Some months ago I saw posted on a message board that some churches were using an accounting software made for farmers. Farm accounting program that works for churches? Really? Only $75/year? This sounds way too good to be true. In the video below, I check it out for the first time.
First Impression
It feels like a program from the early 2000’s. With so many programs moving to the cloud or apps, this will feel like a program you used when you were 15 years younger. I noticed this right from the installation process when you have to click “Next” about 20 or more times. That this PcMars feels like a throwback isn’t a bad thing. I like the familiarity…nostalgia. More practically, I like that I’m not going to have to worry about not being able to do my work when the internet is down.
The other thing that hit me is that this is going to take some work to learn. I’m used to QuickBooks. It seems like a lot of accounting programs are attempting to copy the feel and functionality of QuickBooks or QuickBooks Online. PcMars has not made that a priority. This may slow the learning curve for anyone used to QuickBooks.
What I really like about PcMars
Price: I love the price. $75/year is phenomenal. Even the add-ins for payroll and accounts payable might boost the price to $145/year. I’m not sure these add-ins would even be required for most churches that just want accurate accounting records.
Made for Churches: I love that PcMars has a church setup option. Unlike QuickBooks, you are not going to have to force it to fit your church. This is farm accounting software that they have spent a lot of time to also make it fit a church well. The video is about 20 minutes long, but you can see that I get a lot setup for a church because of how easy they make it.
Freedom to Change: I really like that everything seems easily customizable. I could quickly change beginning balances or account names without a struggle. PcMars did not spend a lot of time locking everything down to protect the accounting records from users.
What I would need to learn more about
Budgeting: I know this is possible, I just couldn’t find it easily. I would like to see what the budgeting looks like.
Multiple Users: In a number of churches, you have one person keeping the donor records and another keeping the accounting records. I could not tell how multiple users would work unless you use the same computer. It looks like the data files are locally saved. Possible you could point the data files towards a folder in Dropbox? Maybe PcMars already has a ready solution.
Donor Records: It looks like you can easily enter in the Sunday offering and recording the donors and if there is a donor restriction. What I can’t see is how you could do donor statements or some kind of report to see who your top givers are.
Conclusion
Off the cuff, this feels perfect for small to medium churches. I’m tempted to take more time to try it out. It looks like you could keep the books for multiple churches with PcMars which might be nice for a two or three point charge. I’m going to make up some criteria for a church that would likely find PcMars a good solution:
- Still hand write checks?
- 100 or less in average worship attendance?
- Treasurer is 45 years old or older?
- Concerned about costs but want accurate records and reports?
If those four statements describe your church, I would check out PcMars today.
Useful Links
- PcMars: https://pcmars.com/