I've been tasked with selecting a new software program for the office and I'm wondering what you all use. I need a full program that includes a directory, budgeting, check writing, bill paying and payroll as well as pledges, contributions, etc. We have had Shepherd's Staff for over a decade and have not been happy with their finance program. I'm looking at ChurchPro, among others, and so far it looks like the best.

Any suggestions? What do you use and why do you like it? What do you not like about it?

Sunnye

Quickbooks is the way to go for the financial part of it. My church went to that in Jan 2010 and I absolutely love it. One nice thing about Quickbooks is that they have proadvisors listed on their website according to location and you can find one in your area. I used mine frequently the first month, to make sure I was understanding things.

I strongly urge you NOT   to get Membership Plus 11 - It is a disaster of a program and has more problems than it is worth.

I am currently looking at church management systems myself and have a couple that I am investigating myself and haven't decided which one yet. I am looking at Power Church and Church Helpmate 2010.

If you go to ecfa.org/TopicDisplay.aspx?PageName=SoftwareVendors it has a good article on what to look of in Church Management systems. There is also a link at the bottom of the page of a comparison chart of all the various programs out there and what they can and can't do. It is a very through document.

http://www.ecfa.org/Documents/SoftwareVendorChart_List_2009.pdf - OK I decided to include the comparison chart link here for you also. Happy Hunting.

We also use this program.  I like it.

QuickBooks gives you the option to use online banking and I have chosen not to use it. I enter everything manually. I know when I set it up it gave me the option and when I talked to my pro-adviser she said that most do not use the online banking option, they prefer to have more control over what happens with their books.

I found QuickBooks really easy to use. I set up everything from scratch and have a good handle on how it works and have only used it since February 2010. I would not turn back to anything else at this point. It is very user friendly and very easy to manage. Go to www.quickbooks.com and find a pro-adviser in your area and ask all the questions you need before you decide. They offer excellent help.

Thanks Jiff for the additional encouragement concerning Helpmate.  That is the one I chose and submitted a proposal to the church board. I'll see what happens next week.