Aplos Software

Floats to the top

Aplos is doing the job for me. Some things are frustrating, but mostly, it's better than doing things by hand or by spreadsheet. Occasionally odd things happen. For instance, it's now January 17, and the home page is telling me that my YTD income is different from my monthly income. This can't be true in January. Similar things happen in some reports. The balance sheet will say that a fund has X dollars, but the report for that fund will say Y dollars. So there are some quirks to get around, but it's no worse than making a spreadsheet (or other software that knows nothing about fund accounting) behave. I like the reports Aplos generates. Especially at the end of the year, when everyone in our congregation wants a statement for their taxes. It's really just one button. If I were the boss of Aplos, the first thing I'd change is that I'd clean up the wasted screen real-estate. There's a button on the bottom right that has a bad habit of covering half the number I want to see, and pop-up "alerts" occasionally disrupt my work. And the box the pop-ups come from is also wasted screen area. Actually, this box keeps telling me I'm 85% set up. It's wrong. I'm as set up as I want to be. I can't see how to make the box go away, except to buy more product which I don't need. This amounts to a pop-up ad, and not the good kind. So this isn't a glowing review. But software nowadays is written so poorly, that bare competence floats to the top. Aplos is better than anything else I've used, but that's not saying a lot. If they raise the price again, I'm going back to spreadsheets.

Pros

Fairly clean interface. Most reports are close to what I want.

Cons

It's still buggy. Amounts that should match, don't always. The cost has tripled in the last 3 years.

APLOS Software for my Small (but growing) Church

The people at APLOS are great to work with. Easy to reach out to, quick to respond, They are really good at listening to my particular need and showing me how APLOS helps with it vs. just a generic response. Also, you can't beat the price. (I got a Black Friday 50% off special for a year). I looked at other options - some were too much for my need (both cost and complexity) and some could be made to work (Quickbooks for example) but were not really designed for a church. This is PERFECT for us.

Pros

I purchased this software to help me take on a new role as treasurer of a small church. Am about 6 weeks into a "practice period" and will wipe out my practice data and start clean in January. It has (almost) everything I could want and some things I did not expect. The people database for church members, vendors, & prospects supports communication and there are robust accounting features (budgeting, bill pay, offerings, etc.). It has predesigned reports of all kinds that can be easily customized. You can import and export data. And it is really easy to use. Clearly designed for non-professionals like me - a volunteer doing a treasurer's job. Loved it from the first time I started playing with it during the free trial period. Also the resources (webinars, academy, one on one support) are great! Have watched several webinars, and chatted with people in customer support several times to get specific guidance/suggestions on my questions.

Cons

Have found only 2 things missing so far: 1) My pastor wants the ability to use the letter/email functions to communicate with members (uses the contact database) without seeing their donation records - and right now that "separation" isn't available. Also in recording donations, I would like to differentiate between cash and check because you need that info to make your bank deposit. APLOS doesn't provide for that. There's a workaround but not a great one. Customer Service made note of both of these needs for future releases.

Simple and easy, but with advanced features for those who need it.

We began using Aplos as a brand new church. They helped us every step of the way as we grew - absolutely stellar customer service! We still don't have the complexity that some larger churches do, but every time we have needed to add something, the capacity has been there. The one exception was the lack of payroll integration, which I understand that they are now adding but we have not used yet. What I love about the product is that it is easy for us who are new to accounting to use, but also robust enough that our treasure (CPA) is able to use it in more complex ways.

Pros

Cloud-based Accounting with multiple user accounts makes it easy to keep finances updated.
Clean, simple, straight-forward layout makes use easy.
Super-responsive customer service are always there when you need them.
Bank integration makes it easy to import transactions.
Contact management.
Reports are quick and easy to generate with customized data.
Ability to connect to online-giving.

Cons

At the moment we are unable to link families within the contact management system.
There are awesome graphs and charts on the dashboard, but unfortunately they do not have a lot of customization options or the ability to easily export.

Amazing Fund Accounting software for small to medium non-profits!

