Financial leadership for faith-based organizations.
We provide continuity.
Continuity of reporting
Consistent monthly board reports, consistent formats, consistent definitions. New board members see historical trends and current projections from the moment their terms begin.
Continuity of process
Maintain institutional memory, documented fund restrictions, reserve policies, and compliance schedules that are recorded and followed. When leadership changes, the process doesn't.
Continuity of planning
Capital campaigns, endowments, debt management, and multi-year budgets are carried from one leadership team to the next, preserving momentum and growth.
Treasurers rotate, committees turn over, and campaigns span a decade. Bookkeepers record history, CPAs review annually, and consultants leave once pledges are in.
Mission Financial serves as the one seat that doesn't change, safeguarding the executive-level financial memory that volunteer governance is otherwise at risk of losing.
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.” — 1 Peter 4:10
Mission Financial operates at the strategic level, providing expertise not typically offered by traditional bookkeepers and accountants.
Our approach includes:
Financial Baseline
A clear, written account of where your finances stand and the history behind them: the restricted funds, the reserves, the campaign, the endowment, and the reasoning that currently lives in people's heads. This is the starting point every future treasurer and committee will inherit, so we write it for people who were not in the room.
Deliverable: A baseline report and a financial operations manual, the two documents a new treasurer reads first.
Strategic Planning
A multi-year model that is updated each budget cycle, not rebuilt. Leadership sees what's ahead, and the assumptions behind the numbers are written down so the plan survives the people who made it.
Deliverable: A multi-year projection with documented assumptions, refreshed every year.
Fractional CFO
Ongoing counsel to boards, vestries, sessions, councils, and finance committees. Senior-level financial governance without the overhead of a full-time hire, and without the gap when a volunteer's term ends.
Deliverable: A consistent monthly reporting package, a maintained operations manual, and a working briefing for each new treasurer and chair.
"One generation shall praise thy works to another." — Psalm 145:4
Change is inevitable, but doesn't need to be disruptive.
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A new treasurer, finance chair, or head of school steps in with no documented financial history to inherit.
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A capital campaign or endowment is years in, and the leaders who set it up have moved on.
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Budget season arrives and last year's model has to be rebuilt from scratch instead of updated.
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There is interest in expanding your school or preschool.
Mission Financial creates the structure needed to support leaders through transitions.
Tim Vest is the founder and principal of Mission Financial, where he serves as a strategic partner to churches and faith-based schools seeking executive-level financial leadership. He communicates complex financial matters clearly to non-finance professionals, boards, and leadership teams.
Tim brings extensive experience from senior finance roles at Yale University, the University of Richmond, and Washington and Lee University School of Law, where his work focused on multi-fund operating budgets, long-range financial modeling, and strategic financial counsel on initiatives including international campus expansion, new program development, and large-scale capital planning. He has also served his own church as treasurer and director of finance, giving him firsthand experience with the budgeting, reporting, and governance challenges that volunteer boards and finance committees face.
Drawing on this background, Tim founded Mission Financial to provide churches and faith-based schools with structured financial clarity and the forward-looking advisory support typically associated with a Chief Financial Officer.
Tim holds a B.S. in Finance from Connecticut State University, an MBA from the University of Connecticut, and a certificate in Higher Education Leadership from Harvard University.
He lives in Richmond, Virginia with his wife Andrea. He's a proud father of two sons and is actively involved in his church community. Outside of work, he enjoys restoring a vintage Alfa Romeo Spider, following Formula 1 and IndyCar racing, and exploring the Blue Ridge Parkway and Smith Mountain Lake.