Finding software can be overwhelming. Software Advice has helped hundreds of churches choose the right accounting software to help maintain financial records and pay salary to church staff.
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NetSuite is a business management software suite offered as a service that performs enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) functions. It is a horizontal package designed for an extensive range... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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Cougar Mountain Software’s Denali Business is an accounting solution with the ability to customize 10 integrated modules. It is for small to midsize businesses and can be deployed on premises or in the cloud. Key features include... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: CloudOn premise
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For organizations seeking a solution that conforms to their existing operations, Multiview offers a suite of financial solutions. With Multiview, companies gain visibility over corporate data. The solution includes 14 modules that... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: CloudOn premise
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Sage Intacct is a provider of cloud-based accounting software. Sage Intacct’s applications are suitable for small and midsize companies and can provide real-time financial and operational insights as well as the ability to automate... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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Adaptive Insights, founded in 2003, provides a web-based system for budgeting, forecasting and reporting. The solution is suitable for a wide variety of company sizes. Delivered over the Web in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model,... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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Centage’s Planning Maestro is a cloud-native planning & analytics platform that delivers year-round financial insight, transforming how companies budget, forecast and report performance. Centage delivers a level of sophisticated... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: CloudOn premise
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AccuFund is an online accounting and financial reporting solution designed specifically for the nonprofit industry. Integrated into one, AccuFund's Accounting suite helps nonprofit organizations and government agencies report funding... Read more
Platforms: MacWin
Deployments: CloudOn premise
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Sage Fixed Assets is a hybrid asset management solution that helps businesses track and manage the fixed assets through different steps of asset lifecycle. The solution offers integrated accounting features and multiple methods to... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: CloudOn premise
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Vena is a financial planning and analysis (FP&A) solution that helps businesses across various industry verticals to manage different business operations such as budgeting, planning, revenue forecasting, and more. Vena appreciates... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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Divvy is a free cloud-based accounting and expense management solution for businesses. Key features include managing payments and subscriptions, building strategic budgets, automated expense reports and virtual cards. Divvy tracks... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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Purpose-built to meet the needs of the modern nonprofit and government agency, MIP Fund Accounting® empowers organizations to track by fund, manage restrictions based on unlimited funding sources, and meet complex reporting requirements.... Read more
Platforms: MacWin
Deployments: CloudOn premise
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Budgyt simplifies the budgeting process for both businesses and non-profits. It is a user-friendly interface hosted on the cloud so that multiple users can work on the same budget, at the same time, using the same format. Administrators... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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Series4000 is an on-premise and cloud-based fixed asset accounting solution for small, mid-sized and large enterprises. It caters to commercial, education, government, healthcare and not for profit industries. Primary features include... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: CloudOn premise
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Certify is a web-based expense management solution recommended to companies in any industry. The solution can be used to track, approve, and reimburse expenses; book travel; and analyze spend. With Certify Mobile, users can capture... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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Financial Edge NXT is a cloud accounting solution from Blackbaud that provides transparency across teams, security, compliance, and reduces the need for manual processes. The system is a fund accounting solution that provides a general... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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Aplos fund accounting is a cloud-based system designed specifically to serve the needs of churches and nonprofit organizations. Aplos fund accounting is available on a standalone basis or within an integrated suite with online donation... Read more
Platforms: MacWin
Deployments: Cloud
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Jirav is a cloud-based financial planning and reporting solution that is designed to give businesses the proper tools to examine historical data and build accurate financial models and plans. With Jirav, users are able to accurately... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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Fyle is a cloud-based expense management solution that caters to enterprise, small and midsize businesses across various industry verticals. Features include receipt management, expense approval management, audit management, mileage... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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Tipalti is a cloud-based accounting management solution that helps users automate their accounts payable process. It offers a variety of features, including invoice automation, payment remittance, regulatory compliance management,... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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AvidXchange is an accounts payable solution for midsize companies in industries including real estate, HOA, construction and financial services. AvidXchange’s cloud-based solutions automate accounts payable processes including purchase... Read more
Platforms: MacWinLinux
Deployments: Cloud
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More and more accounting systems that are designed specifically for churches are popping up all the time. And, while variety and competition are good for consumers, the more products there are to choose from, the more overwhelming it can be to choose the right one.
It's important to know going in to your search that not all church accounting systems are created equal. Some are designed to provide all of the core accounting features, while others are customized for specific business needs, with varying levels of functionality. In addition to functionality, you must also consider what deployment method and integrations are needed to make implementation with your current setup the most cost-effective.
Whether you're researching church accounting software for the first time, or just want to be up-to-date on the latest tech, this Buyer's Guide will detail everything you need to know before you make a final purchase decision.
Here's what we'll cover:
What Is Church Accounting Software?
Common Features of Church Accounting Software
What Type of Buyer Are You?
Benefits of Church Accounting Software
Key Considerations
What Is Church Accounting Software?
