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Getting started with year end reports

Getting started with year-end statistical reports . . .

Once you click on a link in this document, hit your BACK button in the upper left corner of your screen to get back to these instructions.

WELCOME! 

The year-end statistical report is a very important document that assists our denomination in tracking the life and ministry of the church. We recognize that numbers do not tell the whole story, nor do they necessarily signify effective ministry or spiritual growth in a local church. Nonetheless, tracking the numerical increases and decreases in the routines of our congregational life can be one indicator of dynamic ministry that is changing lives through Jesus Christ.

Introduction

The statistical forms and the process for completing them are very similar to what we have done in the past. The information collected is for the calendar year 2008 (Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2008). The forms are completed online and must be submitted by 5 p.m., Friday, Feb. 13, 2009.

You can work on these forms at any time from any computer with Internet access using MS Internet Explorer version 5.5 or higher. The report does not have to be completed in one session. You may come back and update the report as many times as you like before your final submission. Be sure to SAVE the report before exiting or your changes will be lost.

If you have questions, you can send an email to statistics@flumc.org. Please include your name, telephone number where you can be reached during the day, church name, church GCFA#, and District, and we’ll get back with you as soon as possible. You may also contact your District Office.

Before you begin, please read this information…

1. You will need Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.5 or higher. If you are using AOL, you will need to "minimize" AOL and then start/open Internet Explorer (IE). When IE is up and running, you can tell which version you have by clicking on "help" at the top of the page and then selecting "About Internet Explorer" from the drop-down menu. The version number will be listed there. If you do not have version 5.5 or higher, you can:
   
   
   • Go to another computer with IE 5.5 or higher (at your District Office,  at another church, in  someone’s home, at a public library); and/or
     
     
   • Download a free copy of the current version of Internet Explorer and install it on your computer by clicking here.
     
     
2. The forms are password protected. Your church's GCFA number (a six digit, all numeric number) is your USER NAME to log-in and access your church’s year-end statistical forms. For security purposes, all church PASSWORDS will be reset on Jan. 5, 2009, so you will need to create a new PASSWORD to access the forms.
   
   
3. To create the new password, go to the conference Web site and click on the “Church Login” button in the upper right corner of the screen. Or to by-pass the homepage, click here to go directly to the Church Login page to begin. Use your church’s GCFA number for both the USER NAME and the PASSWORD the first time you log-in. You will then be prompted to enter a new password of your choice. Please write this password down and keep it in a safe place. If you share your password with others, they will be able to work on the forms too. To access your year-end statistical report from this screen, click on the “Forms” tab. For detailed instructions with illustrations on how to re-set your password, click here. 
   
   
4. After you have changed and saved your password, you can access your year-end statistical report anytime between January 5 and February 13 by going to the conference Web site and clicking on the “Church Login” button in the upper right corner of the screen.  After logging in, you will be on the “My Church Administration” homepage. Select the “Forms” tab at the top or click on the link “Submit Church Forms.”
   

   IMPORTANT:

   Last year, more than 50 percent of reports were completed and submitted in the two days prior to the deadline. When you do this, it creates a virtual “log jam” in the system which results in very slow Internet connections and delayed responses to your questions. With over 700 churches in the Florida Conference, this means there were 300 to 400 churches accessing the system at the same time, and half of those churches had questions. Conference and district staff can only respond to one question at a time in the order they are received. 

   When you complete and submit your report EARLY, you commit an act of Radical Hospitality that creates fewer headaches for everyone involved in the process.
   

   So please, complete your report early.

   
   
5. You may want to print a blank report, make copies, highlight specific sections and distribute the highlighted sections to other individuals within the church office and have them complete those sections. For instance, the treasurer or finance chair may be the one to complete the section asking for financial data; the church administrator may complete the section on church membership. You can then enter the information they provide you in the online form.
   
   
6. If you have questions while completing the form, you can print the entire help text by clicking on that link in the instructions section at the top of the form. You can also click on the question number for an explanation of that question as you are going through and completing the form.  Finally, you can click on the email link in the form to send a question, you can call your District Office, or you may call the Conference Center, toll-free, 800-282-8011, Ext. 179 or 102.
   
   
7. We understand that for some questions, you may not have a definite answer. In those cases, you will have to provide a best guess based on information available and past experience. Wherever possible, however, it is expected that the church is providing accurate, factual data.
   
   
8. Upon completion, be sure to print a copy of your completed report for your records. If you find that you need to make a change after you have submitted it, please contact your district office.
   
   
9. You will notice that some questions do not appear on the form.  Below is a list of these questions that we do not ask on the year-end statistical report and an explanation of why.
   
   
   • Questions 33 and 34 (replacement values of church buildings and equipment and church owned parsonages) will be filled in by the conference office from data you have already provided to us by completing your CONNECT survey.
     
     
   • Questions 38a-50 (Benevolences) will be filled in by the conference office from data you have already provided to when you submitted your apportionment payments.
     
     
   • Questions 52a-57b (Connectional Administration Support) will be filled in by the conference office from the data you have already provided to us when you submitted your apportionment payments.
     
     
   • Questions 58-63b (Connectional Clergy Support) will be filled in by the conference office from data you have already provided to us when you submitted your apportionment payments.
     
     
   • Question 68a, b (Other cash allowances paid to pastor).  All churches should follow the Conference’s Accountable Reimbursement Policy which can be found here.
     
     
10. Additional information to help in completing the forms:
    1. Prepare a separate report for each organized church on a charge.
       
       
    2. For missions, daughter churches, multi-site campuses and ministries within a church (under the auspices of New Church Development), please refer to the chart, “New Church Development and Year-end Statistical Reports” for instructions.
       
       
    3. Question #1 on the form (total professing members reported at close of last year) is auto-filled from line 9 of the previous year. This number cannot be changed. If your previous year’s membership was reported incorrectly, you will need to make your adjustments in lines 2b or 5a to arrive at the correct membership for 2007.
       
       
    4. Report finances in dollars; do not report cents. (Round to nearest dollar.)
       
       
    5. Do not use commas, dollar signs or any other non-numerical characters when entering data (even in financials)
       
       
    6. Please make sure you complete each piece of the report accurately and completely, including the name and position of the person submitting the information.
       
       
    7. Give helpful explanations of any warnings you may have received. This may save you the time of explaining it to your district office a few months from now, when it will be harder to remember the particular circumstances.
       
       
    8. You must enter a number for each question even if it is a zero. 
       
       
11. A word about apportionments:  Questions 67 and 69 through 72 are used to calculate your local church’s apportionments.  In addition, information received directly from the district office regarding pastors’ base compensation and housing allowance and/or parsonage, is used to calculate apportionments.  However, we still need each local church to complete questions 64-66bb on the year-end statistical report that refers to pastors’ base compensation and housing allowance, since this information must be reported to GCFA.  We will also be using pension and health insurance figures supplied by the Conference Office of Financial Services to calculate your local church’s apportionments.  If you have questions about local church apportionments and how they are calculated, please contact Ivette in the Office of Financial Services at ivalentin@flumc.org.