I moonlight as a treasurer for our small church and food pantry. It’s a gig that takes anywhere from 4 to 6 hours a month, so it’s not overwhelming and it’s something I’m happy to do. My duties include managing income and expenses, paying bills, processing payroll, and preparing the budget; all things I’m familiar with as an optometric practice owner.
Our pastor nominated me (with my permission) to lead a webinar on best practices for churches in our regional synod. While working on it, I recalled another local pastor who got in trouble for making up expenses and billing the church for $35,000 over several years. In another case, a local ambulance service’s treasurer embezzled $13,000 by writing checks for “cash,” and in still more incidents, many businesses have not paid attention to credit card receipts and have had staff charge personal expenses. Even some optometric friends had their office manager take $350,000. She paid the bills and made the bank deposits while keeping some of the cash for herself. That went on for years before anyone realized it.
Moral of the story: Bad people do not commit embezzlement; trusted people under pressure get tempted to embezzle. Good leaders create systems that protect both the business and its people.
Churches are unique because they are often volunteer-based, and volunteers are highly trusted. Although our staff are not volunteers, our clinics still enjoy a high level of trust. Patients trust us with their health care, and by extension, they trust our staff. We trust our staff to take good care of our patients and our business.
So, what are the best practices for the financial security of your business?
Have an accounting system and back it up.
I am a massive fan of QuickBooks Online. Because it’s cloud-based, it’s accessible from anywhere and provides an added level of security. Last summer, a virus took down our church’s hard drive, but because of QB Online, none of our financial data were lost or affected. The payroll system in QuickBooks is easy and accurate, and it provides added oversight because our accountant or partners can log into the system at any given moment to provide an extra set of eyes on all transactions.
Separation of duties would have helped my optometric friends.
In our clinic, key people are responsible for posting payments, while others handle daily deposits and ensure the amounts match the computer reports. Last year, while preparing our financials, we had a moment of panic when we thought we were missing a substantial amount of money. Thankfully, it was an accounting error and not a real issue. However, I brought it up to my staff, which sparked open dialogue about best practices and why we handle money the way we do. The staff was genuinely appreciative of the conversation and honesty.
Finally, implement a regular reporting system.
Comparing revenue and expense trends to previous years is one way to identify red flags. Monitoring fund balances is crucial as well. Over time, as you become more familiar with the numbers, it’s easier to see outliers.
Leadership is about putting systems in place to protect both our people and our businesses. Think of those systems as an act of caring. When leaders invest in systems that support ethical decision-making, financial clarity, and shared accountability, trust deepens. Teams feel safer. Patients benefit. Leaders sleep better. Most importantly, it enhances a positive culture. And as we’ve discussed in the past, offices with a positive culture have better businesses and happier staff. Again, good leaders sleep better.OM
