Financial Management

It is interesting that canon law (the law of the Church) does not require a parish to have a Parish Council but requires every parish to have a Finance Council. The Church wants there to be close oversight of all funds. 

When St. Teresa’s became a parish in December 2020, a three-person Finance Council was established and that council has been working with Fr. Hock ever since. As preparations for the $32 million campaign to build a new facility progressed, it was determined that a larger, more robust, and more active Finance Council was desired. The St. T’s Finance Council was expanded to eight by adding five new members. The council is now a mix of men and women, different professions, two UNK faculty and two with formal education in accounting, one of whom is a practicing CPA. The St. T’s Finance Council now meets roughly 10 times per year and records its decisions via formal resolutions.  

Prior to the launching of the $32 million campaign, St. Teresa’s financial record-keeping was adequate to manage the money well, but not for collecting data and producing useful management reports. At the decision of the Finance Council, the Chart of Accounts was re-stated and record-keeping migrated from Quickbooks DeskTop to the new Quickbooks Online (QBO). An outside CPA firm was engaged to assist with the migration and now audits the monthly reconciliations via QBO. 

Funds for operating the Newman Center and building the new facility are completely segregated. All operating accounts are kept at FNBO, where there is one checking and one savings account. Funds for the new facility are kept at Pinnacle Bank, with one checking and one savings account. The accumulated campaign funds to build the new facility are kept in an investment account at the Steve & Ben Homan branch of Edward Jones. Both Fr. Hock and the Executive Director, Brent Johnson, are signatories on all accounts. Jody Smith, the Business Office Manager, is not a signatory but has access rights to manage the accounts.