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!
I am the author of the DONATION program, used by over 4,000 churches and charities to track their donors and donations and issue receipts. Many churches find that they get the best of both worlds by using a simple, focused program like mine to handle the donations / contributions / receipts, and an accounting program to handle batch totals from donation bank deposits, other income, and expenses. You can download a free 60-day evaluation copy from software4nonprofits.
Buying church accounting software is a great idea if you are worried about how much money your members are contributing. Well worth the money spent to buy it.
Just my opinion though,
John