QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online have quickly become a market leader for small business finances. Their various iterations control nearly 80% of the market share of US businesses, with over 2.5 million subscribers.
But just because QuickBooks works for a local cupcake shop or even a chiropractic franchise doesn’t mean it’s the best option for churches. Here are four reasons why QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online aren’t the best solutions for churches:
QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online Don’t Specialize in Non-Profits
Accounting for non-profits, churches in particular, is different than for regular, for-profit businesses. Churches have different needs, different issues, and different tax considerations. Consider this example: A contractor could use a Prius in his building business, but would he really want to? Wouldn’t a vehicle built for carrying lumber and driving on dirt roads—like a 4×4 pick-up truck—better serve his needs? In the same way, a good Church Management Software package like FellowshipOne is specifically built—from the ground up—just for churches. It’s the right tool for the job.
QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online Aren’t Made for Churches Out-of-the-Box
Out of the box, QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online are for small businesses. It’s solid software, built over time to accomplish its main goal: To become a user-friendly solution for entrepreneurs and small corporations. Sadly, the first thing a church must do when they plan to use Quickbooks is change the way it works. Thick books have been written and hours of online video courses have been recorded touting work-around systems just to get QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online “set up properly” for ministries—even when using the “Not-for-Profit” edition. Instead of wasting time rewriting software functions, churches should find an accounting system created just for their needs.
QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online Don’t Track Donors and Donations Easily
Tracking online and offline giving by individual donors becomes a huge headache with QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online. Imagine tracking donations as “sales,” and having to issue “sales receipts”—or “refund sales” if a check bounces. At FellowshipOne, we’ve seen churches create work-arounds like this…and regret it. The more time a church is anchored in one software solution, the more complicated it gets to dig out of the hole they’ve created. Instead, we recommend churches don’t start digging that hole in the first place!
QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online Doesn’t Integrate Well (If at All) with Other Church Software
Want to build your member database and track check-ins to children’s church, Sunday School and small groups? QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online aren’t made for that at all…so you’ll be using a secondary system to complete your church’s needs. But most likely, that secondary system doesn’t directly integrate with QuickBooks or QuickBooks Online because Intuit’s software is made for completely different purposes. Not so with good Church Management Software like FellowshipOne. We’re built by pastors and leaders with real-life experience in the ministry—so we know the kinds of connections you want to make between your software programs…and all of them are set up by default, right out of the box.
At FellowshipOne, we leverage the power of a true integration between the leading church management software and ShelbyFinancials, the standard in church accounting for over four decades. General ledger, payroll, accounts receivable, and accounts payable are just some of the features and functions available.
Partnering with a financial software solution specifically designed for churches makes accounting fast, easy and GAAP compliant. In addition to being integrated with a great accounting software for churches, FellowshipOne also handles member management, integrated online and offline giving, background checks, mass messaging and more—and it works on any computer with a modern browser.
Click here to schedule a free demo of everything FellowshipOne and Shelby Financials can do for you. We’re convinced once you see how much time our software solution will save you, you’ll be ready to ditch QuickBooks for good.
