With many churches falling under more and more scrutiny these days for their financial transactions and records, what is the best church accounting software that you could be using? Does regular accounting software like Quicken or Peachtree still work for the church, or is there a better solution?
There are some unique issues that many businesses face that don't apply necessarily to the church. One of the biggest issues deals with taxes and often times when purchasing a general accounting program like Quicken or Peachtree, you are paying for the updates to the tax code in the program. So, if you don't need to worry about that, should you consider buying a specialize accounting software program just for churches?
Most of the general accounting software programs that you can buy in stores or online, such as Quickbooks or Peachtree are so massive and have a learning curve associated with them. Also, they have many features that might be "overkill" for many churches, especially smaller churches. They also have built in tax codes and features that don't really apply to the church and you can sometimes find better suited software for the church.
When you deal with payroll, there are usually two options. You can pay for a company to manage your payroll or you can do it yourself. While both options are feasible, it really depends on the size of the church and the number of staff members you have. If you aren't worried about taxes because of tax exempt status, are you gaining anything by paying for a payroll management company? Most accounting software programs will now handle payroll and tracking, including the printing of checks.
Your church finances can be a time consuming headache if you don't have a good system of tracking income and expenses. With your income fluctuating each week based on tithes and donations, preparing budgets and income/expense reports are a nightmare if you are doing them with a spreadsheet. Many church accounting programs are built around accepted accounting practices that are specific to the church so this helps make budgeting and keeping track of income and expenses a lot easier.
Accountability for your churches finances is critical to your success and stewardship these days. With more reports of greed and theft from churches, being a good steward of the God given resources is not an option any more. Finding the right church accountability software is pretty easy since most of the standard church accounting software programs that you can buy from almost any store will still work, but you just pay for some extras that you might not use or really need.
There are some unique issues that many businesses face that don't apply necessarily to the church. One of the biggest issues deals with taxes and often times when purchasing a general accounting program like Quicken or Peachtree, you are paying for the updates to the tax code in the program. So, if you don't need to worry about that, should you consider buying a specialize accounting software program just for churches?
Most of the general accounting software programs that you can buy in stores or online, such as Quickbooks or Peachtree are so massive and have a learning curve associated with them. Also, they have many features that might be "overkill" for many churches, especially smaller churches. They also have built in tax codes and features that don't really apply to the church and you can sometimes find better suited software for the church.
When you deal with payroll, there are usually two options. You can pay for a company to manage your payroll or you can do it yourself. While both options are feasible, it really depends on the size of the church and the number of staff members you have. If you aren't worried about taxes because of tax exempt status, are you gaining anything by paying for a payroll management company? Most accounting software programs will now handle payroll and tracking, including the printing of checks.
Your church finances can be a time consuming headache if you don't have a good system of tracking income and expenses. With your income fluctuating each week based on tithes and donations, preparing budgets and income/expense reports are a nightmare if you are doing them with a spreadsheet. Many church accounting programs are built around accepted accounting practices that are specific to the church so this helps make budgeting and keeping track of income and expenses a lot easier.
Accountability for your churches finances is critical to your success and stewardship these days. With more reports of greed and theft from churches, being a good steward of the God given resources is not an option any more. Finding the right church accountability software is pretty easy since most of the standard church accounting software programs that you can buy from almost any store will still work, but you just pay for some extras that you might not use or really need.
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Reading more about church accounting software can be an major decision for any church. Read more about what church accounting software you should use and other reviews of church management software systems.
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