7 Best Church Accounting Software Applications for 2023
This article is part of a larger series on Accounting Software.
The best church accounting software should provide detailed transaction information and reports to key stakeholders, such as donors and the board of directors. Many churches can benefit from church management software that’s integrated with good accounting software. We looked at several options and chose the seven best church accounting programs:
- Aplos: Best overall church accounting software
- PowerChurch Plus: Best desktop accounting software for churches
- QuickBooks Online: Best easy-to-use accounting software that can be customized to the accounting needs of churches
- Xero: Best for unlimited users
- QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition: Best customizable accounting software for churches with an experienced bookkeeper
- IconCMO: Best for church management, integrated payroll, and scalability
- Wave: Best free accounting software for small churches to track income and expenses
Best Church Accounting Software Compared
Software | Pricing | Number of Users | Accessibility | Online Donations | Assisted Bookkeeping | Recurring Donations | Nonprofit Chart of Accounts | Fund Accounting |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$79 to $189 monthly | 2 | Web | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
$395 or $415 (one-time payment) | Unlimited | Windows only | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | |
$85 or $200 per month | 5 to 25 | Web | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | Mimic via class tracking | |
$13 to $70 per month | Unlimited | Web | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ | Mimic via Class Tracking | |
$799 to $1,999 per year | 1 to 5 | Desktop (Windows and Mac) | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✓ | Mimic via class tracking | |
$35 to $149 monthly for 1 to 3,000-plus families | Unlimited | Web | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
Free | Unlimited | Web | ✕ | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ | |
Answer a few simple questions to see the software we recommend for your church. Afterward, continue reading for more information about each program.
How To Choose Your Church Accounting Software
A good church accounting software should provide helpful insights about your church’s finances through reports. It must also have features that let you account for every transaction using church accounting standards. In choosing software, here are things to consider:
- Pricing: As an entity that generates revenue only through donations, considering the price is a major factor. Software providers come at different prices, and you should pick the one that’s not heavy on a monthly or yearly basis. Moreover, you may also consider providers that base their prices on the member or family count.
- Accounting features: Church accounting uses different accounting standards from for-profit entities. Your church accounting software of choice must comply with these standards to make it easier to generate reports. If it’s general accounting software, the software must be flexible enough to be converted for nonprofit and church accounting use.
- Church features: Including church features within the accounting software is a cost-efficient solution since you get two solutions in one software package. Although some church software focuses heavily on accounting, you should weigh in on the factors further if you need dedicated church management software.
- Ease of use: The degree of difficulty in using the software will influence your productivity and efficiency in using the software. If your church has an in-house accountant, let them choose which software is easier to use for church accounting. Otherwise, choose a software that’s popular so that you can easily hire an external certified public accountant (CPA) or bookkeeper to do your monthly bookkeeping.
Aplos: Best Overall Church Accounting Software
Pros
- Includes church management software
- Full suite of accounting functions and reports
- Track giving and create statements
- Integrates with Gusto Payroll (separate fee required)
Cons
- Base price includes only two users
- Base price doesn’t include donations by text
- Could be difficult to find an external accountant who is familiar with the program to assist you
- Invoices aren‘t customizable
Aplos Features
- Track funds and donations
- Create websites easily without programming or coding experience
- Organize event registrations through customized event website
- Collect donations online through donation website
- Create budgets for your nonprofit
- Track payables and receivables
- Set recurring transactions for fixed donations and grants
Aplos Overview
Why We Choose Aplos
Aplos is our best overall pick because of its flexibility and feature set. It offers church management and financial accounting features in one software. It’s a well-rounded solution for religious nonprofits and churches that need church accounting features together with church management features like event registrations and donation management.
PowerChurch Plus: Best Desktop Church Accounting Software for Churches
What We Like
- Choice of desktop software or online program
- Integrated payroll with no additional fees
- Includes fixed-asset management and tracking
- Desktop software includes unlimited users and installations
What's Missing
- Payroll tax schedules must be maintained by users
- Online version supports only two concurrent users
- Cannot prepare budgets of income and expense
- Reports are cash basis only
PowerChurch Plus Features
- Record and track personal information for each member of families and households
- Track medical information of members
- Send emails and text messages to remind members of upcoming events or to send announcements
- Record contributions, gifts, and pledges
- Track funds in several accounts
- Manage accounts payable (A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R)
- Print checks within PowerChurch Plus
- Process payroll
- Track allowances of church leaders
PowerChurch Plus Overview
Why We Choose PowerChurch Plus
Churches that prefer desktop accounting can go for PowerChurch Plus. As a desktop software, you’ll only pay a one-time fee for the installation—no month-to-month contract. Moreover, PowerChurch Plus doesn’t need an internet connection to run, and you can install it on as many desktops or laptops in your church.
