Top 10 Features to Look For In a Church Accounting Software: Managing the finances of a church is a huge responsibility. You have to be certain that the calculations are accurate and record-keeping is apt. Churches have to prepare their finances for accounting boards which leaves financial managers with some wishes when it comes to accounting software. I had to do budgeting for 3 months to prepare myself for affording Spectrum Internet customer service and bookkeeping wasn’t nearly as simple as I thought.
Accounting is tough. Hence, it’s imperative to invest in an accounting software that makes the job of the bookkeeper easy and helps drive the mission of the church forward.
Top 10 Features to Look For In a Church Accounting Software
Table of Contents
Let’s help you out in choosing a church accounting software.
1: Flexible Reporting
What’s the point of using a software if it can’t help you organize the numbers in the form of a report that illustrates its meaning?
The numbers generated by the software are easy for a financial officer to understand but not to a layman or church authorities. Hence, look for software that allows you to report the financial information and customize these reports for everyone’s understanding.
2: Accessibility
Even churches are operating remotely to help flatten COVID’s curve. It would help to use a program that allows users to access financial information from anywhere. This will allow the bookkeeper to complete the tasks from their home using their Internet connection.
3: Forecasting
Budgeting for the future is something every organization does, even a church. This is to ensure the organization’s financial survival. Calculating potential income for the following year isn’t enough. It’s important to determine the expenses, project funding, and craft short and long-term financial plans.
This calls for having a church accounting software with robust forecasting abilities. Look for a software that helps with monthly and yearly budging, track income and expense, and comes with some planning tools.
4: Advanced Accounting Features
Go for a software that does more than typical accounting. Look for the one that offers key features which can benefit churches in particular. Here are some examples of advanced features:
- Asset tracking
- Donations
- Accounts payable & receivable
- Deployment
- Payroll management
- Integrations
- Support
5: Automating Functions
Having automated key functions is a must. These functions allow the financial manager to automate processes like creating custom billing codes. These codes ensure accurate billings.
Once the cumbersome processes are automated, you can create batch invoices, this will save so much time and money for general billing needs.
6: Ease of Use
Accounting programs are generally complex. But that doesn’t mean you have the ticket to neglect ease of use. Look for software with an easy-to-use interface and overall great features. Even if it’s a little complex, there must be enough training material available to help your bookkeeper or financial manager understand the program. This will ensure the program can be adjusted based on the church’s needs.
7: Event Management
Churches have to organize events time and again. It would be cool if you are able to find an accounting software that also helps with event management. With the event planning feature, it will become easier to manage and organize physical and online venues.
8: Support and Training
In the beginning, the accounting software chosen will be confusing to use. This makes it mandatory to choose software with a detailed knowledge base to help users get familiar with the installation, setup, and software usage.
It would help to have access to live support services. This way, whenever your financial manager gets stuck, they can reach out to a representative for help.
9: Organization Features
Do look for organization features like online payments, bill management, and expense categorization in your church accounting software. These features will make bookkeeping a lot easier and save so much time.
10: Security
Last but not least, the church accounting software chosen must be secure to use. Churches deal with sensitive information. No church would want its financial info to fall in the wrong hands.
A top feature to look for in the accounting software is the ability to limit user access. This feature will allow the church to choose which computer can access data and block all unauthorized access.
There goes the list of the must-have features to look for in accounting software to organize the finances of your church.
