Small Church Accounting Software
What’s the best church accounting software for a small church?
Are you tired of keeping the books for your church? Are you searching for a solution that will allow you to stay on top of your finances while also allowing you to do other things? If you are looking for accounting software specifically designed for small businesses and ministries, I encourage you to investigate The Church Accounting Software from Small Business Products .
Do you know how to manage your church’s money? Have you ever thought about what it would take to get a little help with the finances? When you own a small business, it can be chaotic. The last thing you need to worry about is whether your bookkeeping is on point. That’s why there are business management applications out there that might just make your life a little easier. If you have a small business and you’re looking for Church Accounting Software, then this post is for you.
Are you a small business trying to manage accounting with spreadsheets? Or are you a church organization looking for an affordable software package that makes tracking donations and expenses simple and straightforward?
There are numerous church accounting software options which means finding the right Church accounting software can be very challenging. It can also be difficult to decide which platform is best suited for your needs. The process of choosing the right software can be overwhelming at times. Narrowing down a list of features and deciding on pricing can be very difficult. Because there are so many options it’s important to compare similar platforms carefully. To make your job easier, I’ve created this guide based on what I’ve learned about several popular Church accounting software programs.
If you own a small business, then chances are you know how much time and effort it takes to create your own accounting software. Most small businesses that don’t already have an accounting system spend an average of 33 hours a month trying to handle the books manually. Wouldn’t it be amazing if this time was better spent and you had more time to do other things? That’s what we thought too!
6 Best Church Accounting Software Applications for 20
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- 1At-a-Glance Comparison
- 2Aplos: Best Overall
- 3PowerChurch Plus: Best Low-cost Desktop Software
- 4QuickBooks Online: Best Customizable Software
- 5QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit: Best for Experienced Bookkeepers
- 6IconCMO: Best for Integrated Payroll
- 7Wave: Best for Small Churches
- 8How We Evaluated
- 9FAQs
- 10Bottom Line
Churches must have strong accounting systems to provide detailed transaction information and reports to key stakeholders, such as donors and the board of directors. In addition, many churches can benefit from church management software that’s integrated with good accounting software. We looked at several options and chose the six best church accounting programs:
- Aplos: Best overall church accounting software
- PowerChurch Plus: Best low-cost desktop church accounting software
- QuickBooks Online: Best easy-to-use accounting software that can be customized to the accounting needs of churches
- QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition: Best customizable accounting software for churches with an experienced bookkeeper
- IconCMO: Best for church management with integrated payroll
- Wave: Best free accounting software for small churches to track income and expenses
Best Church Accounting Software Compared
Answer a few simple questions to see the software we recommend for your church. Afterward, continue reading for more information about each program.
Answer a few questions about your business, and we’ll give you a personalized product match.
Question 1
How important is it that your accounting software has integrated church management features?
Question 1 of 3
1 minute approxIt is crucialIt would be niceIt is not necessary
Question 2
Question 3
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Aplos: Best Overall Church Accounting Software
Overall Score: 4.30 OUT OF 5
- Includes church management software
- Full suite of accounting functions and reports
- Track giving and create statements
- Integrates with Gusto Payroll (separate fee required)
- Base price includes only two users
- Base price doesn’t include donations by text
- Could be difficult to find an external accountant who is familiar with the program to assist you
- Invoices aren‘t customizable
Aplos Features
- Track funds and donations
- Create websites easily without programming or coding experience
- Organize event registrations through customized event website
- Collect donations online through donation website
- Create budgets for your nonprofit
- Track payables and receivables
- Set recurring transactions for fixed donations and grants
Aplos Overview
- Online donations: Aplos features an online donation tool that helps churches organize fundraisers and donation campaigns through online payment systems. Moreover, Aplos has a dedicated secure platform for credit or debit card payments and a recurring donation feature for tithing. With the donation form designer, users can customize the form’s design, donation amounts, wording, and form URL.
- Event registration: If you have church activities or events, you can create an event registration form to facilitate the registration process easily. You can also send the registration link to social media accounts and email or embed it on your website.
- Outstanding accounting design: When we tested Aplos’ accounting functions, we liked how easy and understandable it was to use, even for non-CPAs. The interfaces of the invoice and bill creation modules are understood easily and very convenient to fill out. See our review of Aplos to view our in-depth accounting features video.
