⛪ Church Walkthrough Checklist

A hands-on verification tour for church and faith-based leaders. Keep this page open on one screen and work through the platform on the other. Every step says exactly what to click and what you should see. Your checkmarks save in this browser, so you can stop and come back.
All In One Nonprofit · about 60 to 90 minutes · questions or anything not working as described: [email protected]
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Before you start, you will need:

Use real information where you can; every record you create here is a working record you keep.

Everything tax-related in this walkthrough is educational. The platform structures, calculates, and documents; your CPA or tax counsel confirms the numbers before anything is filed or paid.

Part 1. Tell the platform you are a church

1.1
Sign in at app.allinonenonprofit.com and open your My apps portal.You should see: your app portal with your organization name at the top (if your account belongs to more than one organization, a dropdown next to your email switches between them).
1.2
Set your organization type. Open My Organization, find the Organization type card, and choose Church or faith based.You should see: a green note appears saying churches are automatically exempt and file no annual Form 990, plus two helper links: the guided 14-factor check and the Complete Guide church walkthrough.
1.3
Confirm your IRS classification on the same card (for most churches, 501(c)(3) public charity).You should see: the classification saves, and every app reads it from here so you are never asked twice.
1.4
Check the vocabulary. Open Donor Management.You should see: the app speaks your language: offering instead of donation, giver instead of donor. The same words follow you into every app.
1.5
Set a word of your own. Back on My Organization, use the per-term overrides to match your tradition (for example, show elders, session, or vestry where the platform says council). Reopen Board Management.You should see: your word on screen. Stored records and formal documents keep standard names, so a resolution still says what your bylaws say.

Part 2. The am-I-a-church check

2.1
Take the guided 14-factor check at church-determination. Answer all fourteen characteristics honestly.You should see: a written rationale you can keep, a clear statement that no single factor decides it, and the consequences of the conclusion spelled out (a church files no 990 and cannot use Form 1023-EZ; a religious organization that is not a church must apply and file every year).
2.2
Confirm the check finds you where you need it. Look for its link under the church checkbox in Compliance Tracker onboarding and in the Formation Assistant classification help.You should see: the same guided check linked at each decision point.
2.3
Save or print the rationale for your board records.You should see: a document your board can point to if the question ever comes up.

Part 3. Compliance without the Form 990

3.1
Open the Compliance Tracker and review your filings list.You should see: no Form 990, 990-EZ, or 990-N anywhere, with a green notice explaining the exemption (IRC 6033(a)(3)(A)(i)) and why the three-year auto-revocation rule does not reach churches.
3.2
Confirm what a church still owes is listed: payroll filings if you have employees, Form 990-T if unrelated business income reaches $1,000, and your state registrations.You should see: those items present, so the exemption never reads as "nothing to do."
3.3
Find the church-only deadline: a Governance item named Housing Allowance Designation for Next Year, due before January 1.You should see: the item on your list every year, with an explanation of why the date matters and links to the HR worksheet and Board Management.

Part 4. Paying your minister correctly

4.1
Open Clergy Compensation: go to hr.allinonenonprofit.com/#clergy.You should see: the Clergy Compensation view opens directly. The sidebar item appears only for churches.
4.2
Run the housing allowance worksheet with test numbers: designated $30,000, actual housing costs $28,000, fair rental value $32,000.You should see: the excludable amount is $28,000, the least of the three. The worksheet shows two different bases: the exclusion applies for income tax, but the full allowance stays in the SECA base. The arithmetic is visible so your CPA can check it.
4.3
Try to backdate a designation. In the designation record, attempt an effective date earlier than the approval date.You should see: the app refuses. That block is deliberate: Treasury Regulation 1.107-1(b) says a housing allowance can never be applied retroactively.
4.4
Review the minister flags and Form 4361 tracking on the minister record: minister status, FICA exempt, voluntary withholding, and the 4361 deadline.You should see: each flag explained in plain language, including that the 4361 deadline is hard and the election irrevocable.
4.5
Open the W-2 guidance for ministers.You should see: which boxes differ for a minister and why, with the CPA confirmation line on the screen.
4.6
Check the payroll compliance checklist (Payroll section).You should see: the unemployment item reads "FUTA does not apply to your church," not a generic instruction to confirm a FUTA election you do not have.
4.7
Run the Total Compensation Analysis (Tools) for any staff member.You should see: FUTA shown as $0 with the church explanation, and a note that a minister position has no employer FICA either and belongs in Clergy Compensation.

