
Churches and nonprofits face specific regulations that can seem complicated and hard to navigate. To understand today’s rules – from IRS nonprofit compliance to compensation, to retirement – you need specialized help. We would be honored to speak with you regarding your organization’s accounting, payroll and compliance needs. While church payroll may have many similarities to general business payroll, there are a few key differences to keep in mind. Rippling is known for being very user-friendly and offering excellent customer support. The company covers everything from HR to IT, including app and device management.

Perfect for all nonprofits
Its $7.99-per-month Deluxe plan is a desktop app for Windows and Mac with a mobile companion for iOS or Android devices. For churches that manage projects, such as adding facilities to the church campus or responding to natural disasters, Xero’s Established plan offers unique value. It can track project expenses and perform in-depth financial planning for projects. Features include time tracking and reports, budget building and estimates, customized quotes (so donors know the need), cost linking unearned revenue to jobs and projects, and reports that show how every donor dollar is spent.
What is Included in Church Payroll Software?
A few deductions are required by law, such as federal and state taxes (which can vary from one state to the next). The software can also help manage employee time off, comp time, and vacation days and track sick days and other absences. In addition, many payroll software programs offer advanced reporting capabilities, allowing businesses to track employee productivity and identify areas where they can make improvements.

CHURCH FINANCIALS
This guide walks through the best practices for integrating payroll software into a church environment and leveraging it to its full potential. Managing payroll for churches also involves processing various types of payments beyond regular wages. This includes reimbursements for ministry-related expenses, honorariums for guest speakers, and stipends for volunteers.
Compliance
- We will also prepare annual contribution statements for donor tax records.
- Churches that take the time to implement and optimize these tools lay a solid foundation for both administrative excellence and spiritual growth.
- Church payroll is complicated by several unique factors that set it apart from typical business payroll.
- To understand the benefits and drawbacks of exempt vs. non-exempt church employees, it’s essential to first understand what these terms mean.
- You can set rules to automate your church accounting such as rules to automate payments, categorize transactions and auto-charge cards for recurring transactions.
In its most affordable plan, you can create church member and staff profiles and offer a selection of donation methods, devices and even schedules. You can also track donations on giving dashboards, enter and manage donor pledges and manage restricted funds. Its Connect plan further allows churches to engage members in personalized ways.
However, many church-specific features can be a bit difficult to use. Also, the live support from the platform’s HR team is only available as a paid add-on. The main downside of the software is its lack of coverage for employee health insurance benefits. Some competitors on this list have benefits for all states, while Gusto Bookkeeping for Startups only works in 39 of them. Overall, the intuitive dashboard and interface, ease of use, and efficient payroll tools make this a reliable church payroll service. And for many ministries, this is why they turn to a church payroll services provider.
Customize any report to show you any combination of accounts you want to see. Deep dive into your cash flows, profit & loss, investments, debt, asset accounts, and more. Simple or complex, your finances tell you how your business is doing. FreshBooks’ Double-Entry Accounting tools and reports show profitability, cash flow health, and details your spending. Easily track designated funds, such as your missions fund or building fund, to demonstrate to your members that you are stewarding your gifts well.

Our clients rely on our knowledge and expertise, giving them peace of mind that employees and taxes will be paid accurately and on time. Our team will work with you to migrate your data to one of our ACS Technologies accounting solutions and ensure your financial records are accurate. Accounting clean-up services are also available to resolve your financial messes for you. A housing allowance can be a significant tax benefit for clergy, but it needs to be set best payroll service for churches up and documented correctly.