""It just felt like a huge relief and a blessing to have BELAY while we were doing our budget because it gave me one less thing that I needed to worry about. I knew with the confidence that I had in our bookkeeper that what she was preparing and doing for us was going to be so accurate that we could focus on other things.""
— Christina Southall, Director of Finance
The Challenge
When Christina Southall stepped into her role as Director of Finance at Believers Church, she quickly discovered the situation was more complex than anticipated. The church was grappling with longstanding financial issues across multiple entities — problems that, left unaddressed, threatened to hold back its future growth and stability.
The accounting systems were fragmented across several platforms, creating significant inefficiency and confusion. On top of that, the day-to-day bookkeeping required a complete overhaul to restore accuracy and consistency. The sheer scale of the cleanup made an internal solution impractical.
"I realized that the task was too much. Maybe outsourcing a position within the finance department would probably be the best thing."
Seeking a trusted partner, Christina turned to recommendations from her own network. Other churches had already found success with BELAY, and that peer validation gave her the confidence to reach out.
The Solution
BELAY responded with a two-part solution tailored to Believers Church's specific needs. Recognizing that both an ongoing bookkeeping partner and a short-term migration specialist were required, they matched Christina with Hortencia — a dedicated bookkeeper focused on day-to-day financial management — and also brought in a temporary accounting clerk to handle the complex migration to QuickBooks Online.
"We had accounting software on multiple different platforms and we all just wanted the migration to happen on QuickBooks Online. And I didn't know where to even begin with that."
The results were immediate. Within a month, the church's books had been dramatically transformed, and reporting accuracy improved noticeably. Hortencia's level of dedication stood out, making Christina feel as though the church had a full-time in-house team member rather than a remote contractor.
BELAY also gave Christina the flexibility and confidence she needed to commit to the partnership. The ability to cancel at any time — and BELAY's assurance that they would work through any issues together — removed the risk and made moving forward an easy decision.
""We just really like that we feel like she is a part of our internal team. You know, like she might as well sit here in the office as well. She's just not some random person that lives in a different state. Like she's one of us.""
— Christina Southall, Director of FinanceThe Impact
The partnership with BELAY delivered measurable financial relief almost immediately. By bringing in expert fractional support rather than hiring a full-time employee, Believers Church eliminated the overhead of salary, benefits, and retirement contributions.
"It saved us in the long run. I would think it saved us about $80,000 a year. When you factor in benefits, retirement, and all the other costs, it's such a cost savings."
Beyond the dollar savings, the emotional and operational impact was profound. During the critical budget season, Christina was able to focus on high-level strategy, fully trusting that the financial details were in capable hands. The peace of mind that came with having reliable, accurate reporting each month became a cornerstone of how the leadership team operated.
With a strong financial foundation in place, the church's leadership has been empowered to pursue a bold vision for the future — including plans to open a special needs facility and a school on land they already own. As Christina put it:
"BELAY gives us the ability to focus on goals that we want to do in the future. We know in the back of our head that those financial tasks are being handled, and we know they are being done well just by the product that we receive every month."