All ACS Reviews
1-25 of 126 Reviews
Sort by
Josh
Religious Institutions, 11 - 50 employees
Used more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
Reviewed December 2021
Aching for ACS
Anonymous
11-50 employees
Used daily for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed December 2018
ACS
Whereas I can work seamlessly with ACS a lot of my coworkers have difficulties and I'm constantly showing them how to do things they don't do on a regular basis. It has solved the issues of church body data management. Everyone has been trained on how to enter the information into the database. It's just difficult for those, who don't work in the details very often, to get information out of it.
PROSI love that once you understand the logic behind the software it's very user friendly.
CONSIf you don't take a training class on the logic behind the software it's difficult to understand the more detailed inner workings of the software.
Cheikh
Accounting, 1 employee
Used daily for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed January 2021
ACS CAN DO BETTER
We no longer have problems managing the donations received and the registration of our members in a database.
PROSThe first remark is the customer service which is very reactive and quickly solves your problem. ACS is a very useful church management software, because we won't have the problem to manage the database of our members or the registration of the children, and even all the donations received. I like the way it stores information. Of course, it is not quick to master ACS, but once you have mastered it you have everything you want to know about reports, campaign follow-ups, etc. In conclusion, ACS is a very good software to store any kind of information.
CONSDespite the fast customer service, we notice that during the months of February and March the wait is rather long. The ACS software often bugs or slows down when donor files increase. The lack of functional expense reporting is lacking given the current state of the art technology. ACS is also limited on the choice of administrators on who should access this or that. The ACS software needs to be upgraded, as the speed is poor when running large reports. The look needs to be redesigned not too aesthetically pleasing, but also the API access which is almost non-existent.
Reason for choosing ACS
ACS perfectly meets my needs
Sally
Religious Institutions, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
1
EASE OF USE
1
VALUE FOR MONEY
1
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
2
FUNCTIONALITY
1
Reviewed June 2020
What happened to the wonderful ACS of past?
Back with the awesomely designed old ACS On Demand I was a huge fan of everything about this company - great support - robust trouble-free (rarely had a file corruption issue) modules with tremendous flexibility. The new Realm products - For the price they are charging - we would be as well served with Quickbooks. Don't get me wrong - I'm all about paying for quality but this Realm product falls short on too many important features.
PROSACS had fantastic software until they created Realm Giving and Realm Accounting and decided to care more about form than function, and "dumbed" down the flexibility of the accounting module. Their outstanding reputation is based on the old versions I believe. I am currently looking to overhaul our entire system at tremendous expense because the new accounting interface does not work the way I need it - we are locked out of any contra-accounting interface due to the product management team's decision to "appeal to non-accounting people" - If you are serious about your job then that should say it all.
CONSThere are absolutely no drill-downs in the new system - no calculation features and it is over-engineered so that nearly every entry field has a drop down box - really, really, really slows you down if you have a large JE to process - and if you just fill in the box and don't go through all the steps, half the time it loses that entry. I also can no longer run event and other income smoothly and directly to a contra-expense. The product management people have decided that they understand accounting better than professional users.
Reason for choosing ACS
For the ease of transition as we were already on the ACS On Demand product.
Suzanne
Non-Profit Organization Management, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed July 2019
Exploring software for your church - consider ACS.
My experience with ACS has been very good. I started with them when we all had DOS computers and moved up to the windows platform. Now, we are able to have versions of the software on our phone. The system has the capability of being backed up to the cloud and does not need to be kept on your church's server. There is also an alternative for more contemporary churches called "Realm."
PROSACS gives you the total package in church software. It helps you efficiently mange both the "people" side of the job and the "accounting" and numbers side and will allow them to communicate with each other. There are several modules that will allow you to track different aspects of the member or prospect in the life of the church and this system does it very effectively. It has been around for a long time and they have perfected the software.
CONSBecause the software does so many functions and can be tailored to almost any church of any size or situation, it can be a little confusing. Therefore, training is vital. They excel in offering wonderful training through their company and through local trainers.
Reason for choosing ACS
Cost, product and support. I also believe the people at the company are superior and they stand behind their product.
Reasons for switching to ACS
ACS offered so much more and so many more features.
Anonymous
11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed December 2018
Great Functionality Needs Upgrade
We used ACS for everything for several years, but now only use them for financials. We moved to a more user friendly platform for our users. This is a give and take situation the new system is more user friendly, but not as feature rich as ACS.
PROSThis software will do most anything you want with great support especially with Megachurch support. It is built for all kinds of churches and includes all the modules you would need. ACS is one of the only church management systems that include a financial module that will manage GL accounts as well as POs.
CONSSoftware needs to be upgraded from the backend. Speed is an issue when running large reports and I think SQL would help this. This software is feature rich so it makes it not so user friendly sometimes and it kinda has a 90s look in several areas. NO API ACCESS.
