Attend to Your Congregation, Not Your Payroll

Church payroll differs from other small business payroll in many ways. If you don’t take the right approach, your church could spend excess money on unnecessary taxes, overlook specific tax requirements, and/or mismanage funds – and that’s just the start.

At SurePayroll, we know you have other things to focus on, like your congregation, which is why we are equipped to manage your church payroll for you.

Common Church Payroll Questions

It doesn’t matter if you’re running church payroll for the first time or have been doing so for many years, it’s common to have questions (and maybe even a few concerns). Here are some of the most important questions to answer:

• What is parsonage? Parsonage refers to clergy housing. It can be owned by the religious organization or by the clergy person. This can impact payroll, taxes, and other financial matters.

• What is a housing allowance? This applies when the clergy person owns the residence, and the religious organization pays him or her a monetary amount to retain and maintain the property. This amount is in addition to the person’s salary, and it must not exceed the fair rental value of the residence, including utilities, garage, and furnishings.

• What is a housing parsonage allowance? This applies when the clergy person lives in a residence owned by the religious organization. The value of the residence must be reported to the IRS, as explained in the Clergy Housing Allowance Clarification Act of 2002, Section 107 of the Internal Revenue Code, and IRS Publication 517, Social Security and Other Information for Members of the Clergy and Religious Workers.  

Do-it-Yourself (DIY) Church Payroll

When choosing to do payroll on your own, you need to be aware of the following:

• Time-consuming, as you’ll access multiple individual accounts

• Management of multiple payroll bills

• Make deposits to multiple agencies, fill out various IRS forms, and stay current with federal, state, and local filing requirements

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Here are tips on how to do payroll for small business.

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How SurePayroll Can Help

If you choose to use SurePayroll for your online church payroll service, you’ll have access to the following:

• Easily manage all aspects of payroll from your computer or mobile device

• Flexible payroll options

• Award-winning customer service