Managing parish and ministry details can take a considerable amount of time. If the administrative software and tools are integrated and all work together within a complete church management solution, your parish staff will be able to further the Church’s mission with much less operational burden.
Ease-of-use consistently ranks as the most important purchase criteria for church software among faith-based organizations. Integrated church management software (ChMS) is one critical way to simplify parish operations. With a complete ChMS, you’ll have what you need for your ministry to run smoothly. From tracking people and finances to communication and safety.
What is complete church management software?
Church management software (ChMS) is computer technology created specifically for parishes, so administrators, clergy, staff, and volunteers have the necessary tools to engage their community, stay organized, and expand as the parish grows.
With a complete ChMS that integrates with other parish software, staff will be able to streamline the behind-the-scenes administrative work. Rather than having siloed platforms for membership, online giving, accounting, communications, and security, a complete church management solution cohesively ties all the tasks into one system. This means fewer logins and passwords to remember, and more importantly, all the tools work together. A simple way to put it is that these programs “talk” to each other. Information is synced automatically, so inputting it doesn’t have to be done repeatedly.
We are going to view one aspect of complete church management—accounting. A good church management system is designed with online donations, accounting, and pledges in mind. Parishioners can go online, make their commitment known, connect their debit card, and donate without hassle.
Integrated Accounting Software
Fiscal responsibility, especially for parishes, is essential. Having accounting software that can handle the unique finances of a parish is necessary to maximize ministry opportunities and remain compliant when tax season comes around. The software found in a complete ChMS includes features like tracking tithes and offerings, clergy and staff payroll, and calculation of necessary taxes. It also makes reporting easy, as well as viewing pledges and sending giving statements to parishioners.
Below, we will discuss three benefits of integrated accounting within your all-in-one church management system.
1. Incorporate Financials with Your ChMS
Having a parish accounting system integrated with your ChMS and your online giving is critical. It will help streamline all the complicated processes with managing parish finances and save your team valuable time by having one system in place for multiple functions.
Reduce the number of errors caused by manual data input. Reconcile contributions and receipts with online giving and accounting. Track parishioners and their donations in one, easy-to-use system.
2. Stay on Top of Your Budget
Budgeting is crucial to successfully stewarding finances. With a parish accounting system integrated with your ChMS and giving platform, your general ledger will be able to do true fund accounting and track where funds are coming in and how they are being used.
Pledges help parishes plan wisely. They’re used to help estimate the budget based on what amount people commit to donate. Plus, you can incorporate a pledge section directly on your giving form. From there, parishioners can easily set up recurring giving that aligns with their pledge frequency—weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
With a cloud-based accounting platform, donations are tracked in real time. This will help your finance team gain a better idea of how to anticipate increases or declines in giving.
3. Easily Send Giving Statements
Providing giving statements to donors can help update parishioners about the progress of your parish’s vision. You get to emphasize the mission and impact that your organization is having on the community. It’s a comprehensive way to show how donated funds are being used. It’s also a great opportunity to thank donors. Build greater trust with parishioners by showing transparency among parish operations and finances.
Because parish accounting, online giving, and member data are all a cohesive part of the complete church management system, collecting reports for giving statements is simple. You’ll also be able to easily track who has given what amount and then send them an update to their address or email on file.
Church Management and Accounting
Your staff works hard to serve the people in your parish and community. Now, you can make it easier for them with a complete church management system.
ParishSOFT will streamline your processes to free up more capacity for ministry to take place. If you want to see how integrated ChMS and accounting can help your parish, contact us today!
