Church Collections

by Vanessa
(Chicago, IL USA)

Is it illegal to take cash right out of church collections and put it into your petty cash? Also, is it illegal to cash personal checks right out of the church collections?

Comments for Church Collections

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Collections
by: Anonymous

All collections must be recorded as income at time of receipt.

Cashing personal checks is bad policy. By cashing my $50 check made out to the church, you've enabled me to substantiate a tax deduction for the funds you just paid me.
collection cash
by: Sandi

see: http://www.fasb.org/

Purpose of a Statement of Cash Flows
The primary purpose of a statement of cash flows is to provide relevant information about
the cash receipts and cash payments of an organization during a period. Statement 95 discusses how that information helps investors, creditors, and others and establishes standards for the information to be provided in a statement of cash flows of a business enterprise.

Cash collections should be based on amounts actually received during the fiscal period.

The collecting entities function in a custodial capacity with respect to revenue transferred or transferable to the recipient entities.

all that just to say: I could not find anything on the IRS ot GAAP Site to say it was illegal, however it is NOT good practice... and I believe it is illegal, but couldn't find anything on my quick search....

Prayers

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