Anyone who has served on the board in more than one church knows that church boards are all very different. Sometimes a board has no idea what the reports mean, so they look at them for a few minutes and then vote them through without question or discussion, while other church boards question every little thing and require details and explanations.
Whatever kind of church board you have, there are really three main questions they are asking:
Jewel monthly reports can answer all those questions, depending on how the church's financial information is entered and organized. But, if the information being posted every week into Jewel is inaccurate, incomplete or confusing, the reports may not answer those questions.
One of your most important tasks as a treasurer is to provide accurate and clear monthly reports to your board, so they can make good financial decisions. Most likely, you inherited an account list and a way of doing things, so at first, observe. Look at the reports. Do they make sense? Do they easily answer the three important questions? Could one of your youth or a person off the street understand them? Does your board understand them?
There are things that you, as treasurer, can do to improve the clarity, accuracy, and simplicity of your reports. Here are a few of them.
Mastery in these areas will go a long way in achieving clear, accurate, and simple reports. This will result in confidence on the part of the board. They will know where the church stands financially and be able to make decisions with a minimum of fuss and bother.