The software question usually arrives with a frustration attached. The fund report does not balance, the giving system and the books disagree, or a new treasurer wants to use what they know from work. Before comparing products, it helps to see that there are three different kinds of software in this conversation, and that each asks the church to do some work the software will not do for it.
One disclosure: Danielson Bookkeeping works in QuickBooks Online. This guide describes the categories as evenly as we can and does not rank products.
Three kinds of software
- General-purpose accounting software set up for funds. QuickBooks Online is the common example. It is built for businesses and adapted for a church.
- Dedicated church or nonprofit fund accounting software. Aplos and PowerChurch Plus are examples. Funds are part of the design.
- Church management software with an accounting module. Realm by ACS Technologies and ChurchTrac are examples. People, giving and the ledger sit in one product.
Not every church management product includes accounting. Planning Center Giving, for example, tracks funds and donor statements and offers exports to accounting software, but it is not a general ledger. Our list of church management software with giving and accounting covers that category product by product.
What each handles natively
| General-purpose, set up for funds | Dedicated fund accounting | Church management with accounting | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Funds | No fund feature; tracked with classes or a similar tag | Built in, with balances by fund | Built in where the product has an accounting module |
| Giving records and statements | Kept in a separate giving system | Varies; some include donation tracking and statements | Built in and linked to the ledger |
| Payroll | Add-on or outside payroll service | Varies by product | Varies by product; some track payroll but do not calculate it |
| Who already knows it | Many bookkeepers, CPAs and volunteers | Fewer people; training usually needed | Church office staff more often than accountants |
"Varies" is doing real work in that table. Check the vendor's current feature list for the plan you would actually buy, because features differ by plan and change over time.
Where QuickBooks needs workarounds
QuickBooks Online has no object called a fund. Churches usually tag each transaction line with a class; Intuit lists class and location tracking in its Plus and Advanced plans, so confirm that against your subscription. Reports by class show each fund's income and spending for a period. Running fund balances are the harder part and need equity accounts or a schedule that is tied to cash every month. The terminology is also a business's: "customers" and "profit and loss" where a church would say givers and statement of activities.
None of this prevents accurate fund reporting. It does mean the setup has to be done on purpose and the person entering transactions has to be consistent. The steps are in setting up QuickBooks for church fund accounting.
Where dedicated fund software needs workarounds
Dedicated products remove the fund workaround and usually speak a church's language. The trade-offs are on the people side. Fewer volunteers and fewer outside professionals know them, so a change of treasurer can mean training from the beginning. Ask how your CPA or reviewer will get what they need, how bank transactions come in, and whether the product is installed on a computer or runs online. PowerChurch Plus, for instance, is desktop software, with a separate hosted version offered by the same company.
Where an all-in-one needs workarounds
Having giving and the ledger in one product removes the step of copying giving totals into the books. The accounting module is still one part of a product designed first around people and ministry, and its depth varies. Look closely at bank reconciliation, at budget reports, and at payroll. ChurchTrac, for example, says its accounting tracks payroll but that a separate payroll product is needed for the calculations. Also ask what happens to the accounting history if the church later changes its church management system for unrelated reasons.
What switching costs
The subscription is the smallest part. A switch also means:
- Rebuilding the chart of accounts and the fund list in the new system
- Bringing in opening balances that are reconciled and split by fund
- Deciding how much history to convert and how the rest will be kept and reached
- Reconnecting bank feeds, giving payouts and payroll
- Rebuilding the board's reports and retraining everyone who enters or reads them
A switch does not repair the books. If fund balances are wrong today, they will be imported wrong, so cleanup comes first either way.
Questions that decide it
- How many funds are there, and how many are donor-restricted?
- Who enters transactions now, and who will in three years?
- Where do giving records live, and how do they reach the books?
- What does your CPA, lender or denomination need to receive?
- Is the problem the software, or how it was set up?
A church with a few funds and a bookkeeper who knows QuickBooks may have little to gain from moving. A church with many restricted funds and a volunteer-only team may be better served by software where funds are built in. If QuickBooks is the choice or already in place, QuickBooks services describes setup, cleanup and training. If you plan to bring in a bookkeeper, ask about software before you choose either; see questions to ask a church bookkeeper.
