Fund Accounting Software

Church Accounting Software Pricing

2009-04-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

If your church accounting software is outdated, now may be the time to upgrade. What are the prices out there? And who is selling quality church software?

When you think of "getting the best value" what do you think of? Some people think that value equals price. MBA schools teach that value is a mix of price and quality. You should look for both when determining which church accounting software to purchase.

So what is a good price?

Be prepared to pay a monthly fee unless you want to make a huge outlay up front. The monthly fee is supposed to cover the software upgrades as well as the customer service that you may need in order to use the software effectively. Most quality accounting packages for churches cost around $75 - $225 a month.

Many people have been asking about quickbooks for church accounting. The truth is that QuickBooks does have a non-profit edition that will work for many churches. The price is around 350 dollars.

Church Accounting Software with all of the Features

When you get church accounting software that comes with a lot of features, this is known as church management software. This type of accounting package comes with all of the normal accounting features, along with other features that you may or may not want (ex. birthday dates, website help, etc.)

By evaluating your church's needs, you'll be able to determine if church management software is for your, or if you just need something like QuickBooks.

Safeguarding Your Church's Money

2009-04-20T13:03:00.000-07:00

Every year millions of dollars are donated to churches in hopes to make the world a little better place. Surprisingly even this money is subject to fraud. Below are some guidelines on how to protect not only your churches resources, but the church clerks as well.

(1) Donations should only be accepted by two trusted church leaders.

Remind church members often that they should only be giving checks, money, or other donations to these specific people. Also, ensure that the other church leaders direct all donations to the entrusted individuals. This may be a hard change to make at first, but once the congregation is used to it, things flow very smoothly.

(2) Use Accounting Software designed for Churches/Non-Profits

This type of software will not only make life easier on the church accountants, but it will help prevent fraud. Most church accounting software is designed to make sure that two or more people sign off on donations. This means that two individuals would have to collude for theft to take place. Collusion is nearly impossible to stop, but fortunately most church accountants don't want to risk seeing if someone else wants to collude with them.

(3) Have two trusted leaders deposit the money in the bank.

This step will help the church leaders be honest. It is much easier to be honest when someone else is watching your every step. Although this guideline may be dramatic, most fraud experts agree that given the right incentive, opportunity, and rationalization even the most honest people will fall. Don't give them the opportunity!

These rules may seem strict to church leaders. The truth is that these rules will bring a lot of safety to the leaders that implement them. If the money was somehow lost by the bank, the church accounting software would show that two trusted leaders signed off on it. In addition, the two entrusted leaders who deposited the money at the bank would be able to vouch for one another.

Take these controls seriously and you will be able to better protect your church's resources (humans and money a like).

Church Accounting Software

2009-03-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog about church accounting software. I hope this site will be informative and that people will be able to make better decisions about what accounting software they buy for their church. I'm hopefully going to write a bunch of reviews about church accounting software. However, the flesh is weak and I'm not promising that I'll get around to it.

Going to church is great and working for a church can be really rewarding. I've done a lot of accounting for churches so I know all about the controls that need to be in place. Also I realize that there are a lot of reports that need to be generated for individuals who donate to the church.

To top that all off a lot of software that is out there to help church accountants doesn't have some of the functions that church accounting software needs. I recommend looking for church accounting software specifically, instead of any ole software.

Look forward to your comments.