If you are responsible for the day to day running of a church, you will understand just how important it is to have a robust church accounting software package. If you’ve looked into software packages specifically designed for churches, however, you will also know that there seems to be a myriad of options out there, making it difficult to make an informed choice. There is a huge range of options available, from very basic spreadsheet templates, right up to the high end programs that not only provide accounting solutions, but also integrate modules for every other aspect of running a church, including contact management and membership attendance.

The running of a church is very different to the running of most “normal” businesses, and this may very well account for the number of software packages available. Developers have realised that your average business accounting software will not address specific accounting issues related to churches, and have started creating packages in order to fill the demand. Although there are some software packages that can be tweaked to suit these needs, they come at a high price, and are really overkill for what your average church needs. Most churches have an extremely limited budget, and buying an expensive software package like Quickbooks is just not a viable option in many cases.

If you are in the market for accounting software for churches, it is imperative that you determine what your requirements are before shopping around. If you do not have a clearly set out list of expectations, it will be easy to get waylaid and talked into buying functionality that is just not necessary for your situation. Below is a comprehensive list of modules that you will find in software specifically designed for churches. Have a look through this list and ask yourself honestly if this is something that you need for your church to operate smoothly. You may already have programs in place that take care of these items, and if that’s the case, then they should stay off your list. If you see things here that would be “nice to have” but aren’t necessarily imperative, then you may want to start a new “wishlist” that will help you make the tougher decisions as you narrow down your options…


Audit Trails – You may be tempted to opt for one of the many free church accounting software packages that are available for download on the Internet. The thing you need to keep in mind is that the vast majority of these software packages will not have the ability of an audit trail. This means that it is quite easy to remove an entry that has been made in error, without any history of that entry ever existing. At the least, this will cause major headaches for your accountant. At worst, there could be some serious legal ramifications for not having the proper records available in the case of an audit.

Fundraising and Tithing – Every church does a certain amount of fundraising during the year. Ideally, the expenses accrued as a result of this fundraising should be recorded within your accounting package. This is particularly true for fundraisers that require people to donate goods or services that will then be sold by the church. The people donating these items will probably want to declare them come tax time, which means that your church will also need to send out tax letters relating to those donations. Equally as important to keep the books balanced is the need to keep track of donations of money made to the church, which occur at each service on a weekly basis.

Importing and Exporting – Your data should always remain your data, and if the software package that you use is tying you down and not allowing you to export the data in its raw format, then you are limited to the software and reliant on it for all your reporting needs. Having the ability to export existing data into a spreadsheet or other database applications will open a lot more options for you, and is something that really should be considered before purchasing your software. Likewise, you no doubt have some form of data that is already stored in some digital form, and if you can minimise the need for data entry by having a built in import routine, this is going to make your transition to the new program much more easy to handle.

Security – Any church software will have a huge amount of private information that should only be available to a select few within your organisation. Not only financial records, but members contact details and attendance history should be kept as private as possible. For this reason, any good church fund accounting software should provide password protection, and ideally, encrypted data, to keep out prying eyes.

Members & Families – As mentioned previously, many of the best church accounting software packages provide a lot more functionality than just your churches finances. Being able to keep track of the members of your church is an extremely important part of streamlining the operation of your church. For most churches, the vast majority of their members are made up of family groups, and being able to tie your individual members into these groups within your software makes correspondence a lot easier, and allows you to have a better understanding of the dynamics of your church as a whole.

Attendance – Any church that wants to be successful must keep track of attendance numbers. This can be a time consuming process, especially if done manually, and having the ability to select attendees from a drop down list will make this task a whole lot easier, as well as providing longer term statistical reporting functionality. Once you have attendance details stored in a software package, you are able to easily spot members that have not visited for a while, or specific services that are lacking numbers.

Volunteers and Staff – Another huge difference between a church and your average business is the people that work for the organisation. Many times, the people that do the most work are the ones that are not even getting paid, but are happy to donate their time for the betterment of the church as a whole. If you don’t have some sort of software package that tracks all these volunteers, then it can be quite easy for them to fall through the cracks and not receive the recognition they deserve for their services. Likewise, with paid staff members, it is equally important to have appointment and scheduling modules available to streamline the running of your church and the various ministries within it.

Reporting and Presentations – What is the use of storing all this data if there is no way to report on it? The most used feature of any church accounting of management software will be the reporting side of it, as this is the part that will tell church administrators and leaders how healthy their church is. A robust reporting functionality will allow you to identify the areas within your church management that need the most work, and will allow you to plan much more efficiently for the future.

So where do you start when looking for accounting software for church use? As already mentioned, there are a multitude of packages available. Once you have your list of requirements, you may want to look at the following companies that provide specific software solutions for churches…

PowerChurch Software – PowerChurch is one of those software programs that we mentioned that covers a lot of ground. If an all in one solution is what you are after, then PowerChurch may be the right solution for you. Financially, this program automates the recording of accounts payable and accounts receivable, manages payroll for your staff and and also looks after contributions. But PowerChurch also provides the ability to manage membership data on both a family and individual level, and allows you to keep track of the many different events, appointments and meetings that happen within your church on a weekly basis. If this sounds like it may be the option for you, PowerChurch provide a fully working demo to interested parties. The price of the package is $395 which includes a 60 day money back guarantee.

Churchsoft – Churchsoft offers a wide range of church software solutions, but their main software package is called Assist, which comes with a full range of accounting modules by default, with many modules that can be added on as needed. The price of the standard package is comparable to PowerChurch (at $349), but any extras that you decide you need are going to cost you extra. The additional extras include different levels of support, multi user options, online backup services, and network setups. It is prudent to mention that no matter which software you purchase, a backup procedure is a must. If the software comes with built in backup functionality then all the better, but if it doesn’t you will need to ensure that your data is being backed up in some way on a regular basis.

ChurchPro – ChurchPro boasts almost 15 years in the business of software development for churches, and offers an all in one church management and accounting package, complete with hundreds of professional looking reports ready to integrate into your churches business. The cost of their software is $299 and this includes 3 months of technical support and no limits to the number of records you can store in the system. They also provide a 30 day money back guarantee. A popular tool included in their package is QwikTrakker, which allows you to view all of the softwares modules at a glance from one screen. This is great for church management that needs a quick glance at the overall running of the church, without getting bogged down in hundreds of different screens.

Free Church Accounting – Not a software package as such, Free Church Accounting provides a lot of information on their website about accounting procedures and how they relate specifically to churches. They also provide tools, calculators and spreadsheets on their website that can be downloaded free of charge. This is a great alternative for small churches that may not have the necessary funds to spend on the other more expensive solutions mentioned above.

Logos – Logos has a church accounting software package that is specifically designed for fund accounting. It has an extremely attractive user friendly interface, and has been designed with the needs of churches, schools and not for profit organisations in mind. All of the accounting modules are fully integrated, and allow you an “at a glance” overview of the churches finances, as well as providing powerful and flexible reporting options. The package comes with Accounts Payable and Payroll built in as standard, but Accounts Receivable and Asset Manager are modules that will cost extra to add on.

Quite often a church will have specific needs that are not covered by any one off the shelf software package. If this is the case for your church, and you are feeling frustrated by your lack of options, you may want to consider having a piece of software custom built for your organisation. Obviously this is going to be a pricier option to begin with, but the end result will be a tailor made solution that carries your branding, has exactly the functionality that you need, and no overhead of modules that are never used but cannot be removed. The other benefit to having a custom made software package designed for your church is that it becomes a living organism within the running of your church, one that can be added onto and changed as your church grows and the needs of your congregation change.