Excellent churches and ministries are led by people who desire to operate above reproach. They want to do the right things for the right reasons, and they believe in real accountability. Many church and ministry leaders have come to BMWL for audit and assurance services because of our strong reputation for helping them make sure the financial bases are covered. They often come to us after working with another accounting firm, and they share with us that they were concerned that their previous firm was not bringing matters to their attention that needed to be addressed. After asking around among leaders in the church and ministry community, they learned that BMWL is well known for just that – taking a comprehensive and highly professional approach to providing services that include communicating important matters to our clients on a proactive and consistent basis.

When the senior pastor of a nationally-renowned church was appointed to a very high-profile position outside his church, the pastor and other leaders of the church wanted to take extra steps to ensure that their church was operating above reproach. They reached out to BMWL to provide audit and assurance services for them, and we have gladly obliged. We serve numerous churches and ministries in a similar capacity.

In the tax arena, we have helped many churches and ministries reduce their state and local tax obligations by helping them take advantage of exemptions of which they were not fully aware. As a result of our services, a significant number of our church and ministry clients have saved very large sums of money by taking better advantage of their exemptions. Saving our clients money is one of our favorite things to do!

We have also helped numerous churches and ministries evaluate and reorganize their corporate structures for risk management purposes. Together with legal counsel, we help churches and ministries reduce the risk of exposure of their significant assets to liabilities associated with their regular operating activities. We also address the federal and state tax implications of multiple-entity corporate structures.

Another key area in which we assist our church and ministry clients is addressing their practices for establishing and documenting executive compensation and related party transactions. It is critically important for churches and ministries to handle executive compensation and related party transactions properly. Improper handling of these important matters can result in negative publicity as well as possible (very significant) penalties for the individuals involved. Our BMWL professionals can help your organization successfully navigate the rules related to executive compensation and related party transactions – and reduce the risk to your organization and its leaders.

We assist numerous churches and ministries in areas such as budgeting; internal controls; financial management; board governance matters; risk management; political activities; clergy-specific tax matters; foreign grant-making and direct foreign activities; corporate structure analysis; federal, state, and local tax compliance; representation before tax authorities; and much more.