Church Software

Is accounting software necessary for small churches? Possibly not, but it will make everyone's life a lot easier. Setting up a new accounting system is time consuming and possibly complicated, but the benefits are rewarding. If your church has been using volunteers and an assortment of computers and software, consider the benefits of consolidating your accounting with one software system or at least compatible modules.

One of the first benefits is all the churches' records may now be kept in one place instead of being farmed out to numerous volunteers who may or may not be diligent in recording crucial information. Crucial information is any information needed to substantiate an audit trail, submit tax reports or demonstrate to the board of directors and congregation where the money goes with complete transparency through rapid and current financial information.

Overseeing the budget is one of the main reasons organizations use accounting. In small churches, the budget may have been designed in the best interests of the church and its ministries, but its implementation doesn't work as well as it should. By having an accounting system in place that permits the board of directors, pastor, and church administrator to see at a glance where the money is going and how much each ministry is costing the church. With good accounting practices in place that can be monitored, revisions in the budget are much easier to propose and gain approval of because the figures illustrate the needs-or lack of-clearly.

By establishing an accurate budget, each ministry head knows exactly what the budget is for the ministry and has prior approval for spending the funds necessary to implement the mission.

Another benefit of accounting software packages is a system of checks and balances is built into the modules that Excel spreadsheets don't have. Non-profit accounting software packages are available for two areas that are frequently overlooked when considering basic operations. Depreciation on fixed assets is easily calculated by automated accounting software systems. Not only that, the handling of donations can be calculated according to preset formulas while donations with restrictions may be assigned their values according to the wishes of the donor. Both of these functions are important to small churches that depend on members' goodwill for survival.

Accounting software packages are helpful to the church treasurer and accounting staff, but off-the-shelf packages still need to be set up by an accountant or a bookkeeper. The costs of setting up a good software accounting system may cost from two to five times the purchase price. This makes free support from the vendor an important consideration when purchasing any software, but especially accounting software where the users may have only elementary knowledge of current legislation and accounting practices.