. You don't have a building project? Remove 4040.
If the church is calling it first fruit offering, leave that.
Include what is lacking. The second bank account or the vehicle would each need a new account.
Choose how special gifts are handled. Use different accounts or fund tags - see above.
Add opening balances. Enter the balances on your start date and make some test transactions (have a play) before you go live.

Manage the number of accounts well rather than trying to include the entire world of receipts. Monitor the chart and when your reporting requirements are required, add the appropriate accounts.

Common chart of accounts mistakes

Consolidate all "Offerings" accounts. You may want to track tithes, general offerings and special offerings separately, based on your reporting requirements.
Create a separate account for each donor. Your giving records will already contain the names of each of your donors. Use these records rather than setting up an income account for each person.
Numerous small expense accounts. Consolidate multiple small expenses into larger ones - for example, consolidate them together into administration.
Redness an account in the middle of the year without a note. Record the change so you will be able to compare reports and understand the variances.
Leave an account inactive and don’t delete it to keep historical transactions for it.

When should you update your chart of accounts?

Change it when there's a new ministry, a new bank account, a building project, or when the church takes out a loan. Change it at the beginning of your financial year so that a whole year of reports uses the one structure. It's a great opportunity to review your church budget.

How this works in Tabernacle

In Tabernacle a church develops its budget from top heads and sub heads which it assigns a name to eg General, then Salary, then Full Time Staff. The Finance module also has payment ledger reports and financial statements.

Tabernacle handles the fund accounting for tithes, offerings, special collections and building funds, so a building gift can remain linked to the building fund. See how it integrates with church accounting software and the all-in-one church management software Tabernacle provides.

Tabernacle payment report grouping church spending under budget heads like General, Salary and Full Time Staff

Frequently Asked Question

Are account numbers necessary?

While account numbers aren't necessary, they do help in organising, identifying and sorting accounts. Create a logical numbering system with room for future accounts. Danielson Bookkeeping & Consulting

How frequently does a church need to review its chart of accounts?

Review it at least yearly or when your church has new requirements for financial reporting. Eliminate unused accounts and add new ones as needed.

Can a church have a single chart of accounts from year to year?

Yes. Sticking with the same format of a chart for different years of a financial statement makes it easier to compare them. Changes should be made sparingly and recorded in the notes.