Office of Finance

The Office of Finance supports the work of the Bishop by providing an accounting of all temporal matters of the Diocesan Offices, parishes, schools, and related corporations.

The Office of Finance includes four units, General Accounting & Finance, Parish Support, Risk Management (insurance: property, liability, automotive, and worker's compensation), and Construction and Real Estate.

If your parish is in need of direction or assistance for anything related to accounting, finance, or governmental compliance, please feel free to contact us by phone at (608) 821-3024 or by e-mail at helpmefinance@madisondiocese.org. We are here to help. 

Our dynamic staff is here to serve your needs, providing you with solutions, resources, and the technical expertise to succeed.

John Philipp oversees the overall long term financial strategy of the Diocese & Affiliates, with a special emphasis in investments, risk management, tax compliance, external financial reporting, and the priest pension plan.

Maggie Opichka oversees all areas of Chancery & Affiliates accounting, risk management, treasury management, budgeting, auditing, and payroll administration.

John Kolasinski manages the consulting services provided to member parishes, with an emphasis on financial controls and recordkeeping, and investment management. Additionally, John assists bookkeepers with payroll, QuickBooks training, implementation of the Parish Chart of Accounts, bookkeeping best practices, and any other general inquiries they may have. 

The Diocesan Construction and Real Estate Coordinator oversees all church, school, and cemetery building and real estate projects in the diocese. 

Anna Delaney facilitates the parish support and training on the ParishSoft information system.  Additionally, Anna assists pastors, secretaries, directors of religious education, and office managers in the use, implementation and best practices for ParishSoft, and the Diocesan DataHub. 

Julie Kading is responsible for all Chancery accounts payable and invoice processing as it pertains to the priest pension plan, priest health insurance, parish assessments, and diocesan self-insurance program. 

Amanda Schroeder serves parishes throughout the diocese by conducting financial reviews. Her mission is to ensure parishes adopt a common platform for recording transactions and issuance of financial reports. In addition, working with parish pastors and bookkeepers, she offers suggestions to control expenses and enhance revenue.

Russell Yount serves the parishes as a resource to train and support parish staff with the financial management of the temporal goods of the parish, assists with the implementation of best practices and internal controls and provides QuickBooks support.  Russell also provides bookkeeping services for parishes.

The Diocese of Madison and all of its parishes are exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). 

The IRS's Group Exemption Number 0928, issued to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), whereby the Diocese of Madison and its subordinate organizations (parishes) are recognized as non-profit organizations. Accordingly, donors may deduct contributions to your parish (and school) as provided in Section 170 of the Code. In addition, subordinate organizations under the Group Exemption do not receive individual exemption letters (sometimes referred to as a determination letter). Donors may verify that a parish corporation is included in the group exemption by referring to the Official Catholic Directory.

Pursuant to Wisconsin State Statue 187.19 parish corporations are a non-stock, not-for-profit business organization. 

A parish corporation is to use its own Employer Identification Number (EIN) when submitting forms to the taxing authorities, not the EIN of the USCCB.