Church accounting software helps churches and other religious institutions manage, automate and organize their day-to-day financial operations. It also helps these organizations ensure they maintain clear and accurate financial records and that staff members are paid on time. Churches have unique financial requirements and responsibilities compared to other businesses, which accounts for the emergence of this specialized software market.
Church accounting software typically offers functionality for managing accounts payable, payroll, bookkeeping and general ledger, as well functions more specific to churches, such as membership management and accepting and tracking online donations. These systems will also let you generate financial reports that are viewable on desktop, tablet or phone screens.
Common Features of Church Accounting Software
Vendors offer a variety of functional breadth and depth in their church accounting software. Here are some of the most common capabilities:
| Accounts payable | Keep track of what bills you owe and make sure you pay them on time. Process your outgoing payments, track invoices, store vendor details and print checks. |
| Accounts receivable | Effectively manage incoming payments. Billing codes allow for easier processing of recurring invoices, and payment codes make it possible to credit payments to multiple accounts at once. |
| General ledger | Track spending and budgets by department, committee, fund and project and maintain a complete record of all financial transactions. View transactions from specific accounts for a chosen date range to make budgeting and reporting simpler. |
| Payroll management | Handle the unique requirements of churches and pastors, including housing allowances and insurance for staff, as well as more universal payroll capabilities, such as direct deposit and vacation day/paid leave tracking. |
| Asset management | Centralize asset and inventory management to manage the entire equipment life cycle, from acquisition to depreciation and maintenance. Enables users to store documentation and make insurance claims for all church equipment and property. |
| Membership management | Record and maintain updated information on members, visitors and volunteers such as contact numbers, addresses, interests and activities. |
| Donation management | Collect donations online by creating customized forms that integrate with your website and member database. Manage all donation records in one place and view donation history at a glance. |
What Type of Buyer Are You?
Before you evaluate church accounting software, you should understand what category you fall into as a buyer, so you'll have a better idea of which features are most important to you. Most churches fall into one of the categories below:
Small church (weekend attendance of 50 or fewer people). These churches are interested in growing their members and staff and therefore looking to deploy church accounting software to reduce manual data entry tasks. They should look for cloud-based software that offers a low cost or free starter plan with the option to upgrade as they scale.
Midsize church (weekend attendance of 51 to 300 people). These churches are most interested in providing value to their existing members as well as adding new members. They usually have basic requirements such as general ledger, accounts payable and accounts receivable, which are met by many affordable systems.
Large church (weekend attendance of 301 to 2,000 people). These churches require more robust solutions that can help them manage their assets and also integrate with existing technology. Therefore, in addition to core accounting features, they'll be interested in features such as asset management, membership management and donation management.
Mega church (weekend attendance of more than 2,000 people). Due to their high membership volume and large number of assets, these churches will be interested in software that offers asset management and membership management features. Also, any new software must integrate smoothly with existing technology, such as payroll software.
Benefits of Church Accounting Software
As we've seen, churches stand to gain several benefits from automating financial management. Here's a summary of the most notable benefits:
Streamlined budgeting. Budgeting can be a very time consuming process. Accounting software simplifies this task by offering a general ledger feature and flexible reporting and filtering options.
Enhanced member and staff satisfaction. You can use software to manage memberships and donations and pay staff, in order to increase satisfaction levels. Online giving and direct deposit add convenience, and salaries and funds are transacted in a safe, secure and timely manner.
Automatic compliance. Most church accounting software offers full conformance to GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) as mandated by FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board).
Market Trends to Understand
You will likely come across some of the following market trends as you begin your search for church accounting software:
- Availability of mobile apps. Church accounting software is also available in the form of mobile apps, with many vendors in the space offering this option. The portability and convenience of mobile devices allows software users to operate on the move. Mobile apps enable church managers to accept donations during events, view various financial reports and manage accounts from any location.
- Preference for cloud-based software. Most church accounting software buyers will prefer cloud-based software because of the accessibility and flexibility it offers. Buyers are looking to transfer their financial management applications in the cloud to provide data access to more volunteers and church elders or administrators.
Key Considerations
Here are some important factors to think about before you implement accounting software at your church:
System integration. You must consider church accounting software that integrates easily with your existing technology, such as your website or any separate membership management tool that you might already be using. Seamless integration makes it easy to import existing data into the new system.
Cloud or on-premise deployment. As a software buyer you must be clear on your deployment preference in advance and ask vendors which deployment options they offer. Though many buyers in this space will likely prefer cloud-based deployment due to easy accessibility by all stakeholders and lower upfront costs, some buyers may have unique requirements that would favor an on-premise deployment.
Mobile support. A growing number of software buyers prefer having access to their system while working remotely. Check whether the vendor offers a mobile application as well. A mobile application makes it possible for your members, volunteers and staff to access the software from any location.