Outsourcing accounting vs. in-house accounting

[Amy]

I've been thrust into the position of church secretary/finance person and am feeling quite overwhelmed...especially when I think of all the stuff like unemployment, taxes, payroll, social security, disability and the rest of the laws that dictate what needs to be done, what needs to be filed and when.

I'm beginning to wonder if outsourcing all the accounting stuff is a better idea. Does anyone have any experience with an outside accountant? Or, will PowerChurch cover all this stuff?

[karen]

I've been using PC+ for over 15 years. I have never had computer training, nor do I have any education in financial accounting. This is the easiest, most user-friendly program I've seen. You may want to find a tech person to get you set up (there may be someone locally who is familiar with PC+) but you should really not have much of a problem keeping it going. The program does most of the work. You may want to ask tech support here if they can recommend someone - at one point I think they provided references for people who had been trained on the software. But really, if I can learn it, you can too! Once it's set up, you can easily maintain it. And no, I'm not getting paid for this ad!

Depending on the size of your staff, and the way your church is set up (corporately), some of the things you're worrying about may not apply. You may want to visit www.churchlawtoday.com and see the resources there.

[Dish-Man]

Amy, I believe if you call PowerChurch, they can tell you of other churches in your area that use the program. You can also take classes in PowerChurch Software or pay a consultant to come to your place.

I didn't see your location. If you are in Hawaii, I could be "bribed" to come and help!

[foxygramps]

Amy, outsource the payroll and income tax stuff if you must, being sure that the outside accountant will use power church, but ALL the rest you can do yourself.
That includes membership, contributions, Accounting, and any of the other modules that you need.
Once its set up properly, the contributions and acounting modules are no brainers. The manual is very complete and easy to work with, and these forums will answer any questions you might have.

Foxygramps (IN HAWAII)