Here are the best church accounting software that provide outstanding tools to help you manage the books for your church:
- Best overall church accounting software: Church Windows
- Best for small churches hosting events: Aplos
- Best for desktop-based church accounting software: PowerChurch
- Best for medium to large churches: ShelbyNext Financials
- Best for small churches on a budget: FlockBase
As someone who’s reviewed countless accounting software, I know how overwhelming it can be to compare features across platforms, especially for faith-based organizations with unique financial needs. When making comparisons, keep in mind that the best software for church accounting offer fund accounting, donor management, reporting capabilities, and a straightforward interface.
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Quick comparison of the best church accounting software
| Church Windows | ||||
| Aplos | ||||
| PowerChurch | ||||
| ShelbyNext Financials | ||||
| FlockBase |
Church Windows: Best overall church accounting software
Church Windows is the best overall church accounting software because of its ability to be customized for any size church. Its accounting module lets you build a chart of accounts tailored to the structure of your specific church, using either account names or numbers. It supports income and expense entries and recurring transactions and has a correction mode with audit tracking.
Its reporting features offer templates for balance sheets and fund activity summaries that can be adjusted to suit individual preferences. You can customize columns and export in PDF, CSV, and Excel formats. Budgeting tools allow comparisons across multiple years and make it easy to prepare upcoming financial plans. However, those great tools don’t come without a somewhat hefty cost. FlockBase or PowerChurch may be a better fit if your church prefers a one-time desktop purchase with no recurring fees.
Pricing
Church Windows prices its software in a per-module format. Each module contains a specific toolkit of accounting solutions.
- Payroll
- Accounting
- Donations
- Membership/Scheduler
The purchase of one or more modules comes with a tier of customer support.
| What it offers | |||
| 1 module ($/year) | |||
| 2 modules ($/year) | |||
| 3 modules ($/year) | |||
| 4 modules ($/year) |
Standout features
- Customizable chart of accounts: Offers a flexible chart of accounts structure for your church to design custom account categories and groupings.
- Detailed audit trail: Maintains a detailed audit trail that records every financial entry and modification while preventing deletions, supporting transparency and accountability.
- Recurring transaction setup: Allows you to set up recurring transactions, simplifying the handling of regular financial activities such as monthly bills or donations.
- Integration with other modules: Has well-integrated modules, allowing data to carry over without requiring duplicate entry.
- Built-in month-end and year-end closing tools: Includes dedicated tools that guide you through month- and year-end closing processes in the accounting module, which is helpful if you’re unfamiliar with the processes.
Pros and cons
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Aplos: Best for small churches hosting events
Aplos stands out as the best church accounting software for small churches hosting events, as it includes event registration, online giving, donor communication, and member tracking in one cloud-based system. Its event scheduling function also makes tracking and managing hosted events and community engagement easy.
The platform also offers basic fund accounting support, allowing you to clearly track designated funds like tithes, missions, or building projects. It helps you manage both finances and local outreach without juggling multiple platforms or tools. However, ShelbyNext Financials has advanced reporting, features ministry-wide tools, and may be more suitable for growing churches needing cloud-based collaboration.
Pricing
- Lite: $79 per month
- Core: $129 per month
- Advanced: From $229 per month (higher prices for customized solutions)
Standout features
- Fund accounting model: Allows your church to keep separate records for specific funds, such as missions, building projects, or benevolence. This helps maintain clear financial tracking and supports accountability with donors and leadership teams.
- Integrated online giving: Lets you accept digital donations through tools like mobile giving and text-to-give. Contributions made through these methods are automatically recorded in the accounting system to reduce manual data entry.
- Customizable financial reporting: Enables you to create detailed financial reports like Balance Sheets and Income Statements organized by fund, project, or campaign. These reports provide insight into the church’s financial health from multiple perspectives.
- Event registration and management: Includes tools for managing church events, including online sign-ups and ticket sales. You can track attendees and event-related income through the same system used for your church’s accounting.
- People and donor management: Includes a database for tracking member and donor information, including contact details, household associations, and giving history. This helps you stay organized and improve communication with your community.
Pros and cons
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PowerChurch: Best desktop-based church accounting software
PowerChurch delivers superior desktop-based accounting for churches by securely maintaining financial data without ongoing subscription costs. It handles church-specific needs like fund accounting, donation tracking, and pledge management without requiring constant internet connectivity.