If you are busy with the stuff that your non-profit is about, and accounting for the organisation is a necessary dragon, then Aplos will be your knight in shining armor to slay it! Having implemented a number of other products for small organisations in the past (Quickbooks, Xero, Sage, MS Dynamics GP) I have to give the award for easiest, quickest & most readily accepted to Aplos. If you want to account for your Funds discretely (separate pots of income) then Aplos just works! Took about an hour to sign up and set up a sandbox (using the trial license) to represent the way my small organisation works - I uncovered a couple of desirable features for product development (see later) but within another 30 minutes I had reports and analysis that would do the job for us so much better than my grumpy accountant! - I showed the software to a user who, after a 5 minute demo, needed no more explanation and was able to enter transactions with multiple expense lines each separately analysed by fund. The user interface is clearly the 'killer' feature - it is so intuitive that I wonder why others didn't think of it (why didn't I think of it?). The transaction input process for most accounting products is the 'ugly baby' of the product - in Aplos it's the wonder child! Some caveats to bring this back to earth... a) The product is currently for the North American market - needs additional features to make it more readily accepted in UK/Europe: 1. Needs a parameterised currency symbol (we don't do dollars!) - but the easy export of reports allows replacement of currency symbol in Excel. 2. Online donations (a great feature!) require a US Bank Account 3. Needs Paypal integration 4. UK giving sites like justgiving.com are very common - integration needed b) Many grant funders want a full budget before grant - we then need to account against the budget elements (e.g. £500 for travel + £5000 for salary). Aplos currently doesn't budget by Fund element (just at Fund level) but the Income Report provides a full breakdown by expense for each Fund (so allowing manual comparison). The free support provided by Aplos is responsive and helpful and I am assured that most of these features are on future development plans. I'm just going to go ahead and sign up for the paid version - I need this software so that I can get on with the purpose of our Charity!! Terry Wilcox Project Director In2Out www.in2out.org.uk

Aplos far out performs its competition

Overall, this is the best software for the money and I highly recommend it both for the product and the customer service.

Pros

The set up and functionality of the software is wonderfully easy. I've been using it for a little over a year and the security of having it all online and not having to worry about backups or workstation failures is great. Report flexibility is fantastic. I can create any report for any time period with ease. The customer service people are generally very helpful and on the rare occasion that a question doesn't get answered, the second attempt is always successful. But, it's rare to have to call back.

Cons

The only problem is that the donor statements are not posted from any screen other than the contributions screen. You cannot effect the donor statement from A/R, A/P or AJE's. You must then prepare a deposit and mark it to NOT post to the system. While this is a small inconvenience, it is not highlighted in the tutorials and takes a couple head scratching hours to figure out when first using the software. Once understood, it's a simple workaround.

Perfect Solution For A Church Plant

Starting a new church comes with a lot of tasks for a small group of people that are typically spread out between many in larger churches. We didn't have anyone with professional accounting experience, and we didn't need anything complicated to start out. Aplos was the perfect solution! They offered us a discount as a church plant, and got us moving in the right direction. Now four years into the process, Aplos has grown with us. We have been able to easily add others to the account management, add new funds and new features as we have grown, and the customer service has been quick and helpful whenever we have needed it. Some things I like best: *easy to use *the "dashboard" gives a quick read on finances at a glance *fund-based accounting makes it easy to track various donations *customer service is excellent *cloud-based design makes access easy from anywhere Things I would like to see improved: *I would love to be able to integrate payroll with Aplos *Report can be customized, but not always as much as we would like Overall, this is an excellent product for the value and I would recommend it to anyone starting out.

Pros

Ease of use
Fund-based accounting
Cloud-based design
Scalable
Excellent customer support

Cons

Wish it included payroll integration
Would like to be able to customize reports more

Great Church Software with wonderful customer service

We have been very satisfied with Aplos as our main accounting software. The customer service has been top notch and many of our suggestions about improving the software have been implemented into new versions. Hoping for a more robust Contacts module (email, texting, more information tracking) in the future!

Pros

Its online. Multiple user access. Great reporting. Easy to use. Great customer service.

Cons

The Contacts module is very limited - would be great to have more contact management tools (email, texting, grouping, tracking) so that we wouldn't have to have a separate software for that.
Other software was somewhat disappointing - hasn't always worked correctly and a bit confusing on how it integrates with Aplos.

Good Software for Beginning Nonprofits

Pros

I like that everything is all together in one spot - donor software, accounting, newletters and online giving forms. I like how when someone gives online through your forms that it automatically incorporates into your accounting and saves info from the giver into your contacts.

Their customer service and support is their beacon of light. Extreme strong point. It's almost as if you have nonprofit accountant on your staff to answer your questions. They answer you quickly, and their answers are always helpful. And often times they've logged in and completely helped me fix an issue. This is the best thing I love about them and something that makes them completely unique. This was a game changer for me as a brand new nonprofit and didn't know what I was doing. I can't say enough about this! This is what makes me recommend them to everyone I know that's a nonprofit leader.

