Navigating New Financial Horizons at Shandon Baptist Church

About the Organization

Shandon Baptist Church, based in South Carolina, is led by a finance team focused on responsible stewardship of church resources. Shandon previously managed its budgeting and financial reporting across multiple ministries, a preschool, and church plants using spreadsheets, but the process became too complex as the church grew.

Since implementing Martus, Shandon's finance team has streamlined its budgeting process and given department managers direct access to the financial information they need to make informed decisions, ensuring that every dollar is tied to the church’s mission to make, mature, and multiple disciples of Jesus.

The Challenge

For Barbara Huff, Director of Finance at Shandon Baptist Church, managing the budget process meant navigating a system that placed most of the work — and most of the information — in the hands of a few people. Shandon had been relying on spreadsheets to manage budgeting across multiple departments and ministry areas. Department managers had limited visibility into the financial status of their areas, making it harder for them to plan, make decisions, and take ownership of their budgets.

Budget preparation itself was slow and labor-intensive. The finance team needed a solution that would simplify the process for ministry department leaders without sacrificing the depth of detail required for sound financial stewardship.

Why Martus

Martus gave Shandon Baptist Church's finance team a centralized budgeting platform that works for both the finance office and the department managers who rely on it.

• Department-level budget access: Managers can now view and work within their own budgets directly in Martus, reducing back-and-forth with the finance team and increasing accountability across the organization.
• Real-time financial visibility: Barbara highlighted real-time data as a key feature, giving managers an up-to-date picture of their department's financial status at any point in the budget cycle.
• Intuitive design: Ease of use was cited as a primary advantage over other solutions — one that made adoption across departments practical, not just possible.
• Data integrity and security: Barbara noted Martus's commitment to data integrity and its secure platform as important factors in her confidence in the system.
• Ongoing product improvements: Martus's continuous enhancements have reinforced Shandon's trust in the platform over time.
• Integration with legacy accounting software: Martus's integration with Shelby Next, a common accounting software for churches, means Shandon can retain its existing accounting environment without requiring a system overhaul.

The Solution

Martus significantly improved how Shandon Baptist Church's finance team works, and how department managers engage with their budgets. As Barbara said, "Martus makes it possible for all of our managers to see the financial status of the departments." The finance team spends significantly less time on budget preparation, and managers have the real-time access they need to make timely decisions.

The Result

• 50% decrease in budget cycle time
• 2x faster financial decision-making with real-time data access
• Department managers independently manage their budgets within the platform
• Responsive customer support has made issue resolution fast and reliable

For Shandon Baptist Church, the biggest win wasn’t simply faster budgeting, but getting the right information to the right people. When department managers can see their own numbers and work within their own budgets, financial stewardship becomes a shared responsibility rather than a bottleneck.