You might be a small church, that has no need for membership software. However, as it grows, you will eventually find yourself needing something like small church membership management software. Church budgeting software and church finance software is essential. These days everyone needs an Accounting Software for the Church which helps you keep track of your funds. But how can you get these? Should you just hire an expert? Or use free online accounting programs? Keep reading to learn more about how you can manage your finances with ease with the best church accounting software by 2021.
Nowadays many churches are using software for their membership, finances and other functions. To find the best software for a church we should answer couple of questions: What type of church financial software do we need? How much time would it take to learn church budget management software? In this article you’ll find answers to these questions.
Tithe.ly Church Giving
Increase giving for Churches and Ministries with Tithe.ly Church Giving; the church management software offers effective tools where the user can find ultimate ways to give, daily deposits feature, in-depth reporting feature, cash/check recording, auto recurring giving feature, text giving and much more. The user can also create and manage church or ministry events through Tithe.ly Church Giving. This software is available in 45 countries and used by 8600+ churches.
› Features
• Member, People, and Group Management tool for enhanced communication, management and follow-up with your people.
• Automated workflows to ensure timely completion of all the critical tasks.
• Smart check-ins for volunteers and children even when they are in different locations or rooms.
• Mobile, online, and text tools for hassle-free giving.
• Tracking tools to monitor giving, gifts, and the overall financial standing of your organization.
• Reporting tools to generate comprehensive reports.
› Benefits
The church management software by Tithe.ly helps:
• Lower the time taken for administrative tasks of the church.
• Organize and present the data, be it member profiles or worship programs, in an easy-to-understand format.
• Schedule volunteers and coordinate services.
• Keep track of giving no matter where in the world you are.
• Improve the quality of decision-making with its insights and reports.
› Pricing
Tithe.ly Church Giving Platform is available for free with zero setup cost. You can include add-ons for additional pricing. Alternatively, you can have access to all the Tithe.ly applications at $99 per month + $149 setup charges.
Breeze ChMS
The world’s easiest web-based church management software for small and mid-sized churches; Breeze ChMS offers the feature where the user can comfortably store an unlimited amount of information of each person by adding a custom field. The user can also organize and communicate with groups through Breez ChMS. It’s easy to use software to maintain the financial health of the Church; the user can track giving and generate report through the software. You can schedule volunteer for events and organize all church events through Breez ChMS.
› Features
• Add and store unlimited people with a handy information filter. You can also form and share photo directories as well as send texts and emails.
• Automate group creation, schedule messages, and view stats.
• Secure text and online giving.
• Track gifts and donors, in addition to generating reports.
• Control user access to protect crucial information and church data.
• Calendar integration, attendance tracking, event management, and children check-ins.
• Support for hassle-free import/migration of your data into the Breeze system.
› Benefits
• It simplifies the organizing and management of your people and groups.
• It saves your time, resources, and efforts through automation.
• It provides a detailed view of the church’s financial health through insightful reports.
• It increases security as you can set who can view which information.
• It quickly gets you up and running with prompt assistance.
› Pricing
The web-based church management system by Breeze is available at monthly pricing of $50 for all the features, unlimited users, and free setup and upgrades.
Aplos Church Accounting
Website www.aplos.com Price from $59/mo
Best overall accounting software for churches.
Aplos is a cloud-based, all-in-one integrated suite of modules that churches of all sizes will like. Not only is it affordable for even the smallest churches, it’s scalable and grows with you. As with most accounting products, all the basic features are included, such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, budgeting, and bank integration. If you also need payroll service, Gusto integrates seamlessly, so the fact that Aplos itself doesn’t have a payroll module isn’t a big deal. The Gusto payroll integration will even help you manage housing allowances.
Ease of use
Aplos Church Management is very easy to use, whether you are a church staff member or a volunteer. Aplos provides excellent customer support and training videos. Plus, should you want to outsource your bookkeeping tasks, Aplos can do it for you. The dashboard view makes it easy to see key data elements quickly, and navigation is quite intuitive. Since it’s cloud-based, users can access it from anywhere that has an internet connection. Aplos allows churches to include multiple users, as well, but user-level permissions are lacking in the basic accounting module.
Fund accounting capability
Aplos Church Management was originally designed by a pastor who also worked as a CPA. As such, it offers not just double-entry accounting, but also true fund accounting, which is an important aspect of church accounting. Tithes and donations are tracked automatically, saving you tons of time on manual data entry processes.
An Advanced Accounting module will get you some extra functionality that’s likely to be important for larger or multi-site churches. With the Advanced module, budgets can be set up by fund, allowing you to manage restricted and unrestricted funds easily. Tags (such as project, campaign, or department) can also be created if you need to get a little more granular in your budgeting and reporting.
