First of all, let me stress that every church or nonprofit organization should be tracking and recording their contributions and expenses!

 

Your bank statements are not enough. You can not make good financial decisions looking at a bank statement. You need a simple but effective accounting system that will generate the reports you need to make sound financial decisions, and you will need to produce at least an income statement and a balance sheet if you ever have to borrow money,

 

Secondly, let me state that complex and elaborate accounting systems that produce reports on everything including the kitchen sink are not always the best system either. If it takes a month to teach a new staff member how to use it...it is not an efficient system. Sadly, you may end up with an unusable accounting system somewhere down the road if something unexpected happens to the only person that knows how to use the elaborate system.

 

So keep it super simple!

 

See more tips on effective accounting systems...