Cons

The newsletter email templates and online giving forms are very template-y and don't give you a lot of control. The final product can help you get information out, however it looks pretty amateurish, which in turn makes your nonprofit/your brand, look amateurish - which is more important than most people know. If Aplos could follow constant contact's lead on design formatting they would be top notch.

The other thing I don't like is often I'm fundraising for events and have options for customers to pick (example : I want to buy tickets for an event and a tshirt for two people), or want them to be able to buy multiples of items and it really needs somewhat of a "cart" option for online giving forms.

Third, I get lots of complaints from customers about the transaction errors which make it hard to give. I get this a lot. Which can hinder givers, often they won't go back again and give again when they get an email way later that the transaction didn't go through, so you lose donations. I've addressed this with them several times, but there hasn't been any resolution. I think it has to do with that the provider they use does a micro-transaction to the bank and then banks don't approve it.

Aplos Fund Accounting

I have used the basic version Aplos for our small nonprofit foodshelf for nearly a year. I am a novice at accounting, so I started with the fun, informative teaching videos and it all made sense. Initially setting up the accounts we needed took some thought, but it was up and running in a short time. I'm able to enter transactions quickly, make changes easily as needed, and run all the reports I need for our payroll taxes. I love the fact that it doesn't use more complicated terminology, like "customer, vendor, employee" like QB, because that's not what we call our donors and suppliers. I like the check printing function, too, but it would be great if Aplos could print deposit slips. I have to re-enter into QB and then print it out, or do a handwritten deposit slip. Other than that, I am very happy with Aplos. Have not needed customer support yet, except to ask if it had a deposit slip printing function. My answer was prompt and courteous. Our Board was pleased that we were able to get a discount on the monthly rate since we have a small budget, and the fact that Aplos is cloud-based means both the treasurer and foodshelf manager can access the software without going onsite. Definitely a PLUS! Bank reconciliation is a breeze, too.

Pros

I liked the ease of navigating the different functions, ease of setting up accounts and budget, the cloud-based format, the number and types of reports that meet all our needs, and the easy bank reconciliation function. Our small nonprofit got a monthly discount. Training videos very to-the-point and entertaining too.

Cons

I wish Aplos had a deposit slip printing function in the basic version - not sure if they do in the upgrade?

Aplos Software Review: Why it's the best Software for Small Non-Profits

I would recommend it to anyone who needs both an accounting and donor management solution for their non-profit organization.

Pros

A complete package that handles both your accounting needs and donor management needs.
Is very affordable.
Aplos has a program for new non-profits that makes it even more affordable.
Has a program that does email marketing for you and collects emails thus building your donor base.
Lets you design online web pages to post.
Form 990 Reporting.
Excellent Customer Service and will schedule regular calls with you to train you on the software. However it's easier to use than QuickBooks.
Directly links to your checking account so that your balances are updated continuously.
Takes online payments through WePay
Can manage up to 5000 contacts.
Contribution statements emailed to your donors.
Can Integrate with Paypal

Aplos is perfect for Non-Profits who want easy bookkeeping.

Pros

It is affordable for every non-profit. It is very simple and basic to use, and they have great customer service. They saw a need for non-profits to have an easier way of doing their finances other than Quickbooks and met that need at a very affordable price, which is very important to non profits. Simplicity is important because often, the bookkeeper is a volunteer and does not have the experience required to use a cumbersome program like QuickBooks. I like that they allow you to use if free for a month first to try it out.
We have never experienced a time when we could not get on the Aplos website. I am in an accountant's office, and I love the fact that I can go online anytime to check on my client's progress with their transactions at no cost to us! This is the sign of a non-greedy company who is here to meet a need.

Cons

The reports available are good and basic, but maybe a few more reports would be helpful, like a cash flow report. Also, since this is a cloud-based program (only available for use over the internet), this may be a downside for some. Simply save all your monthly reports and transactions easily by downloading them into an Excel spreadsheet, and you have all your information on your computer hard drive.

Best customer support ever!

I have been very happy with Aplos Accounting and have used for over 4 years now. My favorite thing about Aplos is the customer support. The Aplos team is easy to reach by phone and have always been willing to help answer questions, give suggestions and solve problems no matter how much time it takes. It's nice to talk to a real person and not to have to email the question and wait for a reply back. Thank you Aplos team for your help over the last 4 years!!!