The ideal desktop PowerChurch user would prioritize data privacy, prefer one-time software purchases over monthly fees, and need dependable access regardless of internet service quality. So, if you prefer the desktop model, you can use PowerChurch to manage core financial operations smoothly. The tradeoff for the low one-time fee is that the interface is a bit dated. If you seek a more modern interface, consider FlockBase.
Pricing
PowerChurch Plus (Desktop version)
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- Download : $395 (one-time fee)
- Physical media (CD & printed manual) : $415 (one-time fee)
- Upgrade (Download): $159 (for existing users)
- Upgrade (Physical media): $179 (for existing users)
PowerChurch Online (Cloud-based version)
- Standard license (2 concurrent users): $39.95 per month or $455 per year
- Additional users (2 concurrent users): $25 per month or $275 per year
Standout features
- Integrated double-entry bookkeeping system: Offers a double-entry accounting system tailored specifically for churches.
- Payroll processing: Simplifies payroll by accommodating specific requirements like Social Security exemptions and pre-tax deductions; can automatically calculate withholding amounts.
- Budget tracking and reporting: Lets you monitor monthly, year-to-date, and annual budget comparisons.
- A/P management: Allows for efficient tracking of invoices and payments, including the ability to print checks and manage recurring expenses like leases and utilities.
- A/R functionality: Enables your church to create invoices and accept payments for services such as daycare tuition or room rentals.
Pros and cons
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ShelbyNext Financials: Best for medium to large churches
Shelby Systems’ main accounting product is ShelbyNext Financials, which includes key modules for a general ledger, A/P, and bank account management. You can also add features for A/R, fixed assets, payroll, and purchasing management to better suit the complex operations of your midsize or large church.
What makes ShelbyNext Financials different from other providers is its focus on ministry-specific functions and language. The cloud-based platform gives your church staff and leadership immediate access to financial data. With the Total Ministry Package, your church can manage membership, online giving, websites, and communication tools in one place. However, smaller churches that don’t need advanced workflows or custom pricing may prefer Aplos’ more intuitive and user-friendly interface.
Pricing
ShelbySystems offers custom pricing based on church size and selected products. Contact a sales representative for a quote.
Standout features
- Integrated background checks: Partners with Protect My Ministry to offer integrated background checks for efficient screening of volunteers and staff directly within the platform.
- Customizable purchasing approval workflows: Enables you to define unique approval processes for purchase orders, establish requisition paths, and receive automated email notifications for pending approvals via the purchasing management module.
- Clergy-specific payroll settings: Accommodates the unique tax and reporting requirements for church personnel through the payroll application, which generates forms like Form 941 and W-2 and supports gross wage computation, tax calculations, and voluntary deductions.
- Drill-down financial reporting: Offers financial reporting with drill-down capabilities, allowing you to navigate summary reports and detailed transaction entries.
- Multi-basis accounting support: Allows you to operate on cash, accrual, or modified accrual accounting bases via the A/P application. This flexibility ensures that your church can manage its finances in accordance with its preferred accounting practices and standards.
Pros and cons
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FlockBase: Best for small churches on a budget
FlockBase is an excellent accounting solution for small churches on a budget. It focuses on fund accounting with the capability to track multiple funds and supports payroll processing and financial reporting. FlockBase includes budgeting tools and over 25 types of financial reports.
Payroll features accommodate both ministerial and non-ministerial staff. By integrating with FlockBase’s membership and contribution modules, the accounting software allows for efficient management of donations and financial records. For churches that host a large number of events, PowerChurch may be a better choice as it provides both accounting and event management functions.
Pricing
Cloud-based plans (subscription)
- Cloud Basic: $24/month; main features include two simultaneous users, financial reports, check register, and bank reconciliations
- Cloud Plus: $39/month; includes all features from Cloud Basic for five simultaneous users in addition to payroll options
- Cloud Pro: $59/month; includes all features from Cloud Plus for 10 simultaneous users, along with automated system backup
Desktop plans (One-time payment)
- Membership: $139; includes congregation tracking by members or households, user roles & permissions, and 12 months of customer support
- Accounting: $149; includes fund accounting capabilities, budgeting and reconciliation tools, user roles & permissions, and 12 months of customer support
- Combined: $229; includes all features from Membership and Accounting ($59 savings)
Standout features
- Direct deposit for payroll: Supports direct deposit, allowing you to pay staff and vendors electronically.
