vestry choosing quickbooks

[maviszook]

I have been volunteering to do accounting at an Episcopal Church that was ruptured. We had PowerChurch v.9, I entered in, and I have come to learn accounting and love this program and this forum. Our new vestry is unfamiliar with PowerChurch and wants us to move to QuickBooks. This is alarming me; I have come to appreciate the fund accounting, contributions, and donor restriction aspects. (I don't deal with the membership module much.) At present we have 5 funds and about a dozen donor temporarily restricted accounts.

My question is: is QuickBooks feasible? Can I transfer my accounting gracefully? What will I lose or gain?

[JohnDMeyers]

Short answer - Quickbooks doesn't speak the language of the church accounting system. It will feel like fitting a square peg into a round hole.

That said, the smaller the amount of contributors and activity in the church, the easier the transition will be. The larger the amount of contributors and activity, the more confusing the process will become.

Also, you're going from a double-entry system to a "check-book" scenario. You will lose a degree of accounting integrity because you no longer have the permanence of a general ledger.

To demonstrate my point that the degree of activity in the church will determine the degree of difficulty in making the transition, I will use my situation as an example:

We grew from a single-service church with a homeschooling enrichment program, to a church with 4 services (at four locations) with a homeschooling enrichment program, a for-profit business (our church has a par-3 community golf course on the grounds), and a college ministry supported from an endowment.

We do all of this with a bookkeeper who works 24 hours PER MONTH, and keeps it all running smoothly. (I volunteer about 4 hours per month as the overseeing deacon).

No way quickbooks could keep up with all that, with the efficiency that we are experiencing with an accounting program that "speaks our language".

[NeilZ]

Don't forget the integration with Membership and Contributions. One program does it all, you don't need to have three separate programs to handle church data.

[sherry_heath]

Quick Books cannot do serious Fund Accounting. You will regret the change.