How Catalyst Baptist Church saved $15K annually and cut admin time by 75% with Weel

For Catalyst Baptist Church, a growing multi-campus faith community in Werribee, efficiency isn’t just about saving time, it’s about freeing up more capacity to serve their people and community.

With just 12 staff managing major events like Christmas celebrations, Easter services, Family Fun Days, and Big Step Sunday, the church’s operations span multiple departments across youth, creative, and pastoral ministries.

But as the ministry grew, so did the challenge of managing finances.

“We were spending about 30% of 15 hours a week just managing card transactions,”
recalls Campus Pastor and Finance Lead, John Taekema. “It was clunky and slow. Staff had to chase receipts and manually code everything.”

The challenge: manual admin slowing down ministry work

Before Weel, Catalyst relied on traditional debit cards from their bank with no bank feeds, no automation, and no real-time visibility.

Each staff member downloaded their own transactions, matched receipts manually, and emailed them to finance at month-end. What should have been a few clicks turned into hours of administrative work every week.

The process drained morale and made it hard to maintain accurate, up-to-date visibility over budgets and event spending, especially across multiple campuses and a charitable arm.

“We had no way to see where we stood in real time,” John says. “It wasn’t just slow. It made budgeting and planning harder.”

The turning point: simplifying spend management with Weel

A friend in the not-for-profit space recommended Weel, and John quickly saw the potential.

“As for the system, I love it,” he says. “Now everyone has their own Budgets in Weel. Some have access to three or four, each mapped directly to Xero categories.”

With Budgets and Approvals, John could set clear spending limits and automate expense categorisation, removing the risk of coding errors entirely.

“I’ve ruled out the possibility of something going into the wrong category just by definition of what Budget they’ve used.”

Catalyst’s team now uses a complete suite of Weel features to manage spending efficiently across departments, including:

• Virtual and physical cards for all staff
• Accounts Payable for invoices requiring approval
• Reimbursements for incidental staff expenses
• Weel AI, Card Blocking, and Decline Comments to automate expense reviews
• Subscriptions tracking for recurring payments

When someone needs to make a larger purchase, the workflow is simple.

“They just add it to Accounts Payable, and it comes to me for approval,” John explains. “It’s all automated and traceable.”

With everything feeding straight into Xero, reconciliation is now a quick daily task.

“I can pretty much stay on top of everything in 15 minutes a day,” says John.

The impact: less admin, more ministry

Since implementing Weel, Catalyst has completely transformed how it manages church finances. The team has reduced admin time, improved accuracy, and given every department real-time visibility over their budgets.

Key Results:‍

• 75% reduction in admin time. Month-end now takes only 25% of the effort it used to.
• $15,000 annual cost savings.
• 13 cards issued across 8 departments.
• 100% of spend reconciled in real time.
• Full visibility into budgets and Accounts Payable in under 15 minutes a day.

“Everyone’s loving it compared to what they had,” John shares. “When they have a project or event, they can now see in real time how much they’ve spent.”

From manual to modern finance

Before Weel, the team relied on slow, manual debit card processes. Staff had to download transactions, chase receipts, and email spreadsheets while having no visibility into departmental budgets.

Now, every part of their financial workflow is automated. Expenses are captured in real time, approvals are digital, and reporting is always up to date. What once took 15 hours a week now takes just 15 minutes a day.

“Best way to handle debit cards and reimbursements, hands down,” says John. “It’s foolproof and saves so much time and complexity.”

A smarter way to steward church resources

For John, Weel isn’t just a finance tool. It’s a smarter way to steward church resources.

With Weel, Catalyst Baptist Church empowers every department to spend responsibly while keeping financial operations seamless and transparent.