Church Musician Keeps asking me to hold her pay as her tithes

by Kathy
(Oakland, Ca., USA)

Our church Musician who is an independent contractor has had the finance department not pay her a few times. She says this is how she pays her tithes.

How should we handle this as far as booking and having a record of this or should we just give her the check and let her endorse back over to the church?

We need some type of documentation stating that this has been done and have both the her and finance department sign it will this cover the church for the past times she took less or no pay?

Comments for Church Musician Keeps asking me to hold her pay as her tithes

Click here to add your own comments

Musician paid/unpaid
by: Karen

When I asked not to be paid as organist, the treasurer at the time said she needed to write me a monthly check and keep it in the budget.

If I wanted to use it as a tithe, I could sign the back and put it back in the offering plate.

Quick and clean. Much simpler in the long run.
Just accept the service and say "Thank you"
by: Anonymous

If someone volunteers their service i would say thank you. Its better to volunteer services because after taxes you are left with only about half. 1099 self employment is the worst.
Thank You
by: Kathy

Thank you Marcia this is how I am handling it from here on out she was upset that we could not do this and obviously her past churches did not keep good records or she is not being honest about the situation.


Kathy
Substantiate everything!
by: Marcia

It is my understanding that all transactions must be substantiated.

If we operate by that rule and principle, then it becomes clear that in order for her 1099 to be correct at the end of the year you must pay her and then let her write a check to the church for that amount.

Not only for the 1099 but also that HER records of donations to you are substantiated as well.

I hope someone else has a better explanation, but I believe that in order for your records to substantiate her tithes to you she will need to write a check to you all each week/month.

Hope this helps!


Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Church Accounting FAQs.