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The church mailing list is kept in a word processing mail merge document. Giving records are entered into a popular database program. The general ledger is kept on a widely-used, inexpensive financial program. Sounds like an up-to-date, technically-savvy church, doesn't it?

Think again. In this real-life example, each of these three functions is managed by a different person. The tithes and offerings are totaled in one program, then the deposit is recorded in another. When the Jones family moves, two people need to update their records, hopefully using the same new address.

Is your church doing business like this? If so, it's time to integrate your software. While standalone programs may serve individual needs, nothing serves your whole church better than an integrated church management system (CMS). Here are nine reasons why you should integrate now.

1. Address the unique needs of church management. CMS providers help tens of thousands of churches with their administrative needs, so they have the experience to help you, too.

"Products like our Membership Plus Deluxe integrate membership tracking, contributions, scheduling, member directories, fund accounting, and much, much more," says Britt Edwards of Findex. "It's designed solely for the church by people who thoroughly understand the needs of the church."

Even if you use an off-the-shelf accounting package, Edwards says, "You still have to use another product or a manual system to manage the membership side of the church."

2. Membership and accounting are integrated. While separate packages might appeal to you because you're already familiar with them, there are benefits to a combined suite.

"Most secular packages have integration among the financial modules, but the advantage of CMS packages is the integration with the entire database," says Frank Canady of Shelby Systems.

3. Customized reports. Integrated software can create reports using data from several different modules.

"You can create new fields and reports; plus, you can combine information from all of the modules into a single report," says Maureen Wygant of Church Windows/Computer Helper. For example, in a few keystrokes you can put together a list of everyone who attended and contributed at least three times in the first half of the year, but have neither attended nor contributed in the last month.

4. Designed for fund accounting. Many off-the-shelf accounting packages don't handle fund accounting. Churches often compensate by having multiple checkbooks and bank accounts, which increases monthly accounting tasks necessary to understand the church's financial standing. Integrated systems can give you complete reports with a mouse click.

"Reports are the heart and soul of the church," says Randy Clay of Suran Systems. "At board or session meetings, everyone wants to see a financial report because all decisions are driven by the financial picture." With fund accounting software, you don't have to close out the month to know how much is left in the budget.

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