A Church of Ireland parochial accounts template Rationale and update following June meetings in Moira, Dublin and Charleville

What happens now 457 parishes and parish groupings Much higher number of Select Vestries Every SV is monitoring income and expenses Every SV is producing annual accounts Every set of accounts is individual to the parish Every set of accounts is individual to the Hon Treasurer

The strengths of the current system Strong form of parochial financial governance Annual Easter Vestry Annual elections Annual financial report Annual report is audited/certified Hundreds of Treasurers give their time and expertise The system works

Changes Greater expectations of Treasurers More reports More analysis Increased use of computers for parochial accounting Charities legislation More external scrutiny Need for more consistency in reporting

Opportunity To respond to changing times To respond to the demands of a more sceptical world To develop a template for parochial reporting To develop an IT tool to assist in parochial record keeping To develop an IT tool to assist in producing reports and returns

What it might achieve Provision of a clear audit trail for transactions Ease of producing reports Consistency of reporting Easier handover to a new Treasurer Inter parochial accounting support The creation of a Church of Ireland ‘standard’ for financial reporting Easy template for charity reporting Would receive central support when being implemented

Outline of pack concept - I Not spreadsheet Too idiosyncratic Too easy to corrupt Inbuilt C of I chart of accounts Every cheque/receipt would be ascribed to an ‘account’ An account is a description of what the transaction was for All transactions filed under the relevant account Every account automatically linked to a heading in the financial statements

Chart of accounts

Outline of pack concept – II This would enable reports/financial statements to be produced on request A number of standard reports would come with the pack - eg A parochial report A diocesan report – specific to the diocese A charities report compliant with good practice

Outline of pack concept - III Simple in concept Not attempting to do too much Simple to use Not requiring any accounting knowledge Not requiring any prior IT knowledge Standardised for straightforward use Easy to buy Widely used Flexible for the more advanced user Can download to spreadsheets Can be customised by user

Process RCB has been looking at possible solutions Has demonstrated an option to Diocesan Secretaries re C of I package Has demonstrated an option to Rectors/Treasurers at public meetings Asked for written feedback at meetings

Feedback from meetings Of written feedback received - 125+ forms 97% supported the idea of a parochial accounting template 91% said that they would consider using a C of I package in their parish 89% thought that it would be possible to set up inter parochial support groups to assist with the introduction of a new computer accounting pack

What do you think Is it a worthwhile idea? Would it help treasurers (or not) ? Would it help the C of I in any way? Do you think we should develop the concept Would treasurers use it? What support would they need? Email response to : charities@rcbdub.org www.ireland.anglican.org/charities