Entering Budgeting Season with Faith and Foresight: Best Practices for Catholic Schools and Parishes As another budgeting season approaches, Catholic schools and parishes have a sacred opportunity to practice faithful stewardship of the resources God has entrusted to...

‘Tis the Season of 1099 Filing by Mary Stange Client Advisor - Senior   As an accounting firm servicing Catholic parishes and Schools we truly embrace the Reason for the Season and look forward with anticipation to celebrating Christmas with all of our clients....

Internal Controls & Financial Aid by Mary Stange - SJFS Client Advisor We are continuing our review of the importance of internal controls in Parish, School & Ministry Finances for key processes. Financial Aid may seem like it would only be relevant to School...

Internal Controls & PCI Compliance by Mary Stange - SJFS Client Advisor We are continuing our review of the importance of internal controls in Church Finances, and key processes. A Catch-Twenty-Two for living in an advanced technological society is that the...

Internal Controls & Payroll by Mary Stange - SJFS Client Advisor We are continuing our review of the importance of internal controls in Parish, School & Ministry Finances for key processes. We would be remiss if we did not include a post regarding Payroll....

Internal Controls & Onsite Transactions by Mary Stange, Client Advisor   We are continuing our review of the importance of internal controls in Church Finances, and key processes. While a majority of Churches and Schools have moved to electronic transactions...

by Mary Stange - Client Advisor We are continuing our review of the importance of internal controls in Church Finances, and key processes. Churches and Schools regularly host special events, from pancake breakfasts to school plays. Please find some of our top process...

Internal Controls & Collection Counting By Mary Stange After reviewing the importance of internal controls in Church Finances, one of the key areas to be mindful of is the weekly collection count. Please find some of our top process improvements to ensure proper...

St. Joseph Financial Services (SJFS) is grateful and excited to welcome Brenda Cannella to the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) starting next month. This milestone hire for SJFS reinforces our firm’s growth and success, and positions us to better support the...

Internal Controls Best Practices for Your Catholic Organization Mary Stange - Client Advisor at St. Joseph Financial Services   Fraud   You may have seen the recent articles put out by Game Spot,  “Priest Arrested For Using Church Funds On Candy Crush And...

Reflecting on the 2024 Summer Interns Mary Stange - Client Advisor We asked our Summer Interns, Remy Finn, Caroline Gramm, Keaton Rodgers, and Grant Kissell to share a little about their 2 months with SJFS this year. Tying in their Working Geniuses, here are some of...

Recruiting and Retention at Your Catholic School By Mary Stange Client Advisor Turnover Summer is upon us and with the end of another school year your students leave for their break and a portion of your teachers put in their notice. The 2022-23 nationwide average for...

Celebrating Strong Teams   Earlier in my career, I was blessed to be the Bookkeeper for St. Philomena Parish and School. I learned so much from that position and from our pastor, who was a brilliant administrator. The team was composed of strong, strategic hires to be...

Let In-Kind Giving Boost Your Donations By Mary Stange; Client Advisor What is an in-kind gift? In-kind giving can be a way to boost donations for your parish or school, outside of the normal parameters of financial giving.  In-kind contribution of Goods: Contribution...

1st SJFS Mission Day was a Success Mary Stange - Client Advisor St. Joseph the Worker May 1st is the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, the patron saint of St. Joseph Financial Services. One of the perks of being a non-profit organization in service of the Catholic...

You Don't Have Time to Build an Accounting Firm Jonathan Boulos - CEO - SJFS The demand has never been higher for CFOs and COOs of dioceses to find ways to support the parishes and schools of their diocese with back office support: payroll, bookkeeping and accounting,...

Financial Aid Series - Part 5 Understand the Calculation By Jonathan Boulos Edited by Mary Stange Understanding the FACTS Calculated Need protects those on the review board from any aspersions of favoritism or bias when it comes to Tuition Assistance. FACTS offers the...

Moving to a Zero Sum Need-Based Tuition Assessment By: Jonathan Boulos, CEO Edited by: Mary Stange, Client Advisor It’s time to let demographic discounts go the way of the dodo bird. School leaders often think they are dug in too deep to make a significant, structural...

Demographic Discounts By: Jonathan Boulos, CEO Edited by: Mary Stange, Client Advisor Demographic Discounts Information flows more freely than it ever has in history. Catholic schools have infinitely more information available to them to help families with systems...

Financial Aid Assessments Series 2: Determine Your Available Aid By: Jonathan Boulos, CEO Edited by: Mary Stange, Client Advisor Funded or Unfunded When you have Funded Aid, the monies are tied to some sort of external dollars. This can be a scholarship or tuition...

Financial Aid Assessments Series Part 1: Prominent Nationwide Need By: Jonathan Boulos, CEO Edited by: Mary Stange, Client Advisor Prominent Nationwide Need Financial Aid has become more prominent in Catholic Schools, primarily in bigger cities. Inflation is on the...

Planning Salary Increases at Your Catholic School By Mary Stange; Client Advisor It’s not Too Early Reviewing current salaries, and planning for salary increases, should be part of the budget meetings held by Finance Councils at this time of year. Truly, in tandem...

The Power of Payroll in Your Catholic Organization By Mary Stange Client Advisor Power of Payroll Confidence in your Payroll Process is a fundamental building block for employee retention. “If you mess up an employee’s payroll once or twice, you stand a good chance of...

Celebrating Catholic Schools By Mary Stange Client Advisor St. Joseph Financial Services Catholic Schools Week Each year, in January, there is a national Catholic Schools Week. This year it is January 29-February 2, 2024. Catholic Schools use this week to celebrate...

