Governance & Compliance

Approval workflows, external access for auditors, and attestations to maintain financial oversight and accountability for your church.

Why Governance Matters

Churches are entrusted with donated funds and have a responsibility to their congregation and regulatory bodies to maintain proper financial controls. Ecclesly's governance features help you:

  • Implement maker/checker controls for financial transactions
  • Provide secure, time-limited access for external auditors and CPAs
  • Create immutable attestation records for board sign-offs
  • Maintain a complete audit trail of all approvals

Approval Workflows

Configure approval requirements for different types of financial transactions. Approval workflows enforce the maker/checker principle, ensuring that the person who creates a transaction is not the same person who approves it.

Workflow Types

TypeDescription
Journal EntriesRequire approval before posting journal entries
Adjusting EntriesRequire approval for adjusting entries
Period CloseRequire approval to close accounting periods
Period LockRequire approval to lock periods
Expenses Over ThresholdRequire approval for expenses above a certain amount

Configuring a Workflow

  1. Navigate to Settings → Governance
  2. Select the Approval Workflows tab
  3. Find the workflow type you want to configure
  4. Click Configure
  5. Toggle Enable Workflow to turn it on
  6. Set the configuration options:

Workflow Settings

SettingDescription
Amount ThresholdOnly require approval for amounts above this value (optional)
Maker ≠ CheckerRequire a different user to approve than the one who created the request
Minimum ApproversNumber of approvals required (1-5)
Approver RolesWhich staff roles can approve this type of request

Approving Requests

  1. Navigate to Governance → Approvals
  2. Review pending approval requests
  3. Click on a request to see details
  4. Click Approve or Reject
  5. Add optional notes explaining your decision

Notifications

Approvers receive email notifications when new requests are submitted. Requestors are notified when their requests are approved or rejected.

External Access Grants

Provide secure, time-limited access to external parties like auditors, CPAs, and board members who need to review your financial records.

External Role Types

RoleAccess Level
CPAFull financial read access
AuditorFull access + audit trail
Board MemberReports + attestations
Finance CommitteeFund reports + attestations

Creating an Access Grant

  1. Navigate to Settings → Governance
  2. Select the External Access tab
  3. Click Grant External Access
  4. Enter the external user's information:
    • Full name and email address
    • Organization (e.g., accounting firm name)
    • Access role type
    • Expiration date (maximum 1 year)
    • Optional notes about the purpose of access
  5. Click Create Access Grant
  6. Copy the secure access link and share it with the external user

Security Note

The access link is only shown once when the grant is created. Store it securely and share it through a secure channel. If the link is lost, you'll need to revoke the grant and create a new one.

Managing Access Grants

View all active, pending, and expired grants from the External Access page. For each grant you can see:

  • Who granted access and when
  • Last access date and total access count
  • Expiration date and status

Revoking Access

  1. Go to Settings → Governance → External Access
  2. Find the grant in the Active Grants list
  3. Click the X button next to the grant
  4. Enter a reason for revocation (for audit purposes)
  5. Confirm the revocation

Tip: Set calendar reminders to review and renew external access grants before important deadlines like annual audits.

Attestations

Create permanent, immutable records of board and committee sign-offs on financial statements, period closings, and other important approvals.

Immutable Records

Once an attestation is created, it cannot be modified or deleted. This provides a permanent audit trail of who approved what and when.

Attestation Types

TypePurpose
Period CloseSign-off on a closed accounting period (monthly, quarterly)
Financial StatementBoard approval of financial statements
Annual ReportYear-end financial review and approval
Budget ApprovalBoard approval of annual or revised budget
Audit CompletionSign-off on completed external audit

Creating an Attestation

  1. Navigate to Governance → Attestations
  2. Click Create Attestation
  3. Select the attestation type
  4. For period close attestations, select the closed accounting period
  5. Enter a descriptive title (e.g., "Q4 2024 Financial Review Attestation")
  6. Select your role as the attestor:
    • Board Chair
    • Board Member
    • Finance Committee Chair
    • Finance Committee Member
    • Treasurer
    • Senior Pastor
    • Executive Pastor
  7. Enter the fiscal year
  8. Add optional description or notes
  9. Click Create Attestation

Viewing Attestations

The attestations list shows all sign-offs with:

  • Attestation type and title
  • Who attested and their role
  • Date and time of attestation
  • Fiscal year
  • Document hash (for verification)

Use the fiscal year filter to view attestations for specific years.

Best Practice: Create attestations after each board meeting where financial reports are reviewed. This documents that leadership has reviewed and approved the church's financial position.

Audit Trail

All governance actions are automatically logged in the system audit trail, including:

  • Approval workflow changes
  • Approval requests created, approved, and rejected
  • External access grants created and revoked
  • Attestations created
  • External user access events

View the full audit trail at Settings → Audit Log to see a complete history of all system actions with timestamps, users, and details.

Financial ManagementData Management