Church Accounting Software

[JTDyck]

We are thinking of changing the software we use for our church accounting. We are now using Simply Accounting, but it seems more geared to the business world, and we have not been blessed with that special providence of having an accountant on our membership roll.

If you have any experience with some of the software that has been written specifically for church needs, like http://churchwindows.com/user/index.php or something along those lines, any suggestions or recommendations would be gratefully received.

Thanks!

 

[fredtgreco]

John,

I never advise anyone to get "church" software. It is invariably not as well done as "commercial" software, and often has little support.

My suggestion would be to purchase Quicken. It is inexpensive, relatively easy to use, and links up well with online bank accounts.

It is what we use. Quickbooks is more than we need.

 

[JTDyck]

Thanks for your comments, although it was not really what I was expecting. I will certainly look into Quicken.

Perhaps this could be a separate thread, but on a sidebar I am intrigued by your comment about online banking. Does your treasurer do online banking? If so, how do you address concerns about security? We have been asked by a previous treasurer if they could have online access to our account, but it is not feasible when we require two signatures on our cheques. I can see benefits, but so far we are being very cautious.

John.

 

[smhbbag]

Ditto to Fred

 

[fredtgreco]

Thanks for your comments, although it was not really what I was expecting. I will certainly look into Quicken.

Perhaps this could be a separate thread, but on a sidebar I am intrigued by your comment about online banking. Does your treasurer do online banking? If so, how do you address concerns about security? We have been asked by a previous treasurer if they could have online access to our account, but it is not feasible when we require two signatures on our cheques. I can see benefits, but so far we are being very cautious.

John.

John,

We have online banking. It is very useful for paying bills, etc. The key is multiple oversight. I personally think counter-signatures is overkill for a small church. But we have (for example) three people who have access to the online banking and can review statements (our Treasurer, our bookkeeper and me). We run regular monthly reports with Quicken so we can see any payments out of the ordinary. (There are surprisingly few non-recurring and ordinary payments - ones that are not payroll, rental/mortgage, missionaries, etc.). Our Session also can review our expenditures to budget.

As for deposits, we have those done by teams of two. Online banking is just as secure (in my opinion) as paper banking. The teller could rob from you. Someone could try and cash a check, even if the bank's "policy" is countersignatures. The whole key, in my opinion, is vigilance and oversight.

 

[JTDyck]

Thank you, Fred. These are very helpful notes and comments. I think they will help us to fine-tune our bookkeeping process.