Part 5. The annual housing allowance resolution

5.1
Open Board Management and go to Resolutions (in the Board group; it may show your own word for board).You should see: a teal band at the top: Annual housing allowance designation, explaining the advance-designation rule and the January 1 deadline.
5.2
Click "Prefill the designation resolution."You should see: the number, title, date, and full resolution text fill in with the formal Section 107 language, bracketed placeholders for your minister, amounts, and dates, and the effective-date rule written into the text itself.
5.3
Run a real sign-off. Replace the brackets, choose yourself as the only signer, send it, and sign from the email link you receive.You should see: your signature recorded with the date, time, and IP, and the resolution marked adopted.
5.4
Find the adopted copy in your Document Library.You should see: the signed resolution filed automatically, ready for your minutes and your CPA.

Part 6. Sunday giving: envelopes and the counting team

6.1
Assign an envelope number. In Donor Management, open (or add) a giver and enter an Offering envelope # (for example, 101) in the field next to Phone.You should see: the number saves on the record, with a note that plate gifts are entered by this number.
6.2
Test the duplicate check. Try to give a second giver the same number 101.You should see: the app names who already holds 101 and asks before reassigning. Two households can never silently share a number.
6.3
Run an Offering count. On the Gifts page, click ✉️ Offering count. Enter three rows: envelope 101 with an amount, a row with a check number, and a row with no envelope number at all.You should see: the giver's name resolve beside row one as you type, the check row marked as a check, the blank row labeled Loose offering, and a running total at the bottom.
6.4
Record the batch.You should see: each row becomes an ordinary gift: attributed to the right giver with the envelope number in its notes, and the loose offering recorded with no giver. Statements, thank-yous, and reports treat them like any other gift.
6.5
Use the envelope lookup on a single gift. Open any gift card and type 101 into the small or envelope # box under the giver selector.You should see: the giver selected automatically from the number.
6.6
Trigger the love-offering safeguard. In a test gift's notes, type "love offering for Pastor Dave."You should see: an amber caution appear immediately: money the congregation directs to a person is taxable compensation to that person, with the right way to handle it (payroll, or reword the designation for the ministry). Reference: IRS Publication 517.
6.7
Check tithes and statements. Set up a recurring gift for a test giver, then generate a year-end giving statement.You should see: the recurring commitment displayed as a tithe, and the statement generated with the acknowledgment wording the IRS expects, including quid pro quo language.

Part 7. Online giving through your own account

This part matters most to us. You are among the first congregations to run money through this path end to end, and we want to hear how it went, smooth or not: [email protected].
7.1
Connect your church's own Stripe account from your account's payment settings.You should see: the connection confirmed. Gifts settle directly into your church's account; the platform never holds your money.
7.2
Make a real test gift of a few dollars through your own giving page.You should see: the charge succeed and the deposit appear in your own Stripe dashboard.
7.3
Watch it arrive in Donor Management.You should see: the gift recorded automatically with its processor and payment reference, attached to the right giver.
7.4
Make it recurring. Set the test gift up on a monthly schedule.You should see: the schedule recorded (displayed as a tithe), ready to track fulfillment month by month.

Part 8. When you need help

8.1
Ask the assistant. In the Ask box (member portal or any app), ask: "How do I enter the Sunday offering count?"You should see: a specific, cited answer that points you to the right screen.
8.2
Read the church walkthrough in the Complete Guide.You should see: the whole journey you just walked, written down, with a link for every step.
8.3
Skim your app guides. Each app's User Guide has a church section (Donor Management, HR, Board Management, Compliance Tracker, IRS Forms).You should see: click-paths for everything in this checklist, so your team can find them without you.
Found something that did not match what this checklist said you should see? That is exactly what we want to know. Click Copy my results at the top, paste it into an email to [email protected], and tell us the item number and what happened instead. We read every one.
Everything checked out? Then you are ready for part two: the Church Setup Guide walks you through setting your church up for real, in the order that makes each step easier than the last: identity, governance, compliance, people, giving, and your weekly rhythm.