Exploring Alternatives To QuickBooks For Churches

Managing church finances effectively is essential for transparency, stewardship, and the ability to fulfill the church’s mission. Many churches turn to QuickBooks for accounting, but is it truly the best option? In this article, we’ll explore whether QuickBooks is well-suited for church accounting and if there are any feasible alternatives.

Why Churches Choose QuickBooks

QuickBooks is a popular accounting software, widely used by businesses and nonprofits worldwide; so it somehow makes sense for many churches to adopt it due to its reputation, and strong feature set.

QuickBooks  offers standard financial management tools such as income and expense tracking, payroll processing, invoicing, and financial reporting. For churches that need a structured system to manage their finances, QuickBooks provides a solid foundation.

Automation is another appealing feature that QuickBooks offers. Tasks like recurring bill payments, donor contribution tracking, and bank reconciliations help churches save time and reduce manual bookkeeping efforts.

However, while QuickBooks provides powerful accounting tools, it isn’t specifically designed for churches and is more tailored for businesses. This can create certain challenges that impact how effectively a church manages its finances, because church accounting simply works differently from that of a business. You can read more about this in our guide on Accounting For Churches.

QuickBooks Challenges In Church Accounting

If you got here because you are looking for an alternative to QuickBooks  for Churches, then you might already experience some of the challenges we’ll be exploring below.

There Is No Fund Accounting

Since QuickBooks is primarily built for businesses rather than churches, it lacks a critical component of church accounting – fund accounting. This feature helps, for example, to track designated donations separately from the general budget. While QuickBooks can be customized to handle this, it requires complex workarounds that are less intuitive and require someone who masters QuickBooks  to handle this properly. If you don’t have an expert and need support handling this process, you need to pay an additional $50/month for their Live Expert Assisted service to have it done.

It’s Expensive

Cost is another factor that many churches struggle with. While QuickBooks Online offers various pricing tiers, expenses rise significantly when additional users are needed. Many churches rely on volunteers or multiple staff members to manage finances, making QuickBooks an expensive option for expanding teams.

It’s Complex

QuickBooks has a steep learning curve, especially for church staff and volunteers without an accounting background. The business-oriented structure can make it difficult to track tithes, offerings, and restricted funds without significant customization and training.

Features Are Being Discontinued

Another important challenge is the evolving nature of QuickBooks’ features and support. QuickBooks has discontinued support of its Desktop version and has announced the discontinuation of its Tags feature in March 2025. For churches relying on this tool for transaction categorization, this could disrupt their current financial processes.

Support Is Less Accessible

QuickBooks provides customer support via live chat, call back, or appointment; which can be frustrating when you just need to talk to someone to get through a difficulty.

ChMeetings As A Strong Alternative To QuickBooks  For Churches

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Dedicated Church Management Systems, such as ChMeetings, are designed specifically for churches, offering financial tools that align with church management needs. Here is why ChMeetings may be a suitable church accounting software:

Fund Accounting Is Built-In

Unlike QuickBooks, which is primarily business-focused, ChMeetings’ Accounting module is tailored for church finances, providing built-in fund accounting, allowing churches to track designated funds easily. This ensures transparency and compliance with donor intentions.

It’s Packed With Essential Features

Besides Fund Accounting, ChMeetings allows churches to manage transactions, attach documents, create budgets, perform reconciliation, manage contribution deposits, link bank accounts, print checks, or generate accounting reports. These are essential to church accounting, but ChMeetings turns them into intuitive tasks that can be performed easily, even by non-accountants. Learn more.

It’s Affordable

Another significant advantage of ChMeetings is its affordability. Unlike QuickBooks, which increases in cost as more users are added, ChMeetings offers pricing plans that accommodate churches of various sizes without excessive fees. This makes it a cost-effective solution for churches working with tight budgets. Accounting is available starting with our Small Plan, at $25/month or $250/year.

It’s A Fully-Fledged, All-In One Church Management System

Beyond accounting, ChMeetings is an all-in-one church management system (ChMS). It includes tools for event planning, member management, attendance tracking, communication, or a free mobile app, making it more than just an accounting solution. Churches can centralize their administrative tasks within a single system, improving efficiency and coordination. Here’s a comprehensive list of the features you get with ChMeetings.

It’s User-Friendly

ChMeetings is also designed with ease of use in mind. Church staff and volunteers can quickly learn how to navigate the platform without requiring extensive training or a background in accounting. Additionally, mobile accessibility through the ChMeetings app allows church leaders to manage finances and church activities from anywhere.

Other Alternatives

Church leaders need an accounting solution that works for them right from the start—without the hassle of complicated setups or business-focused features that require extensive modifications. The last thing a church finance team needs is to spend valuable time learning a system only to struggle with adapting it to track donations, tithes, and designated funds properly – a fairly simple task, technically speaking.

There are plenty of accounting programs specifically designed for churches that make financial management much easier. You’ll find some options in Capterra’s Church Accounting Shortlist. This list is topped by ChMeetings, as recommended by 96% of Capterra users, at the time of writing. Still, doing your research and being informed on what’s available out there is always worth it. When comparing, focus on essential features like adding transactions, the ability to attach receipts or documents, budgeting, reconciliation and seamless bank imports. Most importantly, be wary of extra fees for customer support, steep monthly rates, or expensive onboarding costs. These are warning signs that the software may be more trouble than it’s worth.

