Simple Church Accounting Software

Church accounting software is an online bookkeeping platform that helps churches and other faith-based organizations manage their day-to-day finances. It can help treasurers track donations and other income, manage ministry and operating expenses, monitor budgets and fund balances, reconcile accounts, and generate financial reports for church leaders and members.

MoneyMinder is church accounting software built specifically for small churches and volunteer treasurers. It uses simple cash-based accounting, is easy to use, and keeps financial records organized from one treasurer to the next.

The best accounting software for a small church is easy to use, affordable, and capable of handling everyday church bookkeeping. Look for options that can track donations and expenses, manage budget and fund balances, reconcile accounts, generate financial reports, and keep records organized for smoother treasurer transitions.

Many small churches find that business accounting software is too complicated and expensive. MoneyMinder is purpose-built for small, volunteer-led organizations. Its simple cash-based accounting system makes it easy for the volunteer treasurer to manage church finances, even if they don’t have formal accounting experience. 

A small church should manage all income and expenses in one accounting system, with transactions categorized by purpose and supported by receipts or other documentation. Treasurers should regularly reconcile the church’s records with its bank accounts and provide financial reports to church leaders and members regularly to foster transparency and trust.

No, you don’t need accounting experience to use MoneyMinder. MoneyMinder was built for volunteer treasurers, not professional accountants. MoneyMinder uses cash-based accounting, an easy-to-understand method that records money when it’s received or spent, not when it’s promised. MoneyMinder also offers help documentation, how-to videos, and a QuickStart Guide to get church group treasurers get started and get the most from the platform.

QuickBooks is general-purpose accounting software built for businesses. Although some churches do use it to manage their finances, it wasn’t built for the unique needs of churches and it can be difficult to learn for volunteers without formal accounting experience. Church accounting software, on the other hand, is purpose-built for volunteer treasurers at faith-based organizations. 

MoneyMinder is church accounting software that offers simple cash-based bookkeeping, without complicated accounting terminology and extra features small churches don’t actually need. Volunteer treasurers can track donations, expenses, budgets, and fund balances, reconcile accounts, and generate financial reports without formal accounting experience.

Yes. When you set up a contact as a donor in MoneyMinder, you can track each donation and either set up an email template to send each time they donate, or create an acknowledgement letter / receipt for their entire year's donation. The IRS requires a written acknowledgement for any single gift of $250 or more.

Yes. MoneyMinder can track church donations, offerings, and other income so treasurers have a clear record of money coming into the church. Transactions from connected banks and payment platforms can be imported into MoneyMinder, and donations made by cash or check can be recorded in minutes. 

Churches can also use the built-in MoneyMinder Store, powered by Cheddar Up, to accept donations and other payments online. MoneyMinder includes the Cheddar Up Team Edition, which offers some of the lowest processing fees available to small churches.

Yes. MoneyMinder can help churches track restricted, designated, and reserved funds separately from general operating money. Treasurers can create categories for funds such as building projects, missions, youth programs, or other specific purposes, then assign related income and expenses to the appropriate category.

MoneyMinder’s Treasurer’s Report makes it easy to see how much money has come into each fund, how much has been spent, and how much remains available.

Yes. Record each member's pledge and see how much has been given toward it throughout the year. At year-end, giving statements show each donor what they've given, so they have a record for tax time and can see how they're tracking against their pledge.

Yes. Any church group with its own budget or bank account can keep its own books in MoneyMinder, separate from the church's general fund.

Small churches and faith-based organizations can collect donations and payments in a variety of ways. MoneyMinder can help these groups keep track of it all. 

The built-in MoneyMinder Store, powered by Cheddar Up, gives MoneyMinder users a free Cheddar Up Team Edition. It offers low processing fees and a convenient way to collect donations and other payments online. You can also import Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Venmo transactions into your books. Payments collected through other platforms can also be easily imported, and cash and checks can be quickly recorded manually.

MoneyMinder makes it easy to hand off the books to the next church treasurer. Financial records, transaction history, reports, and supporting documents are all stored in one place. Once the new treasurer is granted the appropriate access, they can quickly get up to speed and continue using the same church bookkeeping system established by the predecessors.

Yes. MoneyMinder supports multi-user access at no extra cost. Add church leaders, finance committee members, and financial reviewers with role-based permissions so each person can access the right information – nothing more and nothing less. The treasurer can maintain full edit access while other leaders and reviewers have read-only access.

With a 30-day trial, you get access to all of the features of MoneyMinder, including bank and merchant account integration and setting up your Cheddar Up online store for payment collection. There are a few exceptions. The ability to e-file your tax forms is only available with paid accounts. Also, you can’t send statements to users during your trial. However, you can send them to your administrator email to test the feature.

There’s no credit card needed to start your trial. If you decide to continue after 30 days, there are a few easy ways to pay.

Start your free trial.

When you’re a MoneyMinder customer, you’re never on your own. Thousands of volunteer-led groups use MoneyMinder, including plenty of small churches like yours. So chances are we’ve helped someone with the same question or issue you have. 

Our Help Center has answers to common questions, step-by-step guidance, and a “Getting Started” section for free trials and new paid accounts. If you still need help, our team is available by email, phone, and live chat to get you where you need to be. Visit our contact page to get in touch.