Welcome to your Church Accounting Software Guide
Buying and learning church accounting software can be tricky, especially if you don’t know much about accounting. This website is dedicated to helping you find the perfect church accounting software for your church. We realize that you want to spend the church’s money wisely, so we will try to bring you the most up-to-date information on church software. We’ll also help you find a system that is easy-to-use and doesn’t break down after a month or two.
If there is any church accounting product or software that you would like us to review, feel free to let us know. We look forward to saving you some time and money as you seek the right church accounting software.
Church Accounting | Clarity Accounting
We here at The Church Accounting Software Guide want to remind everyone that we do not endorse one software or system over another. We simply want to provide information so that it will be easier for you to choose a church accounting or management system. Today we provide a brief review of “Clarity Accounting” –www.clarityaccounting.com
First of all, you might note a few good things right from the get go: (1)the website is an http(s) (that “S” is important and means that the company spent the money to be more secure–a good sign (2) they are secured by Geotrust and (3) the website is professional and easy to navigate. If you see these three things on any online website, it is extremely unlikely that you will be scammed.
Next, Clarity offers both a demo and a 30-day free trial. This is a sign that they are confident in their software. This is the exact opposite of those “miracle weight loss pages” that are 100 pages long, and keep saying that they will tell you the secret to weight loss once you get to the bottom of the page (in the meantime you have to read all their propaganda, usually in the form of success stories). I’m sorry if I’m getting on a tangent here, but I can’t stress this enough, please avoid sites that are all propaganda and offer quick and easy solutions.
Clarity’s 30-day free trial is better than most because they don’t require a credit card number before you can use the trial. Many companies give you a free trial, but ask for your credit card number in hopes that you will forget. Once your trial time is up, they start charging you (very annoying).
Functionality
The Good: Keep in mind we were using the demo version as we tested their online software. The software has all the financial accounting information any church would need. The software is very intuitive. When you tell the software to do something, it does! The layout and reports are very aesthetically pleasing.
The Questionable: When I clicked on the graphical reports, it kept sending me to some random web page that hand nothing to do with Clarity Accounting (a little frustrating, but again, maybe this is the demo version).
Keep in mind that this is online software which comes with the benefits of being able to use it anywhere, but also the security issues that come with online software.
We advise that you do some of your own research before making any purchase of church accounting software but Clarity Accounting appears to be a good product for a low price of $10 a month.
Feel free to sound off on any Church Accounting Products in the comment box.
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Free Church Accounting Software
Wouldn’t it be great if there was some free software out there to help you manage your church’s funds and taxes? Well, as always, there are several websites out there claiming to give away church accounting software. To hopefully save you some time, we’ve put together this list of supposedly free church software. And to save you some money, we have identified what the true cost of the software is.
As is always our policy, we do not endorse one church software system over another. We simply want to provide you information.
- Sunday Software
First of all, if you started the journey for your church’s accounting system by typing into google “free church accounting software” then you likely ended up on a sub-domain of sundaysoftware.com. SundaySoftware does not make accounting software; however, they do provide links to other side that do.
- Churchtrac.com
The good new about churchtrac is that they actually do offer free church accounting software. The bad news is that the software is only for small churches. After some investigation we learned that small churches means less than 100 people.
- Churchradius.com
Church radius also offers free church management software. There is no size limit to your congregation, but the management system is supported by advertisements (they are hoping you will click on them). As we all know advertisements can be slightly annoying.
Synopsis
If the church that your managing has less than 100 people or if you don’t mind having some advertisements floating around the screen then you just may be able to find some free church accounting software. Otherwise, it appears you will have to fork out the cash to get the software.
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What Should I Expect to Pay for Church Accounting Software?
So, you’ve decided to make the leap to buy your church some management/accounting software. You want to buy some decent software, but you don’t want to spend all of last year’s offerings to get it. We hope this article will at least give you a feel for what to expect when buying your church accounting software.
As with most products, if you spend a little more it is because the product is a little better. The trick is finding out what your church’s needs are. You might ask yourself, “What is it that I need to track?” You may be wanting to track your membership from week to week, or how much offerings are given on a monthly or yearly basis. More complex questions might be, how much taxes have I withheld for the paid clergy or how much will I need to withhold? The bottom line is to find out what exactly you need the software for before buying it.
