Fund Accounting

Updating Your Church Accounting Software

churching — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:50:43 +0000

Recently, I’ve been thinking about the amount of people who are buying church accounting software. The truth is I’m a little surprised about the amount (I guess I’m not sure how many new churchers come into existence every day). Then the thought occurred to me; chances are that not only are new churches being founded, but old ones are needing to update their software (it’s a constant cycle).

When you are updating your church fund accounting software, what are you looking for? Chances are you’ll need something that is compatible with what your church is currently doing. Moving to a new system can be enticing, but most people want something that will work with their old system. I’ve even heard of some churches just sticking with their old software for decades (doesn’t seem like the best idea to me; time to update!).

Why Fund Software?

churching — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:34:38 +0000

People who haven’t been in church accounting for long often ask me why special fund software is necessary for churches. I usually always give them the following example.

Say a woman goes into her favorite clothing store and purchases a new dress. She hands over the $150 to the cashier and receives the dress in exchange. After the exchange the woman has no say over what happens to her $150. Now, say this same woman heads to church on Sunday. She donates (important word there) $150 to the church missionary fund and another $150 to the church humanitarian fund. The woman has some say over were the money is to go.

Ethical churches, in order to track where these different monies are going, set up funds so they can spend the money in the petitioned manner. Church accounting is very, very different than normal business accounting.

QuickBooks for Churches?

churching — Thu, 14 May 2009 14:30:05 +0000

So, recently there seems to be a lot of church accountants wondering whether QuickBooks is a viable option to use as accounting software. As always, I’d like to give my opinion on the matter.

QuickBooks is some solid software. It has been around as an industry leader for quite a while; indicating that the software is pretty good. The price may be a little steep compared to other software, but what can you do? The good news about the price is that you pay a one time fee.

One item that isn’t great about the software is that it isn’t necessarily designed for churches. Their target market consists mostly of businesses. While it is true that they have a Non-Profit version, this version isn’t always great for churches. Overall, I would say you are better off using software more tailored to your church. Here is a site that has a great review of quickbooks church accounting software.

Fund Accounting Software

churching — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:25:01 +0000

This site will be to aid people in their search for good fund accounting software. You may be looking for this type of software for your church or any other not-for-profit organization. While it is true that you can use quickbooks or other commercial software for churches, I think it is better to have some fund accounting software.

Quickbooks actually has some good non profit software, so you may want to check that out. We have heard of some free accounting software, but who knows about the quality of these types of software. If you have any topics you would like me to write on concerning church accounting software please say so in the comment box below.