As a Masters of Accounting Student and a devout Christian I spend a lot of time thinking about two things: church and accounting. After working with church accountants for several years I've decided that it is very important for churches to have good accounting software to help them keep track of their invaluable resources. What follows is information that will hopefully be helpful as your church looks for good software.

Does Free Church Accounting Software Exist?

Unfortunately as is human nature, we want to get something for nothing. The good news is that some free accounting software for churches does exist. Even better news is that the software is fairly high quality. The bad news is that it is only free for small churches. Churchtrac will offer their software for free to churches for the first 100 members. After you hit the 100 member mark they will start charging you.

Another free option that exists is Churchradius. With Churchradius you can add as many members as you want without being billed, but their is a catch. They are able to offer their software for free because of the ads that they place on the software. So as you are doing your church accounting, banner ads will be displayed (slightly annoying)

How Much Will I Have to Pay for Quality Software?

Let's say your church advisory staff decides that they are willing to fork out some cash for some quality church accounting software. If you still want to be wise with your money, how much should you be willing to pay?

I will give you some numbers in a second, but first we must classify the different types of software out there. First we have the bare boned church accounting software. This type of software focuses only on the financial numbers of your church (donations, expenses, funds, etc.) Next we have what is beginning to be called "Church Management Software." This type of software has all of the bells and whistles. It can produce calendars for your church, track membership from week to week, and even track member's birthdays. This software does everything including church finances. As you can imagine, church management software is going to cost more than the normal, accounting only software.

Let's get to some raw numbers. Most accounting software packages for churches will cost around $75 to $175 a month. Yes, as seems to be the trend in our day, everything comes with a monthly recurring fee. However, all is not lost with monthly billing. The good news is that you can try out the software on your church for a few months at a relatively low price. If you don't like the software, then you can return it and cancel your monthly fee. This is better than laying down a couple thousand dollars up front and then not liking the software.

Tip: If you want to avoid the monthly billing model, then consider trying the Quickbooks Non Profit Edition. Some churches have complaints about the audit trail that Quickbooks leaves, but for a one time payment of $400 you will be getting some quality software.

Evaluating Your Church's Needs

At the end of the day, you will need to decide what it is that your church needs to succeed. Perhaps repainting the church house will be more important than accounting software for the time being. If that is the case, then use the money on paint. Perhaps you need some software that will track church attendance, birthdays, parties etc. Or maybe you only need something for your churches accounting needs.

Perhaps try writing down on a piece of paper everything you need out of the potential software purchase you are about to make. Then compare this list to the features available on the different software options you are considering. By imploring this method you won't be sucked in by the razzle dazzle advertising and end up with a complex product that you don't want, need, or understand. Another pitfall you will avoid is purchasing software that doesn't have all the necessary features to meet your church's needs.

Feel free to ask me any questions about church accounting software by commenting in the box below.