Ministry Expense Pre-Authorization

ADW Policies:  

1. No one in the church or school is permitted to obligate the parish or school for more than $250 (per project) without the Pastor’s advance written authorization. 

The exceptions to this rule are the school principal and the parochial vicar. These roles can go beyond the $250 limit, but must stay within the pre-established authorization limits given to them by the pastor. This rule includes staff, vendors, parish council members, finance council members, HSA members, volunteers, bookkeepers, contractors etc.

2. Parish churches and schools are not permitted to pay or reimburse for sales tax since the Archdiocese is tax exempt. Please contact the parish office to obtain a Certificate of Exemption before making your purchase.

Authorization: All authorizations must be in writing, and written approval must be received in advance of spending funds on behalf of the church and school.  After the fact, authorizations are only for emergencies and must be disclosed to the pastor in writing by the next business day. Verbal approval by the Pastor, Principal, Parochial Vicar, Council Member or Staff DOES NOT constitute authorization.  All verbal agreements need to be followed up with written approval by the pastor or they are considered not approved.

Details:

1. The Parish Ministry will submit a budget for the next fiscal year by the end of May each fiscal year.
2. These budgets are incorporated into the overall parish budget and submitted to the Pastor and Finance Council for review.
3. Upon the recommendations of the Finance Council, the Pastor will make changes to the budgets or accept the recommendations and approve the Ministry budgets.
4. The target date for distributing the approved budgets to the Ministries is at the July Pastoral Council Meeting.

Note: Receipt of an approved budget is not authorization to spend money for the ministry.   Effective with Fiscal Year 2027, the pre-authorization process below must be followed.

Pre-authorization Process:

1. The Parish ministry requestor fills out the authorization form before and submits it to Accounting at least 2 weeks prior to the need for making any purchases.
2. Accounting will review all requests with the pastor the first Thursday following receipt of the request.  It is the responsibility of the requester to confirm Accounting has received of pre-authorization form to ensure timelines are met.
3. The Pastor will approve, modify or deny the request and the requestor will be notified the following Tuesday of the status of the request.
4. Once this approval is received, the purchase can be made on behalf of the parish.

 
Post-authorization Process:

1. After receiving approval, the Parish Ministry requestor will be authorized to spend funds on behalf of the parish not to exceed the approved amount.
2. Within 30 days of the purchase, the requestor will submit a check request with copies of receipts for payment to Accounting.  Copies of all receipts need to be attached to check request.
3. Because of federal 1099 requirements, the parish needs to pay all vendors and honoraria directly, not as a reimbursement to the ministry head.  This includes, but is not limited to retreat centers, buses, caterers, set-up vendors, party vendors, choreographers, play directors, lighting vendors, etc.
4. Assuming the pre-authorization process was followed and there are no issues with the check request, the check will be cut in the next weekly check run.

Note: It is never the policy to withhold payment for authorized services rendered.  However, payment requests not properly submitted may have payment delays.  

Going forward, please compete this authorization form prior to committing school and church funds.
Click Here to Download a PDF of the Ministry Expense Pre-Authorization Process