Anonymous
11-50 employees
Used monthly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
1
FUNCTIONALITY
2
Reviewed October 2020
There are better options
To be fair, it's been a few years since I have spoken to ACS customer support and they were friendly and tried to be very helpful at the time, but it wasn't a good experience. We had issues with updating older versions of the software and trying to make it work within our own bylaws and Canadian law, which wasn't on ACS as a software manufacturer, but it didn't help the overall experience. There seemed to be a disconnect between how we were (poorly) implementing the software and struggling with teaching staff and the way in which the ACS team communicated to us and told us to get excited about functionality that never worked in our context because of difficulty of implementation. Thankfully, there are better software options out there today - including Realm, which we transferred to from ACS and have had better luck.
PROSIf you spent a lot of time setting things up and were using it daily, ACS seems to have the capability to have good functionality. I've been in two different organizations where that wasn't the case, and heard similar things from other users, which meant ACS was something that I used only when I really couldn't get someone else to do the thing I needed, or I really needed to find a piece of information. It seems to be a great place to store all kinds of information.
CONSThe user interface was difficult, making learning it (and teaching it to church staff who are often technically slower) very difficult. Because people never learned it, it was used poorly and data was sometimes out of date, making the whole database only really functional for the financial side of things and we never managed to get the use out of it that we often hoped and tried for. Overall it was a frustrating piece of software when we had to engage with it and people would create their own systems and spreadsheets as work arounds.
Chris
Non-Profit Organization Management, 2-10 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed February 2019
As Great as You Can Make It
This software is amazing one-stop shop for database, scheduling, volunteer, financial, and communication software.
PROSMy title may be odd but it describes this software. This software is very powerful and its capabilities are far greater than any church I have ever worked at has taken advantage of. It is marvelous in it's simplicity but also the sky is the limit with regards to it's complexity in it's ability to create reports, schedule volunteers, and communicate with teams.
CONSIt is a very steep learning curve. Although the customer service is excellent, but it is important to remember that the learning curve is high if you have a transition in staff (give them time to learn and use the tutorials.)
David
Religious Institutions, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed January 2020
ACS is THE BEST!!
ACS cares about us. Cares about churches. Our business relationship with them helps us to do what we, the church, were intended to do in the first place, which is build the Kingdom of God.
PROSWe have been ACS clients since the beginning!! Currently we are using Realm for membership tracking, but still use ACS Financials for our book-keeping needs. It does everything we need, and our books are not as simple as one might think.
CONSThe only con I can think of is that I wish ACS Financials could integrate with Realm. We have ACS Financials down pat, and I wish we could port it over!!
Sheri
Non-Profit Organization Management, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
5
Reviewed March 2021
Best Church Software - REALM
Great company and very helpful. They want us to succeed.
PROSThe ease of use. The versatility. They update and upgrade every week to stay relevant. Very helpful to make sure we are happy especially during Covid.
CONSThe ability to get a photo attached to your profile for an older person. That our church database is everyone - not just a database for members and one for donors/visitors.
Reason for choosing ACS
user friendly
Reasons for switching to ACS
Only the church secretary could use the program. It was not helpful to the rest of the staff or volunteers
Nicholas
Verified reviewer
Religious Institutions, 51-200 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
1
EASE OF USE
1
VALUE FOR MONEY
1
FUNCTIONALITY
2
Reviewed December 2018
Look elsewhere for a ministry database
There are several desirable features with this software. A primary one is the high amount of customization. However, this customization is only available to administrators and people with understanding of coding.
CONSImmensely outdated and not functional. While using this software, I felt I put more work into using the software than actual results it gave. I would steer clear of this software if you're looking for a simple, user-friendly and intuitive experience.
David
Non-Profit Organization Management, 1 employee
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
1
EASE OF USE
1
VALUE FOR MONEY
1
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
2
FUNCTIONALITY
1
Reviewed November 2019
Not a good choice...
We made it work for us but it was very hard to make work. We spent a lot of time with their team trying to make it do what we wanted. After a couple of years, we abandoned it.
PROSWe used ACS for a number of years, not understanding that there were such better alternatives. It came with reccomendations that it was the choice of some larger churches we knew.
CONSIt is archaic. The user interface is hard to read and looks like something from the dark ages.
Reason for choosing ACS
Our church was growing large and we heard that some other large churches used it. But we later learned that most of them changed to something else.
Mark
Religious Institutions, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
2
VALUE FOR MONEY
2
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed April 2017
A proven product but a lot of training is required.
ACS does everything and more than what we need. Customer support is excellent. Cloud based for remote access is very helpful to work from home or office.
CONSACS is not intuitive at all. It has been around for decades and often feels like it is old software with a lot of patches to make it work with new ideas. Customer support is great, but you shouldn't need it frequently. We spent a full week training our staff on ACS and the modules we have added. It seems like we frequently get "kicked off" and have to log back in to keep using the software.
Zenobia
11-50 employees
Used daily for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed October 2017
Grateful!
A very good product. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a flexible system.
PROSAs a small non-profit, we were looking for software to help streamline our data collection and reporting; one which focuses on client management and tracking. When we were introduced to ACS, they were a God-send. It was a flexible system that provided numerous options. We were able to manage our client intake much more easily than in the past. Overall, we found them to be a great fit for our organization.