Top 8 Considerations when Setting Catholic School Tuition By Mary Stange - Client Advisor St. Joseph Financial Services stjfs.org Calculating Next Year’s Tuition As a Catholic School it is important to proactively calculate tuition increases for each school year. As...

Proactive Tips for Your Catholic Organization’s Calendar Year End Mary Stange, Client Advisor St. Joseph Financial Services - stjfs.org With the closing of a calendar year, we all look toward the filing deadlines and compilation of those documents necessary for our...

11 Helpful Habits of our (Financially) Healthiest Clients Geoff Turbiak St. Joseph Financial Services At a recent all-SJFS team offsite, we carved out some time to reflect on what our most financially healthy clients were doing to be successful.  Our clients encompass...

Divvy becomes BILL Spend & Expense – What this means for Catholic Finance by Geoff Turbiak – St. Joseph Financial Services (SJFS) Divvy, the popular expense management, bill-pay, and corporate credit card software platform has recently undergone a name change....

Welcome to the SJFS team Eric Keogler! Eric works as a Client Advisor at our firm, serving clients across Catholic education. Read below to learn more about Eric and his work at SJFS! Where are you from, and where did you go to college?  I'm from Newtown, CT. I...

“Our goal is to relieve clients of as much of the administrative tasks related to payroll as they are comfortable with, freeing them up to serve in support of their mission.” At St. Joseph Financial Services, we know that you are doing important work. Each diocese,...

Conferences: Where to go, and Who to Find  There are a number of great conferences available for those in Catholic finance. These conferences offer a chance to learn from experts, network with other professionals, and stay up-to-date on the latest trends, products,...

Forward Momentum: SJFS Team Perspective from Client Advisor Mary Stange  I remember when our leadership team got back from their onsite in May, they had the glow of men who had connected on a unified vision. Even our fearless leader, Jonathan Boulos, couldn’t keep the...

  Join us in welcoming Mary Stange to the SJFS team! Learn more about her background, and time with SJFS below. From Mary Stange, Client Advisor at SJFS:  After growing up in small-town Boone, Iowa, home of the Kate Shelley High Bridge and Pufferbilly Days...

Catholic institutions are facing a number of financial challenges. Swings in enrollment, increasing costs, and limited resources are top of mind for educators and administrators across the United States. At the same time, there are financial trends that are working in...

Please join us in welcoming to the SJFS team Shirley Yaich! Shirley joins us after working in ministry of the Church, and was drawn to the firm by its mission to serve Catholic schools and leaders across the country. Learn more about Shirley below:   Where are...

Today we mourn the loss, and celebrate the life, of Retired San Jose Bishop Patrick Joseph McGrath. What sticks out most to us at St. Joseph Financial Services is how Bishop McGrath was a strong supporter of Catholic education. He established a number of programs to...

Join us in welcoming the newest SJFS Client Advisor, Matthew Keller! Before SJFS, Matthew served as a missionary with FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, serving students in his role on campus. Get to know Matthew below, and welcome to the team!...

As many of you know, SJFS CEO Jonathan Boulos recently began teaching at the University of Notre Dame as an Adjunct Assistant teaching professor. We wanted to learn more about his new position, and his time as a professor - so we went straight to the source! Hear from...

As the recovery from COVID-19 begins to hit its stride, what constitutes the new normal presents many challenges- but also opportunities for schools to show what they’ve learned over the past two years.  With a majority of educators estimating at least 3 months...

Complete bySCHOOL RESPONSIBILITYHow STJFS Can Help □JanuaryFinalize tuition rates for the new school year and send to STJFS.   Finalize any discounts (registered Catholic, multi student, employee, etc.)   Determine if you are charging a registration fee...

It is no secret to anyone reading this - inflation has run rampant this year across the United States. As salaries climb higher, and costs of materials and software increase seemingly week to week, administrators are left in a limbo of higher costs and higher tuition....

Preparing the next generation of students requires educators to anticipate what their unique challenges will be, and what we can do today to help them be successful. The value of a private education, particularly Catholic, is the flexibility in curriculum that helps...

Meeting with your financial board can be one of the most stressful points of the month, quarter, or year for you as a school leader. From the audits of school finances, to the projections that must be made for the following year, these meetings call to attention the...

Catholic Schools can use the lessons they learnt from COVID to build back better their organizations and become leaders of education. Catholic schools faced an unprecedented crisis with the closure of schools Catholic school enrollment has decreased by 21.3% since...

Quick Takes:  In our recent poll, Financial Aid was identified as a stress point for principals and administrators in Catholic education. There are two keys to administering financial aid at your school: Use financial aid as a tool to...

Quick Hits:  Endowments are a point of ambiguity for school officials, as the policies and stipulations tied to them can be difficult to navigate. There are two main types of restrictions placed on endowments: permanent and temporary. Permanent:...

Please join us in welcoming the newest member of the St. JFS leadership team, Geoff Turbiak! Geoff joins us as the new Director of Marketing and Experience at St. JFS, bringing experience from the automotive industry and a passion for the Catholic Church. Read below...

It is no secret that inflation has wreaked havoc on every facet of our daily lives - from increased prices at grocery stores, to the increases that we have all experienced at the gas pump, we are in a period of higher costs in the United States. So as a school...

We are happy to announce the most recent hire at St Joseph Financial Services, Doug Erla! Doug joins our leadership team as the Chief of Staff, where he will work to ensure that the team at SJFS is able to best work towards our goal of streamlining the back offices of...

We are happy to announce the most recent hire at St Joseph Financial Services, Kim Kelly! Kim joins our Diocesan Support Staff as our Payroll Product Manager, where she will work to ensure that our clients have the access and expertise needed to streamline payroll...