PowerChurch Plus: Best Low-Cost Desktop Church Accounting Software
Overall Score: 3.60 OUT OF 5
- Choice of desktop software or online program
- Integrated payroll with no additional fees
- Includes fixed-asset management and tracking
- Desktop software includes unlimited users and installations
- Payroll tax schedules must be maintained by users
- Online version supports only two concurrent users
- Cannot prepare budgets of income and expense
- Reports are cash basis only
PowerChurch Plus Features
- Record and track personal information for each member of families and households
- Track medical information of members
- Send emails and text messages to remind members of upcoming events or to send announcements
- Record contributions, gifts, and pledges
- Track funds in several accounts
- Manage accounts payable (A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R)
- Print checks within PowerChurch Plus
- Process payroll
- Track allowances of church leaders
PowerChurch Plus Overview
- True fund accounting: PowerChurch Plus lets you create different funds to keep track of donations. These funds can help you manage how donations are used in your organization, especially if there are donor-imposed restrictions in the usage of the funds.
- Attendance tracking: Through PowerChurch Plus, you can manage the activities of your members and their participation in your congregation. You can track the attendance of your members in worship services, Sunday school, and outreach activities.
- Church calendar: PowerChurch Plus has an event scheduler that can connect with Google Calendar to remind congregation members of upcoming events, and you can email your members about upcoming church events and activities directly from the app.
QuickBooks Online: Best Easy-to-Use & Customizable Accounting Software
Overall Score: 4.20 OUT OF 5
- Leading small business accounting software
- Share books continuously with a QuickBooks ProAdvisor for assistance
- Unlimited free customer support
- Monthly price includes multiple users except for Simple Start
- Expensive after adding third-party church management software
- Must mimic fund accounting by using classes and subclasses
- Price includes books for only one organization
QuickBooks Online Features
- Class and location tracking that can be applied for tracking grants, donations, and funds
- Access to a vast network of CPAs and bookkeepers who are QuickBooks ProAdvisors
- Assisted payroll through QuickBooks Live
- Capable of migrating to QuickBooks Desktop if need be
- Up to 25 users for QuickBooks Online Advanced
- Can reconcile bank accounts with or without bank feeds
QuickBooks Online Overview
- Class tracking: One of QuickBooks Online’s best features is class tracking. You can use this feature to track funds, contributions, or pledges. Classes can be customized based on your needs, so it’s flexible for church accounting.
- Easy accountant access: If you have a volunteer CPA in your church, you can invite them easily to help you manage your accounts. When you invite an accountant, it doesn’t count toward the user limit. For QuickBooks Plus and up, you can invite up to three accountants.
- Access to bookkeeping assistance: If you need help in bookkeeping, QuickBooks Live is a special QuickBooks service that lets you work with a QuickBooks Advisor. For a starting price of $200 per month, you’ll get an initial cleanup, ongoing bookkeeping, and financial statement preparation. The price may vary depending on your average business expenses.
QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit: Best Customizable Accounting Software for Experienced Bookkeepers
Overall Score: 3.60 OUT OF 5
- Outstanding accounting functions from an industry leader
- Bookkeeping for an unlimited number of organizations
- Integrated Intuit Payroll (separate fee required)
- Extensive network of independent QuickBooks ProAdvisors for support
- No church management features
- Difficult to use especially for non-accountants
- Sharing data with external accountant is hard
- Maximum of five users only
QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Features
- Manage multiple nonprofits and churches without paying for extra subscriptions
- Compare actual-to-budget reports
- Nonprofit chart of accounts included in the nonprofit edition
- Excellent banking features that can process checks and cash across different banking transaction types
- Nonprofit-specific menu in the software’s menu bar
- Dedicated pledge and donation tracker
QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Overview
- Nonprofit chart of accounts: By selecting the Nonprofit Edition of QuickBooks Premier, your software application will come with a default chart of accounts for nonprofits. There’s no need to modify the chart of accounts since it’s also compatible with church accounting.
- Nonprofit-specific reports: You can generate the basic financial statements for nonprofits and churches and create specific reports like year-end donation statements and donor contribution summary reports.
