Your elder board deserves to understand the numbers.

FaithLedger works with any accounting system — QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Aplos, Realm, PowerChurch, or plain spreadsheets. You don’t submit a file or export; you simply enter your totals by category into our online form. Your bookkeeper can pull the numbers from whatever system your church already uses.

Every monthly report includes six sections: (1) a Year-to-Date Snapshot showing how your cumulative giving and expenses compare to your annual plan; (2) an Elder Board Brief with four key metrics — giving, spending, surplus or deficit, and operating reserves — plus a “One Thing to Know” summary; (3) a Giving & Income Summary with a table and bar chart showing actual vs. budget by category; (4) a Ministry Expense Summary with a table and bar chart by ministry area; (5) a Fund Balances & Targeted Goals section with a progress chart for each fund and an operating reserves indicator; and (6) Pastor & Elder Talking Points — four plain-language bullet points your pastor or board chair can use to present the financials at the meeting.

The quarterly report is a deeper stewardship document designed for boards that meet every three months. It includes: an Elder Board Brief with six metrics covering both quarterly and year-to-date giving, expenses, and reserves; a Quarterly Stewardship Overview narrative; a Giving & Income Analysis with quarterly performance table and chart plus a year-to-date summary and prior-year comparison; a Ministry Expense Analysis with the same dual structure; a Fund Balances & Progress section showing beginning and ending balances, quarterly change, and year-end goal progress for each fund; and Pastor & Elder Talking Points with five quarterly-voice bullet points. The quarterly report accepts both current-quarter and year-to-date figures for every category, giving your board a full picture of where the church stands at quarter close.

The process takes 10–20 minutes and requires no special preparation. For a monthly report, your bookkeeper enters: the church name and reporting period; actual and budgeted amounts for each giving category (Tithes & Offerings, Designated Gifts, etc.); optional year-to-date giving totals for the YTD Snapshot; actual and budgeted amounts for each ministry expense area; and the current balance and targeted year-end goal for each fund. For a quarterly report, the same categories apply, but four columns are entered per category — quarterly actual, quarterly budget, year-to-date actual, and year-to-date budget — along with prior-year comparison figures and beginning and ending fund balances for the quarter. Your category structure is saved automatically, so returning users only need to enter fresh dollar amounts each period.

Yes — every category is fully customizable. The form comes pre-loaded with standard church categories (Tithes & Offerings, Worship Ministry, General Fund, etc.), but you can rename any of them, remove ones that don’t apply, or add your own — Spanish Ministry, School Reserve, Van Fund, or anything else your church tracks. Your custom category structure is saved automatically and pre-loads the next time you open the form, so you never have to re-enter your setup.

Your church’s financial data is used for one purpose only: generating your report. It is never sold, shared with third parties, used for advertising, or retained beyond what is needed to produce your report. The category structure and fund goals you set up are saved locally in your browser — they do not leave your device. Actual dollar amounts are not stored between sessions. We follow industry-standard security practices for all data submitted through our platform, and we will never use your congregation’s financial information for any purpose other than producing the report you requested.

Reports are typically delivered within 48 hours of data submission. In most cases you will receive your report the same day. We recommend submitting your data within the first week of each month — or within a few days of quarter close — so the report is ready before your board meeting.

Absolutely. There are no contracts or cancellation fees. You can cancel at any time — though we’re confident that once your elders see the first report, you won’t want to.