"When I pull the report and go to our leadership and say, this is where we stand financially, I can have confidence in those numbers. I don't have any shadow of a doubt that what I'm presenting to them is accurate and usable, so that's a big benefit."
— Jerod Beck, Pastor of Administration
The Challenge
Jerod Beck, Pastor of Administration at Emmaus Church in Buford, Georgia, is responsible for the administrative and financial operations of a growing 800-member congregation. With 16 staff members, each carrying a church credit card, and a steady flow of payments to vendors, childcare workers, and contractors, the volume and complexity of the church's finances were substantial — and growing.
"Around 2019, we reached out initially for bookkeeper service [through BELAY]. We had a great bookkeeper – a person local to us that was known by the church. As the church continued to grow, though, we found ourselves in a place where there began to be a little bit of a scope mismatch [with] what that service provider was offering."
Jerod explored hiring someone onto the church's staff but quickly saw the value in a third-party solution — one that would offer accountability, independence, and a fresh perspective. Beyond finding the right provider, Emmaus Church also needed to modernize its financial systems, moving away from outdated manual processes and into cloud-based tools for bill pay, accounts payable, and expense reporting.
The Solution
BELAY paired Jerod with Bookkeeper Jon Lee Rabette, and the match proved to be an immediate and lasting success. Jon Lee quickly learned the ins and outs of Emmaus Church's financial structure, taking on weekly payroll processing, statement reconciliation, and budget management in QuickBooks. He also helped the church transition to modern platforms like Expensify, bringing the cloud-based workflow Jerod had been seeking.
"It was a pretty quick process once we learned what [BELAY was] all about and since that time we've had [the same] bookkeeper, which is awesome. We're super thankful for that. He got to know us; we got to know him. We've had a really great relationship ever since."
Any initial hesitation among staff about working with a remote, third-party contractor quickly faded. Jon Lee's proactive communication and thoroughness built trust early. "I don't remember it taking very long for me to feel comfortable with what Jon Lee was doing," Jerod says. "I could see right away that he was committed to doing things the right way. He was asking questions early on, learning about us. He cared about what we were doing."
"Stewardship is a massive deal. It can't be overlooked. People are giving money to this church [with] the full hope and expectation that it's being used for kingdom purposes. And so it's one thing to do that, and it's a whole other thing to be able to show, 'Hey, yeah, it's really being done.'"
— Jerod Beck, Pastor of AdministrationThe Impact
The improvements were felt quickly across the organization. Payment processing became dramatically faster — whether for childcare workers, construction crews, or cleaning services — and the modernized systems made the accounting far easier to manage. With a high volume of transactions flowing through 16 church credit cards, Jon Lee's attention to detail ensured every dollar was accounted for accurately and efficiently.
"When I pull the report and go to our leadership and say, this is where we stand financially, I can have confidence in those numbers. I don't have any shadow of a doubt that what I'm presenting to them is accurate and usable, so that's a big benefit."
For Emmaus Church, the stakes extend well beyond operational efficiency. Stewardship is central to the church's mission — donors give in faith that their contributions are being managed with integrity, and having a reliable, independent bookkeeper gives the church the transparency it needs to demonstrate exactly that. Jon Lee's commitment to continuous learning even extended to supporting the church through its first-ever financial audit, going out of his way to understand church finance more deeply throughout the process.
Looking ahead, Emmaus Church is preparing for a major building purchase — a milestone that will significantly increase financial complexity. Jerod has complete confidence that Jon Lee will rise to the occasion: "I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Jon Lee will be right there with us through that entire thing. We feel so blessed to have him [and BELAY] as a resource."