Using Quickbooks Online at Your Church

More and more software programs are becoming available online or 'in the cloud'. Currently, there are several popular services like Google Docs or now Microsoft Office Web Apps that make working in the cloud advantageous. Recently, Intuit unveiled Quickbooks Online which allows an organization to manage their books, run reports and more online. Now those who keep track of the church's finances and books can do so in the cloud.

While this option won't be practical for every church there are several reasons it could useful:

• Multiple people can work on the church's books without having to email or share files.
• Backups of the books and updates to the software are automatic and require no work for the user.
• A CPA could have access and be able to view them at any time.

Of course there are some scenarios where quickbooks online would not be a practical solution, including:

• A bigger church with a lot of information to manage
• A church that needs access to several of the more advanced options since they are not available in the online version.
• Quickbooks online is not cheaper than the desktop software. Unless your church is small enough to use Quickbooks Online Basic, which has basic features but is free.

So take these items into consideration the next time you look at upgrading you accounting software and you may be able to excite your bookkeeper. It's exciting to see more and more companies offer online versions of their desktop software.