Financial reporting your ministry can trust—every month.
CFO & Controller leadership for growing ministries.
As churches and Christian nonprofits grow, their finances get more complicated. As your Fractional CFO & Controller, I lead your existing team to deliver clear, dependable numbers leaders can trust, without the cost of a full-time hire.
- Monthly close
- Cash visibility
- Designated funds
- Audit readiness
Ministry Controller Experience
Led finance inside a $70M+ multi-entity ministry
AICPA Not-for-Profit Certificate
Nonprofit accounting and designated-fund stewardship
25+ years in ministry
I know how churches and Christian nonprofits actually operate
Your team stays in place
I lead and support your existing bookkeeping team
SOUND FAMILIAR?
Your church grew. Did your financial infrastructure grow with it?
The accounting processes that worked when the nonprofit ministry was smaller may no longer provide the reporting, controls, and visibility leadership needs today.
THE PROBLEM
You have financial reports…
…but you’re not always sure they’re telling you what you need to know.
HOW LEMONADE HELPS
Monthly close and reporting that tells leadership where the ministry actually stands — not just what it spent.
THE PROBLEM
You have cash in the bank…
…but some belongs to designated purposes, some is already committed, and some has to fund normal operations.
HOW LEMONADE HELPS
Cash visibility that separates designated, committed, and operating dollars — so you know what you can actually spend.
THE PROBLEM
You have people handling the accounting…
…but you’re still the one wondering if something is being missed.
HOW LEMONADE HELPS
Controller-level oversight working alongside your existing team — so problems surface early, not late.
You have financial reports, cash, and people—but you’re still the one wondering:
“Is there something here I don’t know about?”
Not ready for a conversation? Start with 10 minutes.
Answer 20 quick questions about your ministry's finances and see your score right away: where you have clear visibility, where your blind spots are, and one step to take this week.
Take the free Health Check
WHAT'S AT STAKE
Because financial uncertainty eventually becomes a stewardship problem.
When you don’t completely trust the numbers, every significant decision gets harder.
Can we launch this ministry?
Can we commit to this building project?
Can we actually afford this?
And there’s a question most ministry leaders would rather never have to confront:
What happens if a financial problem becomes public before leadership even knows there’s a problem?
That’s not just an accounting issue. It’s a trust issue.
IMAGINE
Imagine knowing your finances are under control.
You know how much cash the nonprofit ministry has.
Reports arrive on time and tell leadership what it needs to know.
You’re prepared for the audit instead of scrambling for it.
You know what’s designated, what’s committed, and what you can responsibly spend.
Designated gifts are properly tracked.
So when a ministry opportunity appears, you can look at it and know:
“Yes. We can responsibly do this.”
LET'S MAKE LEMONADE
Gather → Mix → Serve
I step into your accounting function as your Fractional CFO & Controller, lead the team, strengthen the processes behind the numbers, and build a consistent monthly reporting rhythm. Your bookkeeping team stays in place.
CLARITY
Reports leaders can read and trust
Control
A consistent close and audit-ready books
Systems
Accounting software set up and working
Stewardship
Designated funds tracked as donors intended
Direction
Budgets and cash visibility for informed decisions
STAGE 01
Gather
A fresh approach.
Understand where your ministry really is. A focused assessment of your processes, reporting, systems, controls, and designated funds.
STAGE 02
Mix
A clear vision.
I step in as your Fractional CFO & Controller, lead the team, and put the right processes, controls, and deadlines in place.
STAGE 03
Serve
A bright future.
Reliable monthly financial information leadership can use for budgets, decisions, year-end, and audit.
Experience at a glance
Built for financial complexity.
Cheston has led accounting functions in both nonprofit ministries and complex multi-entity organizations.
$70M+
Ministry finance at scale
Served as Controller within a multi-entity ministry of more than $70 million, leading a nine-person accounting team and supporting consolidated financial reporting and the annual audit.
120+
Systems and consolidation
Helped move a 120-plus-entity organization from more than 45 QuickBooks files to NetSuite, reducing a month-long consolidation process to days.
3,000+
Controls and stewardship
Built and strengthened cash, inventory, contract-accounting, and reporting processes in environments that included a $4 million bookstore and more than 3,000 digital-product contracts.
What others say
“Cheston brings clarity to complexity.”
I highly recommend Cheston to ministries, nonprofits, and organizations looking for someone who understands that good financial leadership is about more than numbers.
What stands out to me about Cheston is the combination of his financial expertise and his deep understanding of ministry. He understands the responsibility of stewardship, the realities leaders face behind the scenes, and the importance of having financial systems you can actually trust.
Cheston brings clarity to complexity. He has the ability to look at processes, reporting, systems, and financial operations and help organizations move toward greater consistency and confidence.
If your organization has grown beyond what your current financial processes can comfortably support, Cheston is someone I would recommend having a conversation with. His experience as both a financial professional and longtime ministry leader gives him a perspective that is especially valuable to churches and faith-based nonprofits.
Cheston isn’t simply helping organizations manage the numbers—he’s helping leaders build stronger systems so they can steward their mission well.
Denise Mock
COO · Ministry Coach
Not sure what you need?
Do you need a CFO or a Controller?
A Controller makes sure you can trust the numbers. A CFO helps leadership decide what to do with them. Most growing ministries need some of both.
about
Meet Cheston
Former Controller within a $70M+ multi-entity ministry, with 25+ years of hands-on ministry experience.
You don’t have to become an accountant to know your ministry’s finances are under control.
Get the financial visibility you need to make confident decisions, protect the trust you’ve been given, and put resources toward the mission with greater confidence.
530.782.8226 · [email protected]
Lemonade Fractional Solutions · Based in Shasta County, CA · Remote across the U.S.
Disclaimer: Lemonade Fractional Solutions is not a CPA firm, and does not act as your Certified Public Accountant. Information provided through this website and our services is for general informational and fractional Controller purposes only, and should not be construed as legal, tax, or audit advice. For tax strategy, legal counsel, or audited financial statements, please consult a licensed CPA or attorney.