PARISH FINANCES

Just like any voluntary and charitable organization, the parish needs to manage its finances well. We need to keep track of what monies come in through the generosity of parishioners and visitors, and what is spent. All of this depends on generous volunteers.

Sunday Collections

There is a collection at each of the Sunday Masses - some people give cash, some arrange bank transfers, and some donate online. Some pay tax and so are able to Gift Aid their donations (increasing the value to the church by 25%). All of this has to be counted and banked each week. The weekly collection count takes about an hour and a half each week. Taking cash to the bank takes about an hour. We aim to have teams doing this work so each person is called upon just once a month.

Book-Keeping

Income and expenditure needs to be recorded on a simple accounting app that has been designed for parishes and is used across the archdiocese. We need a volunteer to do this bookkeeping which takes approximately three to four hours a week.

Parish Finance Council

Overseeing the financial activities of the parish is the Parish Finance Council (PFC). This small group meets several times a year to review income/expenditure against the budget and to make sure that parish resources are being managed prudently. Our aim is to achieve a balance of skills across the members. The members of the PFC are currently Tim Myles (Chair), Kate Crichton, Yvonne Lau, Martin Oriere, and Adrian Porter sj (Parish Priest).

Accounts

The parish annual accounts are prepared annually in February for the preceding year and consolidated in the accounts of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

Volunteering

To volunteer for any of these finance roles in the parish, you do not need to be an accountant or have great experience and knowledge - the tasks are fairly straightfoward and it is really commitment and reliability that are the key things we need. If you could help in any of these ways, please get in touch with Fr Adrian Porter sj in the first instance to discuss what you are able and willing to do. Thank you.