Pros

Easy to use and Tech support.

Cons

It's hard to think of something but a couple times I have wanted certain items on a report that I couldn't get.

Aplos is Great for Churches and NonProfits

Even with the bank integration issues with some of my clients and the lack of apps that connect, I still highly recommend this awesome accounting and donation tracking software!

Pros

I love the simplicity of using Apolos. It is a great choice for non-accountants! I love the "tags" for tracking fundraisers, programs, projects, etc.

Cons

Not very applications integrate with it such as Hubdoc and Bill.com that I use with my bookkeeping clients. I also have some issues with the bank integration.

Excellent Software!!!

Pros

This software does it all for non-profits. It's ability to track donors, provide year-end contribution statements, payroll and W-2's, as well as track by budget every transaction helps our small church in ways we'd otherwise have to hire an accountant to do. I'm looking forward to a year of reports that fit our needs. The customizable reports and standard reports make this the flexible program we need around here. It even does a few things that we don't need - like printing checks. Compared to QuickBooks, this just FITS the non-profit better. It's fund accounting helps us manage ear-marked monies as well as multiple accounts.
Additionally, the ability to use the software over multiple platforms makes it handy, too. Our treasurer can do his work from home, and we can print the reports anytime from the church. Department heads and the pastor can always check where their budget areas stand. Pretty useful.

Cons

While it's supposed to provide an automatic link to banks, our small-town bank does not work with this program directly. BUT, it's simple to download transactions to a file and import that file into Aplos. Just assign budget categories with transactions - and voila! Reconciled!
Of course, this is web-based - demanding internet access. While they say it's quite secure, hackers are always out there. And this makes it a bit vulnerable - potentially.

Great Church Financial Software

After looking at several other church financial software products, we decided on Aplos Software and are very satisfied with the product. It meets all of our needs.

Pros

Aplos software is simple to use and the fund accounts can be easily customized and updated to fit your churches budget categories. Great for volunteer church treasurers. You don't have to be an accountant to use this software. After populating the people management tool and the account set up, all you have to do is enter contributions and maintain the check registry. All of the calculations are performed for you and the reports are built by the software. The reports in the report tool can be downloaded into excel or pdf and used to build monthly treasurer's reports or other budget statements. At the end of the year simply download the contribution statements report, hit print, and you are done. The cost is very affordable compared to other products. The customer service and technical support are outstanding.

Cons

We have had some compatability issues with Internet Explorer 9 in regard to downloading reports. However, the technical support folks at Aplos were quick to respond with a fix. We are a small church so I'm not sure if it would meet all the needs of a larger church. Aplos is expanding their capabilities.

Easy to Use Software for Non profits

I really liked the software and the compatibility to link it with your bank account. This software actually does assist with mailing out info to donors and setting up recurring donations etc.

Pros

I liked the ease of use and the fact that you could chat with representatives to assist with any questions. They also provided free webinars often to assist with fundraising tactics and other things.

Cons

Well if you utilize their promotions it is affordable but if not it can be a little costly for a starting non profit.

Efficient and Easy

Pros

The software is easy to use and not too expensive. Minimal accounting or bookkeeping experience is needed.

Cons

I saw the software worked great when our church was small. As it grew the amount of accounting required a program that could keep track of individual versus batch transactions.

Great for our small Condo Association

They are incredibly responsive, and when we initially set up the Accounts, they spent the time with me to help set us up based on our needs.

Pros

Bank Integration is a huge benefit. As the Treasurer of a small condominium association (volunteer job), I only need to spend a couple of hours a month on our financials. Running reports for our condo meetings and taxes is a breeze.

Cons

Its not completely made for condo association accounting, but we've been able to retrofit our needs. Funds doesn't exactly translate to the accounts we track, as we really do have 3 separate bank accounts. This requires an extra step in our monthly recons, but its not awful.

Affordable and Friendly

Pros

This is extremely affordable software for everyday Church needs. Their customer support is extremely helpful. Interface is easy to manage.

Cons

I haven't had any issues with donor management and this software. It's a great purchase for organizations.

Mostly love Aplos

I have had a good experience with Aplos. There are a few things that seem a bit clunky, inefficient and I've asked about changing those. Other than that, it's been great!

Pros

Easy to use

Cons

A few inefficient things (can't hide funds so you don't see them on all of the reports)