A nice bonus is that Aplos Church Management’s accounting module can be used on its own for fund accounting, so users that don’t need the additional functionality aren’t locked in to a full suite of products.
Donation workflow
Aplos Church Management includes an Online Giving & Tithing module that automates many donation processes. Members can set up recurring transactions and will receive immediate giving receipts. Church finance staff or volunteers can push periodic statements (monthly, quarterly, or annually) and email communications through the Online Giving & Tithing. In addition, church staff can manage giving for multiple sites easily, and all the information is automatically integrated into the fund accounting module—no manual data entry.
What else can it do for you?
Although Aplos provides the option to use the accounting module on its own, adding the other features makes Aplos an all-in-one church management solution. With the Church Management module, you can keep a detailed directory of church families; track attendance, donors, groups, and events; and automate check-ins for security. Other modules include marketing and communication, event management, and reports. Aplos also provides a website builder, with web hosting fees included.
Cost
Aplos Church Management is available on a subscription model, like most cloud-based software. The basic suite is available for a modest monthly fee—and Aplos frequently offers discounts. If you need the Advanced Accounting Module, you’ll want to reach out to Aplos to discuss its customized pricing model. Aplos does offer a free trial period, which should allow you enough time to determine if it’s right for you before purchasing a subscription.
Things we liked:
- Integrated, comprehensive customer support
- Strong fund accounting functionality
- Designed for the unique needs of churches and nonprofits
- Excellent donation to accounting integration
- All-in-one platform
Things we didn’t like:
- Reports could be more robust
- Customization options are limited
- Some features require Advanced Accounting module
Blackbaud Church Management
Website www.blackbaud.com
Best accounting software for large churches.
Blackbaud Church Management is a relatively new all-in-one solution to the market. Blackbaud’s recent acquisition of Seraphim sparked the development of an improved church management solution while keeping the best features from Seraphim’s legacy product, ChurchApp. Large churches will appreciate the functionality of Blackbaud’s strong fund accounting product (Financial Edge NXT) and enjoy a variety of other features that help engage church members more effectively.
Ease of use
Blackbaud is well known for its ease of use in the nonprofit sector, and Blackbaud Church Management is no different. Good customer support and a wide variety of self-support tools, including a knowledge base and a comprehensive video library, help new users get comfortable with the platform very quickly. The modern, streamlined interface is intuitive, and subscribers are entitled to multiple user logins with user-level permissions.
Fund accounting capability
Financial Edge NXT, the accounting module of Blackbaud Church Management is a full-fledged double-entry fund accounting solution. It includes all the functionality that a large church would need, including accounts payable and receivable, budgeting, fixed asset management, approval controls, reporting, and FASB compliance.
There is also built-in financial aid and tuition support for churches that operate schools or daycares under the church umbrella, and multi-entity support is available for ancillary services being operated under the church’s EIN, such as counseling centers, consignment sales, and vacation Bible schools. Independent budgets can be created and managed for each of these operational groups; information then rolls up to the top-level budget, allowing senior staff and finance committee members full transparency into the church’s financial health.
Donation workflow
Blackbaud Church Management facilitates tithe, offering, and gift tracking. The online giving app allows members to make donations, and that information flows directly into Financial Edge NXT, automating the income process. Members can even set up one-time and recurring donations for gift and pledge campaigns that church staff manage in Blackbaud Church Management.
What else can it do for you?
Blackbaud’s church management feature includes a church directory with profiles for members, allowing you to track your congregation, their engagement, and their activities within the church. The analytics feature helps you assess member engagement and giving easily from the dashboard. You can communicate easily with congregants via the easy “drag and drop” email setup.
In addition, you can track volunteers and groups through Blackbaud. Event management can be set up for one event or recurring events, and registration for events can be completed and paid for online. Child check-in with codes is an especially popular feature of this software.
Cost
Blackbaud doesn’t publish pricing for its Church Management platform, so if you’re interested in learning more about what it would cost, you’ll need to contact Blackbaud directly. There currently is not a free trial, either, so once you’ve made your purchase, you’re locked in. However, given the comprehensiveness of Blackbaud’s solution, the price is likely worth it.
Things we liked:
- Flexible and customizable
- Powerful all-in-one platform
- Excellent customer support and training
Things we didn’t like:
- Expensive
- Relatively new to market
- Limited integrations outside of Blackbaud ecosystem
Conclusion:
When running a church, things can go by quickly. They say time flies when you’re having fun. But at the same time, it feels like there are a million things to do with your time. When I used software to help manage my time and tasks, I found that I had more time to spend with the important things in my life; I could participate in more ministry and build relationships with people (rather than just being a name on an attendance sheet.)