CONSOnce you understand the main parts, the system works well, however, more integration is needed. Usually, the help-desk representative was very prompt with their answers to questions. There were so many features that we didn't get to learn them all.
Vanessa
Religious Institutions, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed November 2016
Great Customer Service with ACS!
Our church has been with ACS for many years. Customer support is the biggest attraction to this company! We've used several of their products - Realm, Extend - and now are looking forward to what's coming next with mobile apps!
PROSLove the customer service! They are great about working with you on issues. It's rare that they cannot solve a problem.
CONSNot as intuitive as I'd like, but still fairly easy to use once you get used to it.
Kaylin
Non-Profit Organization Management, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
2
EASE OF USE
2
VALUE FOR MONEY
2
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
2
Reviewed January 2019
ACS Review
Overall it is very dated and I would not recommend. They have not made significant updates for years and it feels like we are still in the early 2000s.
PROSTheir accounting module is amazing. I have not found any CMS that is anywhere close to being as good as ACS ileith accounting.
CONSIt is hard to learn and it is very dated. Not mobile friendly. Ugly.
Richard
201-500 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed November 2017
Effective for our operations
Overall, nice evolution of the software
PROSEase of navigation, customizable reporting, effective help menu system. Adjustable to individual user in the settings and screen layouts.
CONSOccasional crashes, if it locks up, you have to re-log in, and via the log in, exit the program that just crashed, then reinitialize.
April
Non-Profit Organization Management, 2-10 employees
Used daily for less than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed June 2016
Great Customer Service & Support!
ACS OnDemand church database is not incredibly pretty or user-friendly, but it is very capable software for mid- to large-sized churches to choose.
PROSThe biggest pro is ACS' support team. They will capably answer almost any question about how to use the database when you get stuck, and will remain friendly, patient and helpful throughout the call. A+
CONSThe thing I dislike most is the "look and feel" of the user experience. It just isn't pretty.
Alisha
Religious Institutions, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
4
EASE OF USE
5
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed October 2018
Good management software for churches
Church membership management, running reports, accounting and bookkeeping, contributions, etc
PROS- Easy to use - Great customer service - Great customizability
CONSCould look more modern, but certainly gets the job done
David
Religious Institutions, 11-50 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
2
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
2
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed May 2017
difficult
It does interface with our financial system and they have good accounting people to solve accounting problems
CONSSet-up for reports is too complicated and graphs are difficult to arrange and filters are confusing.
Angela
Non-Profit Organization Management, 51-200 employees
Used daily for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed June 2019
ACS software
It manages our church membership well and the customer service is excellent
CONSThe software is a little clunky and out dated to a degree
Andrea
Non-Profit Organization Management, 11-50 employees
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
4
VALUE FOR MONEY
5
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
4
Reviewed July 2017
Reporting is not that easy, especially setting up for year end statements.
Membership interface capabilities. Good product and better than what we had, but I didn't get much training. When we have used customer service/support it has always been good. I am part time, so do not have lots of time to waste trying to figure things out and dealing with customer service.
PROSLots of fields available, good access for members. Info seems to be reliable if entered properly. Easy to fix mistakes.
CONSSetting up reports is not very intuitive and is hard to customize. Not enough directions within the product to guide you.
Edda
Non-Profit Organization Management, 11-50 employees
Used daily for less than 12 months
OVERALL RATING:
5
EASE OF USE
2
VALUE FOR MONEY
1
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
5
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed June 2016
ACS Software
New to using the software. Minimal training as the previous person had already left the job. Too expensive for the church to send new hires to ACS Training.
PROSCan make up a Form Letters, Labels etc to send to entire congregation. Can copy someone's address to your clipboard for ease of sending letter/envelope to one person.
CONSHard to do a search for a group of people. Very complicated to get exact list of criteria to get the search results you want.
Mark
Religious Institutions, 2-10 employees
Used more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
2
EASE OF USE
2
VALUE FOR MONEY
3
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
3
Reviewed March 2020
We Moved On from ACS
ACS was great in its time but newer products like Planning Center or ACS's own Realm are much better for the modern church.
PROSACS was one of the earlier full-featured church database management systems. Its original iteration was groundbreaking.
CONSACS struggled to keep up with the changing digital landscape and was too slow to implement online features, cross-platform compatibility, and the like. As a result, the software is clunky and not particularly user-friendly.
Anonymous
Used weekly for more than 2 years
OVERALL RATING:
3
EASE OF USE
3
VALUE FOR MONEY
4
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
4
FUNCTIONALITY
2
Reviewed February 2018
Not the best software compared to others that are comparable.
I was able to do snail mailings from this software but only if it was a mass communication and not a more narrow piece.
PROSI like the fact that it is easy to use at first glance. It is easy to log on and view information and to use the database entry pieces
CONSI do not like the fact that you cannot sort out your database to a great degree. For example, you can add fields, but it is not easy to do and to then sort according to your added fields is not easy.