Final Thoughts

While QuickBooks is a well-known accounting tool, its business-centric nature presents challenges for churches. Its lack of built-in fund accounting, high costs for multiple users, and complex setup make it less than ideal for many congregations. The discontinuation of features and less accessible support further add to the difficulties of using QuickBooks for church accounting.

ChMeetings, on the other hand, offers a church-specific solution with built-in fund accounting, cost-effective pricing, and comprehensive church management tools. Its ease of use and church-specific features make it a strong alternative for churches looking for a solution that aligns with their financial and operational needs.

If you are seeking a dedicated and budget-friendly ChMS, ChMeetings is a viable alternative to QuickBooks, helping ministries focus on their mission without the complexities of business-oriented accounting software. We even move your QuickBooks data into ChMeetings for free if you sign up to any paid plan. Here is how it works.

FAQ for QuickBooks for Churches

1. Is QuickBooks a good choice for church accounting?

QuickBooks is a powerful accounting tool, but it is primarily designed for businesses rather than churches. While it can handle general accounting tasks, it lacks built-in fund accounting, which is essential for churches to track designated donations separately. Churches that use QuickBooks often need to create workarounds to properly manage their financial records.

2. Can churches use QuickBooks for fund accounting?

QuickBooks does not offer fund accounting out of the box, which can make it challenging for churches to track funds like tithes, missions, and building funds. While some churches customize QuickBooks using classes or tags to mimic fund accounting, these methods require extra effort and may not provide the same level of financial clarity as church-specific accounting software. Moreover, QuickBooks is discontinuing the tags feature, further complicating the process.

3. How much does QuickBooks cost for churches?

QuickBooks Online has tiered pricing, starting at around $35 per month for the most basic plan. However, costs increase significantly when adding more users or accessing advanced features. Many churches find QuickBooks expensive, especially compared to alternatives that offer unlimited users at lower rates. Additionally, QuickBooks charges extra for payroll and certain integrations.

4. Is QuickBooks Desktop still available for churches?

No, QuickBooks has discontinued support for its Desktop version. Churches that previously relied on QuickBooks Desktop will need to transition to QuickBooks Online or another accounting solution. This shift has led some churches to explore alternatives that better fit their needs.

5. What are the benefits of using QuickBooks for church accounting?

While QuickBooks may not be designed specifically for churches, it does offer several advantages that some churches find useful:

• Robust Accounting Features – QuickBooks provides a full suite of accounting tools, including income and expense tracking, bank reconciliation, invoicing, and financial reporting.
• Familiarity – Many accountants and bookkeepers are already familiar with QuickBooks, making it easier to find financial professionals who can assist with church finances.
• Cloud-Based Access – With QuickBooks Online, church staff and finance teams can manage financial data from anywhere, which is especially useful for remote or multi-campus churches.
• Integration Options – QuickBooks integrates with many third-party tools, including some church management systems (ChMS) and donation platforms, although this often requires additional setup.
• Automation – Features like recurring transactions, automatic bank feeds, and payroll processing can help streamline financial management.
• Detailed Financial Reporting – QuickBooks allows churches to generate reports for budgeting, expense tracking, and financial planning.

6. What are the biggest drawbacks of using QuickBooks for churches?

While some churches, especially large ones, find Quickbooks beneficial, there are some significant drawbacks as well:

• No built-in fund accounting – Churches must create workarounds to track designated funds.
• High costs – Adding users and accessing essential features can be expensive.
• Feature discontinuation – QuickBooks frequently removes or changes features, such as the removal of the Tags feature in March 2025.
• Limited customer support – QuickBooks provides limited support, which can make it difficult for churches to get timely assistance.
• Steep learning curve – Volunteers and staff without accounting backgrounds may find QuickBooks complicated to use.

7. Should my church switch from QuickBooks to another accounting software?

If your church struggles with QuickBooks’ limitations, high costs, or lack of fund accounting, it may be time to consider an alternative. Church-specific software like ChMeetings can simplify financial management while providing tools tailored to church operations. Before making a switch, evaluate your church’s needs and compare features to find the best fit.

8. Can QuickBooks track church donations?

QuickBooks can track donations, but it does not offer church-specific donor management features. While you can categorize contributions and generate reports, QuickBooks does not handle pledge tracking, contribution statements, or donor engagement as effectively as church-specific software. Many churches supplement QuickBooks with additional donor management tools, but this adds complexity and cost.

9. How does ChMeetings compare to QuickBooks for church accounting?

Unlike QuickBooks, ChMeetings is designed specifically for churches. It offers true fund accounting, donation tracking, and church management features in a single platform. ChMeetings is also more affordable, as it does not charge extra for additional users or advanced features. For churches seeking an all-in-one solution, ChMeetings is a strong alternative to QuickBooks.

10. Is It Difficult To Switch From QuickBooks To ChMeetings?

Not at all. At least we want to make it so for your church. Follow our guide to Transitioning From Quickbooks and feel free to contact our team and request our free data migration service. It’s available for all churches signing up for a paid ChMeetings plan.