- Budget versus actual comparison reports: Provides reports that compare actual income and expenses to budgeted amounts, helping your church monitor financial performance.
- Integration with membership and contributions: Integrates accounting with membership and contribution records so that member information and donations can be tracked without duplicate entry.
- User-defined data fields for members: Allows customization of member records with user-defined fields, enabling your church to track specific information relevant to its congregation’s needs.
- Bank reconciliation with auto-matching: Includes a bank reconciliation feature that auto-matches transactions with imported bank records, helping you quickly identify discrepancies and maintain accurate account balances.
Pros and cons
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My methodology
To evaluate the best accounting software for churches, I examined each product’s suitability for ministry-based financial management through a structured approach.
- Problem assessment: I began by outlining the specific requirements churches face, such as fund accounting, donation tracking, and clergy payroll processing. I then categorized the types of churches (small, medium, and large) to understand which solutions align with varying operational complexities.
- Identification of leading software options: I compiled a list of well-known church accounting platforms, prioritizing those with dedicated features for nonprofit and faith-based organizations. This included both cloud and desktop solutions currently recognized in the church management space.
- Review of user experiences: After identifying the available options, I incorporated online reviews and user ratings to identify both pain points and perks.
- Key feature analysis: Each software was analyzed based on its ability to perform essential tasks, including the following variables:
- Fund accounting: Does it support designated fund tracking and reporting?
- Contribution management: Can the system record gifts and generate donor statements?
- Payroll processing: Does the software handle minister-specific tax requirements?
- Financial reporting: Are there customizable reports for leadership, audits, and compliance?
- Accessibility: Do they offer multi-user access, cloud availability, and permission settings?
- Integration: Are they compatible with giving platforms, church management systems, and payroll services?
While looking into the items above and compiling the data (if available), I made sure to analyze each product’s interface, taking into account user experiences.
How to choose the best accounting software for churches
When selecting the best church accounting software, it’s important to focus on specific essential tools that will help you handle your operations efficiently. Below are four important aspects to look for:
- Fund management: Look for software that allows you to track and allocate funds across various ministries, campaigns, and accounts.
- Donation and contribution tracking: An effective platform should make it easy to record giving (both online and in-person) and generate statements for donors. Features like recurring gift setup, batch entry, and year-end reporting help maintain accurate records and high-quality communication.
- Payroll and staff compensation: Churches often face complex payroll needs, such as handling clergy tax rules and housing allowances. Choose a system that understands and supports these requirements. Built-in payroll features or integrations with payroll services can make processing payments and filing forms much simpler.
- Ease of reporting and compliance: Clear, customizable reports are vital for providing insight into financial status and meeting regulatory requirements. Ensure the software offers financial statements like income reports, balance summaries, and transaction logs that can be tailored for internal reviews, board meetings, or audits.
When choosing the best church accounting software, prioritize solutions that align with your church’s size, complexity, and long-term needs. Aim for a tool that supports both present needs and future growth.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
What is fund accounting, and why is it important for churches?
Fund accounting tracks income and expenses by purpose or restriction (e.g., missions, building fund). It helps ensure donations are used as intended and maintains transparency with donors.
Can church accounting software handle tax reporting?
Most platforms generate year-end giving statements for donors and payroll tax forms like W-2s and 1099s. However, you may still need an accountant for complex IRS filings.
Is cloud-based software more secure than desktop versions?
Security depends on factors like user behavior, access controls, and provider reliability.
- Cloud-based systems offer encrypted storage, backups, and role-based access. They are typically maintained by dedicated security teams who apply patches and updates to defend against the latest threats. Additionally, cloud providers invest heavily in infrastructure security and compliance certifications that generally exceed what individual users implement independently.
- Security for desktop software depends on your local setup. If updates are missed, firewalls are misconfigured, or data isn’t backed up, vulnerabilities increase significantly.
Do these platforms integrate with other church management systems?
Yes, many solutions, like Aplos and ShelbyNext Financials, offer integration with other tools for service planning, childcare, and volunteer scheduling.
What kind of support do these companies provide?
Most church accounting programs offer email, phone, and video-based customer support. Some also provide onboarding assistance, live webinars, and searchable help centers or knowledge bases.
