Which Church Accounting Software is Best For Your Church?

Choosing church accounting software for your church can be a stressful and tedious chore.



You are not looking for the best accounting software on the market. Instead...you are looking for the church fund accounting software that best fits the needs of your particular church.

1. What is your church’s budget for accounting software?
2. How much does technical support and program updates cost?
3. Do you need accounting software specifically designed for churches or will an off-the-shelf accounting package do?
4. How user-friendly is the software?
5. Do you need payroll capabilities?
6. Will the software package require additional hardware?

They are not a recommendation as most of the software listed I have not personally used except for QuickBooks Pro. I am relying on our considerate readers to give their feedback and comments on the church accounting software they personally use.

Church Windows

Church Windows software provides an easy way to track the church congregation, its happenings and its giving. It efficiently handles the church receipts and disbursements, its budget and its employee payroll.

It is a church software package that consists of a number of programs that can be used alone or as a unit. The five modules currently include:

• Membership
• Scheduler
• Contribution
• Accounting
• Payroll

An accounting package starts at about $495 and go up from there with support fees of $99 or more per year.

For more information about Church Windows church software or for downloading a demo version of the programs visit churchwindows.com

PowerChurch

PowerChurch helps you organize Membership, Contributions, Accounting, Events, and general Record Keeping, with one complete package. You can account for contributions, maintain payroll, track your budget and automate your accounts payable and receivable.

The Fund Accounting module is specially designed for churches and provides considerable flexibility.

The Accounting system is not just for non-profit fund accounting use - it is specially designed for churches. An easy to use setup assistant walks you through the process of creating your chart of accounts and establishing beginning balances. The accounting section also includes accounts payable, accounts receivable and payroll modules.

An accounting package starts at about $395.00 and goes up from there. For more information about PowerChurch software visit powerchurch.com

QuickBooks

QuickBooks Pro 2010 is an off-the-shelf accounting package. Although the price can be considerably lower than specialty church accounting software, there are some factors you need to be aware of such as its limitations.

It will track income and expenses; however, it is designed for for-profit business, so users have to develop ways to work around its fund accounting limitations. You can use its class tracking feature, but some users find the reports they need to produce difficult with that feature.

I do personally believe it can be an affordable option for some small churches. The Quickbook Pro usually runs about $150. The QuickBooks Nonprofit edition is considerably higher at around $370.

For additional information about using QuickBooks for churches and nonprofits, visit this page on QuickBooks.

Note: Want to read some in-depth reviews of some popular church accounting software such as Church Windows, ACS, Clarity Accounting, and QuickBooks? See Nate Waddoups's Church Accounting Software Guide.

Please take a moment out to help a fellow church volunteer/staff by submitting a comment on the church accounting software you have used.

Please include approximately how many church members your church has for comparison sake. (Your church fund accounting software might be just right for your 300+ member church, but be a little too much for someone else's 30 member church.)

Please also include what you like or dislike about the software.

Would you recommend the software to a friend?

You can also ask questions about accounting software...again include approx numbers of church members.

New Policy:
Most of you know my husband has been newly diagnosed with stage IV Colon Cancer. See our story on this page.

With all of the doctor appointments, dressing changes, my regular 40 hour a week job, and trying to keep up with the housework, meals, etc....I just do not have time to try to answer every question immediately.

So...I am going to post your questions and comments daily (without trying to answer each one myself). I found out while my husband was in the hospital that there are some wonderful fellow Christians out there that care for their brothers and sister in Christ as do I and are more than willing to help out other church volunteers and staff with their questions and comments. Some of them are even smarter than me :-)

If by the weekend--when things slow down a little for me--I see that there are any questions or comments not answered, I will try to answer them to the best of my ability.

Thank you for your understanding and your prayers. Vickey

Questions, Comments, and Reviews About Accounting Software

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