QuickBooks Online: Best Easy-to-Use & Customizable Accounting Software
Pros
- Share books continuously with a QuickBooks ProAdvisor for assistance
- Unlimited free customer support
- Monthly price includes multiple users except for Simple Start
Cons
- Expensive after adding third-party church management software
- Must mimic fund accounting by using classes and subclasses
- Price includes books for only one organization
QuickBooks Online Features
- Class and location tracking that can be applied for tracking grants, donations, and funds
- Access to a vast network of CPAs and bookkeepers who are QuickBooks ProAdvisors
- Assisted payroll through QuickBooks Live
- Capable of migrating to QuickBooks Desktop, if necessary
- Up to 25 users for QuickBooks Online Advanced
- Can reconcile bank accounts with or without bank feeds
QuickBooks Online Overview
Why We Choose QuickBooks Online
As our best small business accounting software, QuickBooks Online proves to be a flexible option for churches. By using class and location tracking, users can configure QuickBooks Online for church accounting. Another deciding factor for QuickBooks Online is the vast network of ProAdvisors who can help you set up and maintain the books. It would be a big plus if you can find a ProAdvisor who specializes in church and nonprofit accounting.
Xero: Best for Unlimited Users
Pros
- Includes unlimited users in all plans
- Comparable and similar features with QuickBooks Online
- Dedicated fixed asset manager for tracking fixed asset records, depreciation, and sale
Cons
- Lowest plan is limited to 20 invoices and bills
- Requires highest plan to get project accounting features
- Not a popular accounting software choice in the United States
Xero Features
- Scalable to a growing accounting team because of its unlimited user count
- Track inventory units and costs
- Determine cost of goods sold (COGS) when selling inventory
- User-friendly bank reconciliation interface
- Robust integration choices in the Xero App Store
Xero Overview
Why We Choose Xero
Xero is our QuickBooks alternative for unlimited users. It is more affordable than QuickBooks Online when comparing Xero Established vs QuickBooks Online Plus or Advanced. Xero also has tracking categories that can help you track expenses by program service or function.
QuickBooks Premier Plus Nonprofit: Best Customizable Accounting Software for Experienced Bookkeepers
Pros
- Outstanding accounting functions from an industry leader
- Bookkeeping for an unlimited number of organizations
- Integrated Intuit Payroll (separate fee required)
- Extensive network of independent QuickBooks ProAdvisors for support
Cons
- No church management features
- Difficult to use especially for non-accountants
- Sharing data with external accountant is hard
- Maximum of five users only
QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Features
- Manage multiple nonprofits and churches without paying for extra subscriptions
- Compare actual-to-budget reports
- Nonprofit chart of accounts included in the nonprofit edition
- Excellent banking features that can process checks and cash across different banking transaction types
- Nonprofit-specific menu in the software’s menu bar
- Dedicated pledge and donation tracker
QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Overview
Why We Choose QuickBooks Premier Plus Nonprofit
QuickBooks Premier Plus made it to this list as a great alternative to PowerChurch Plus in desktop accounting. Church and nonprofit accounting are similar, and getting the nonprofit edition of QuickBooks Premier Plus is a good accounting solution. QuickBooks Premier Plus Nonprofit already includes nonprofit-specific features, so you don’t need to modify them.