- Unlimited customer support and updates: Another good thing about QuickBooks Premier Plus is that it comes with unlimited support and updates. With the old version, you had to purchase a customer support plan to get live support.
IconCMO: Best for Church Management With Integrated Payroll
Overall Score: 4.10 OUT OF 5
- Payroll add-on supports unlimited employees
- Comprehensive church management features
- Childcare security add-on (separate fee required)
- Affordable for small and medium churches
- Includes unlimited users
- No fixed-asset tracking
- Expensive for larger churches
- Event registration feature requires an additional fee
- Can’t use Icon Check-in without an internet connection and Rubix account
IconCMO Features
- Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)-compliant accounting software
- Fund and pledge tracking through dedicated funds and pledges module
- Built-in nonprofit chart of accounts
- Bank feed connection
- Check printing feature
- Invoicing and billing functions
- Payroll processing and payroll tax filing
- Online donations and contributions management
- Household and individual membership management
- Child check-in for Sunday schooling and other activities for children
IconCMO Overview
- Online donations: IconCMO offers an online solution for receiving donations through Vanco Payment Solutions and Bambora. Donors can use credit cards, debit cards, and automated clearing house (ACH) payments to donate.
- Unlimited payroll: If you get the payroll add-on, you can process the payroll of unlimited employees, compute taxes, and help in filing W-2s for your employees. You should get the payroll feature if you have a lot of employees. The payroll add-on can be a great timesaver when processing payroll.
- Child check-in: If your church has religious activities for children, IconCMO has an add-on for child check-in. This feature is an online tracking system for parents that are sending their children to Sunday school or church activities. Parents can access a portal to see if their children are still within the group. The child check-in add-on also allows you to input basic information and special remarks for things like allergies or conditions.
- Fund accounting: IconCMO allows you to create different types of funds for your church. You can use these funds to monitor fund usage and ensure that all transactions involving the fund are within donor-imposed restrictions.
Wave: Best Free Accounting Software for Small Churches to Track Income & Expenses
Overall Score: 3.00 OUT OF 5
- Accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning features are free
- Offers affordable self- and full-service payroll packages
- Connect to bank and credit card accounts
- Offers an assisted bookkeeping option (Wave Advisors)
- Lacks church management features
- No budgeting features
- No way to account for multiple funds
- Cannot track income and expenses by program service
Wave Features
- Free for unlimited users
- Easy-to-learn user interface
- Invoice and bill creation
- Bank feed connection
- Basic financial reports
Wave Overview
- Free accounting and invoicing: Wave offers free accounting and invoicing without hidden charges or ads. This free version is best for small churches that don’t need complex fund accounting. Wave is also great accounting software if your church organizes small fundraisers.
- Bookkeeping assistance: Wave certifies accounting professionals as Wave ProAdvisors. These advisors can help you with bookkeeping, coach in accounting, and assist in tax preparation.
How We Evaluated Church Accounting Software
We evaluated financial and accounting software for churches based on price and how they meet the needs of small- to medium-sized churches, such as tracking donations. We prioritized systems tailored for use by churches and took into account the flexibility that general-use software can give an experienced bookkeeper. Finally, we considered a software’s ability to integrate with church management software.
- BREAKDOWN
- PRICING
- ACCOUNTING FEATURES
- CHURCH FEATURES
- EASE OF USE
- EXPERT ANALYSIS
10%
Pricing
20%
Accounting features
20%
Church features
30%
Ease of Use
20%
Expert Analysis
*Percentages of overall score
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a church accounting system?
A church accounting system is software that helps churches manage contributions, donations, and grants. It can also be used to track income and expenses from fundraising events, generate nonprofit reports, and account for the daily administrative costs of the church. Church accounting is unique because it must utilize fund accounting, which separates funds available to the church for general and specific purposes.
Which version of QuickBooks is best for churches?
QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced are the two plans that can be configured for church accounting. Moreover, QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit is the desktop counterpart if you prefer desktop accounting software.
What financial statements do churches use?
Churches aren’t for-profit entities, so the financial statements are different, at least in the naming. The P/L statement for churches is called the Statement of Activities and the balance sheet for churches is called the Statement of Financial Position. Churches and nonprofit entities also have a special financial statement called the Statement of Functional Expenses.