Big Gift accounting

Contributions, Faith Promises

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Tammy Betty
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2018 5:07 pm

Big Gift accounting

Post by Tammy Betty »

A member gave the church a 2020 Church Van - brand new.
I have not run into a gift like this before and am not sure how to handle the accounting. This is a balance sheet item but how do I get it into a contribution statement? No cash was involved
Thanks
Tina
SRBC

NeilZ
Posts: 10209
Joined: Wed Oct 08, 2003 1:20 am
Location: Dexter NM
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Re: Big Gift accounting

Post by NeilZ »

Tina Burlew wrote:
Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:35 pm
A member gave the church a 2020 Church Van - brand new.
I have not run into a gift like this before and am not sure how to handle the accounting. This is a balance sheet item but how do I get it into a contribution statement? No cash was involved
Thanks
Tina
SRBC
1. I would create a Thank You letter listed the van with the specific year, type, and VIN (vehicle) number and send it to the donor. This covers the requirement Per IRS Pub 1828:
A donor can’t claim a tax deduction for any single contribution of $250 or more unless the donor obtains a contemporaneous, written acknowledgment of the contribution from the recipient church or religious organization. A church or religious organization that doesn’t acknowledge a contribution incurs no penalty; but without a written acknowledgment, the donor can’t claim a tax deduction. Although it’s a donor’s responsibility to obtain a written acknowledgment, a church or religious organization can assist the donor by providing a timely, written statement containing:
  • a. name of the church or religious organization,
    b. date of the contribution,
    c. amount of any cash contribution, and
    d. description (but not the value) of non-cash contributions.
2. Enter the van as an asset in the system. I would check with the church board if they want this to be included in the operations fund (which would skew the value of the fund) or create a separate accounting fund (my preference) for this type of asset. If you already track your assets (land and building) in a separate fund, I'd use that. Using a separate fund keeps non-liquid assets separate from cash assets, the only issue is that you then have to track depreciation on the asset.
Neil Zampella

Using PC+ since 1999.

Tammy Betty
Posts: 12
Joined: Sat Sep 15, 2018 5:07 pm

Re: Big Gift accounting

Post by Tammy Betty »

Thank you

Tina

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