IconCMO: Best for Church Management, Integrated Payroll & Scalability
Pros
- Payroll add-on supports unlimited employees
- Comprehensive church management features
- Childcare security add-on (separate fee required)
- Affordable for small and medium churches
- Includes unlimited users
Cons
- No fixed-asset tracking
- Expensive for larger churches
- Event registration feature requires an additional fee
- Can’t use Icon Check-in without an internet connection and Rubix account
IconCMO Features
- Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)-compliant accounting software
- Fund and pledge tracking through dedicated funds and pledges module
- Built-in nonprofit chart of accounts
- Bank feed connection
- Check printing feature
- Invoicing and billing functions
- Payroll processing and payroll tax filing
- Online donations and contributions management
- Household and individual membership management
- Child check-in for Sunday schooling and other activities for children
IconCMO Overview
Why We Choose IconCMO
IconCMO provides a family-based pricing system unlike other software providers listed in this guide. Churches with few families don’t need to pay a fixed monthly fee regardless of congregation size. As the congregation grows, the pricing increases as well. Aside from scalability, IconCMO offers more extensive church management features than Aplos, such as Child Check-in and Allergy Tracking.
Wave: Best Free Accounting Software for Small Churches to Track Income & Expenses
Pros
- Accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning features are free
- Offers affordable self- and full-service payroll packages
- Connect to bank and credit card accounts
- Offers an assisted bookkeeping option (Wave Advisors)
Cons
- Lacks church management features
- No budgeting features
- No way to account for multiple funds
- Cannot track income and expenses by program service
Wave Features
- Free for unlimited users
- Easy-to-learn user interface
- Invoice and bill creation
- Bank feed connection
- Basic financial reports
Wave Overview
Why We Choose Wave
Wave is a free option for churches with very few revenue sources. If your church only needs to keep track of income and expenses, Wave’s features are enough. We recommend choosing Wave if your church doesn’t need complex accounting features and you don’t have multiple program services that you want to track separately.
How We Evaluated Church Accounting Software
We evaluated financial and accounting software for churches based on price and how they meet the needs of small- to medium-sized churches, such as tracking donations. We prioritized systems tailored for use by churches and took into account the flexibility that general-use software can give an experienced bookkeeper. Finally, we considered a software’s ability to integrate with church management software.
10% of Overall Score
We compared the pricing plans of each church accounting application and ranked it from most affordable to least affordable. In scoring, we considered the price point, number of users, limitations on transactions, and overall affordability of the software for churches.
20% of Overall Score
20% of Overall Score
Church accounting software must have church-specific features that can help administrators manage the day-to-day operations and long-term plans of the church. In evaluating church features, we considered the following:
- Fund accounting features, such as creating and managing funds
- Donation and pledge tracking by members
- Recurring donations
- Reporting features, such as printing nonprofit financial reports
- Congregation management features, such as member profiles, church activity tracker, and event scheduler
30% of Overall Score
Our major focus for ease of use was customer support and assisted bookkeeping options. We also considered payroll and online payment integration, as long as it was not through a third-party app. Overall, we also gave a score for subjective ease of use based on the overall experience when navigating and using the software.
20% of Overall Score
Our expert analysis score is based on the overall experience of the software, from its general accounting features to specific church management features.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a church accounting system?
A church accounting system is software that helps churches manage contributions, donations, and grants. It can also be used to track income and expenses from fundraising events, generate nonprofit reports, and account for the daily administrative costs of the church. Church accounting is unique because it must utilize fund accounting, which separates funds available to the church for general and specific purposes.
Which version of QuickBooks is best for churches?
QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced are the two plans that can be configured for church accounting. Moreover, QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit is the desktop counterpart if you prefer desktop accounting software.
What financial statements do churches use?
Churches aren’t for-profit entities, so the financial statements are different, at least in the naming. The profit and loss (P&L) statement for churches is called the Statement of Activities and the balance sheet for churches is called the Statement of Financial Position. Churches and nonprofit entities also have a special financial statement called the Statement of Functional Expenses.
Bottom Line
There are various factors to consider when choosing the best church accounting software, including your church’s budget, size, and unique needs. While every software program on this list is worth using, we recommend Aplos because of its robust, flexible, and easy-to-use features for church accounting. If your church wants to focus more on the accounting side, we recommend QuickBooks Online or QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit.
Small churches can start with Wave because it’s free, even if it cannot track separate funds but has unlimited users. On the contrary, Xero is a perfect paid alternative to Wave if you still want to have unlimited users. If your church needs an affordable payroll add-on, IconCMO is the best choice. For robust congregation management features, we recommend PowerChurch Plus because of its outstanding member profiles and church management functions.