Many church accounting services provided by companies will want to charge you on a monthly basis. This is becoming more common in almost all businesses. Prices start around $30 a month and go as high as $200 a month. We wouldn’t recommend paying more than that for your church accounting software. If you dislike monthly fees, then you can buy quickbooks online for about $200 over at Microsoft.
The best of luck in your hunt for your church management software. If you have any additional pricing information, feel free to post it in the comments box below.
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Church Accounting Software Features
We’ve said a few times on this site that not all church accounting software is built equally. Some software has more features than you or your church would ever care for, while other software may not have what you need. Be careful when purchasing church software because some software comes in a one package has it all deal while other software only does specific procedures.
Church Management Systems Versus Church Accounting Software
It turns out that some software exists that does just about everything for your church. These software packages are usually entitled “Church Management Software.” These management softwares take care of membership issues (attendance, converts, etc.). They also manage the finances at your church (offerings, taxes, etc.). We’ve even seen some church management software that has features that track upcoming events in your church–choir rehearsals, dinners, and church services.
On the other hand we have seen websites that sell their wares separately. For example they sell what they call a “People Suite” that will keep track of membership or a “Financial Suite” that keeps track of finances. It is important to note that these companies are selling them separately: if you buy the people suite you aren’t getting any financial suite products. This can be compared to buying Microsoft Word separate from Microsoft Excel. They don’t exactly do the same thing.
So our word of caution is to make sure that what your buying performs all of the functions you want it to. We tend to lean towards the One-Package-Does-it-all solutions, but we can see some reasons for buying separately (perhaps better functionality).
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Do Your Church’s Computers Have What it Takes?
Not all church accounting software is built equally. Some software comes with a lot of features and technology while others are more basic. We want to make sure that you don’t buy software that your church’s computers can’t handle so we bring you the following information.
Before you make your purchase, make sure to double, nay triple check to verify that your computer(s) meet at least the minimum requirements for the software. There is nothing worse than spending money on software, returning back to your computer, placing the CD in the computer, and then finding out that your computer can’t handle the software. Please make sure you meet the minimum requirements for any software you buy for your church.
Unfortunately many companies that offer church software fail to place the minimum requirements on their websites. If you find yourself in this situation, then you have three options: (1) Gamble and purchase the software anyway hoping that your computers will have what it takes–not recommended (2) Contact the company via phone or email (3) Go to a different website. Gambling is never recommended 
After searching the Internet, we’ve found that most church accounting software requires at least 64-256mb of ram. This may not seem like a lot to some people, but many churches don’t have a big budget to buy top end computers.
We hope we have saved you some time in your quest to purchase church software. Feel free to leave any comments about information you may have acquired.
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The Tough Issue of Member Contributions
Accounting for the church’s money is a tough issue. Most church leaders tend to separate the money issue from spiritual issues like praying and attending church. However, it is important to remember that money is necessary to build up the Kingdom.
Because money is sometimes a sensitive area within the Church, it is important to assure that your members’ donations are being accounted for. Church accounting software can help you keep better track of where these donations are going.
You can use church accounting software to give annual or semi-annual statements to your members. Giving these statements increases trust with your members and can lead to further donations. You can also use your church management software to track your expenditures. Most software systems will display this information in a way that will allow you to make better decisions…
Decision making is critical when spending members’ contributions!
Is your church accounting system safe online?
Anytime you have information stored online there is some inherent risk. That is not saying that we should avoid putting our information online, but we should always be cautious. Having your church’s accounting system online can be dangerous for a couple of reasons that will be discussed below.
1. Internet Security Issues
A hacker could maliciously enter your online database that contains all of your important church management information and steal or delete the information. We won’t get into the technical jargon of how they might accomplish this, just know that they can.
2. Your Online Software Company Goes Out of Business
If you have your information stored online through one of the many online software systems, then you run the risk of your online software provider going out of business and trashing your data.
We’re not saying we’re completely against having all of your church management data online, but we recommend caution when this information is online. Always have a physical backup of your church accounting software data.
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