Church Finances: A Practical Guide for Small Church Treasurers

This article was last verified in June 2026. Rules and thresholds change. Always check the current position directly with the ACNC and the ATO before acting on what you read here.

If you have recently become the treasurer of a small Australian church, or you have been doing it for years without ever quite being sure you are doing it right, this article is for you. It covers what Australian churches are actually required to do with their finances: what to report to the ACNC, how your church's tax status works, and the basic financial controls that protect both the church and you. Building finance, investment strategy, and capital campaigns are out of scope here.

Most churches in Australia are registered charities with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. If yours is, your reporting obligations depend on how large your church is, measured by annual revenue.

The ACNC uses three categories:

For a small church (under $250,000 revenue), the main obligation is submitting an Annual Information Statement each year. A financial report is optional, unless your church's governing document requires one. The ACNC does not require small charities to have their accounts audited, though your constitution may say otherwise.

A medium church must submit both an Annual Information Statement and an annual financial report, which must be either reviewed or audited.

There is also a category worth knowing about: the Basic Religious Charity. If your church is registered with the ACNC solely under the subtype 'advancing religion' (and does not hold Deductible Gift Recipient status or any other subtype), it may qualify as a Basic Religious Charity. These organisations are exempt from submitting financial information in their Annual Information Statement and from filing annual financial reports, regardless of size. They still must submit a reduced Annual Information Statement each year.

Check the ACNC's charity size page to confirm which category applies to your church and what your specific obligations are.

Many people assume that being a church means automatic income tax exemption. It does not work that way in Australia.

To be exempt from income tax, your church must be both registered as a charity with the ACNC and endorsed by the ATO as income tax exempt. Endorsement is a separate step. Without it, the exemption does not apply.

Being endorsed means your church does not need to lodge an income tax return (unless the ATO specifically asks) and does not pay income tax on its ordinary income.

For GST, the threshold for non-profit organisations is $150,000 in annual turnover. If your church's turnover is above that, GST registration is mandatory. Below that, it is optional. Core religious services (worship services, Sunday school, baptisms, funerals conducted as religious services) are GST-free supplies, so no GST is charged on them.

If your church employs a pastor or administrator, there are specific rules about PAYG withholding for religious practitioners that differ from standard employee arrangements. This area is worth getting specific advice on rather than assuming the standard payroll rules apply.

See the ATO's page on tax concessions for registered religious institutions for the full picture on income tax, GST, and FBT concessions.

The ACNC recommends two practices above all others for small charities, and both matter as much for the treasurer's protection as they do for the church's.

The first is dual authorisation. More than one person should authorise every payment leaving the church and every significant receipt. No single person should have sole access to the church's online banking. When one person controls the money and something goes wrong, through error or theft, that person carries the full weight of suspicion. Dual authorisation protects both the church and the individual handling its finances.

The second is regular financial reporting to the committee. At every committee meeting, the accounts should be presented: actual income and expenditure against the budget, the cash position, and any significant variations. This is not about distrust. It is about giving the people responsible for the church the information they need to govern it well, and it creates a pattern of oversight that protects everyone.

The ACNC's Governance Standard 5 requires every responsible person (including volunteer committee members, not just the treasurer) to see that the financial affairs are managed responsibly and not to allow the church to operate while insolvent. If committee members are not receiving financial information at meetings, that is a governance gap, not just an administrative oversight.

Read the ACNC's financial controls factsheet for a plain-language guide to putting these practices in place.

If you are unsure where to start:

If your church does not have an accountant, the ACNC's Small Charities Library is a free collection of guides written for exactly this situation.