ACS

Avantages

The financial management is the easiest and most important thing that I access. Within a business Human Resources and Payroll Specialists can easily track income for the Church as well as the Academy and all expenses.

Inconvénients

Although I do not pay the premiums, The Church does I feel like the cost of monthly subscriptions is expensive. But I do realize all the different things that ACS technologies offers.

Avantages

Wonderful and quick Support when needed.

Inconvénients

Learning to use from scratch. Report creation sometimes complicated

Avantages

ACS had fantastic software until they created Realm Giving and Realm Accounting and decided to care more about form than function, and "dumbed" down the flexibility of the accounting module. Their outstanding reputation is based on the old versions I believe. I am currently looking to overhaul our entire system at tremendous expense because the new accounting interface does not work the way I need it - we are locked out of any contra-accounting interface due to the product management team's decision to "appeal to non-accounting people" - If you are serious about your job then that should say it all.

Inconvénients

There are absolutely no drill-downs in the new system - no calculation features and it is over-engineered so that nearly every entry field has a drop down box - really, really, really slows you down if you have a large JE to process - and if you just fill in the box and don't go through all the steps, half the time it loses that entry. I also can no longer run event and other income smoothly and directly to a contra-expense. The product management people have decided that they understand accounting better than professional users.

Avantages

Lots of functions from directory, group management, event registration, online payment for events. Every module I've used has been fairly user-friendly. Always upgrading and improving.

Inconvénients

Some days we notice it's "sluggish" (may be an internet issue). We use it every day in our office, but people using it from home often have problems. Doesn't work as well on mobile devices as on computer.

Avantages

The ability to use the membership management when entering data and the ease of creating databases as needed in the accounting system.

Inconvénients

Currently there are no issues with this software

Avantages

ACS gives you the total package in church software. It helps you efficiently mange both the "people" side of the job and the "accounting" and numbers side and will allow them to communicate with each other. There are several modules that will allow you to track different aspects of the member or prospect in the life of the church and this system does it very effectively. It has been around for a long time and they have perfected the software.

Inconvénients

Because the software does so many functions and can be tailored to almost any church of any size or situation, it can be a little confusing. Therefore, training is vital. They excel in offering wonderful training through their company and through local trainers.

Avantages

The first remark is the customer service which is very reactive and quickly solves your problem. ACS is a very useful church management software, because we won't have the problem to manage the database of our members or the registration of the children, and even all the donations received. I like the way it stores information. Of course, it is not quick to master ACS, but once you have mastered it you have everything you want to know about reports, campaign follow-ups, etc. In conclusion, ACS is a very good software to store any kind of information.

Inconvénients

Despite the fast customer service, we notice that during the months of February and March the wait is rather long. The ACS software often bugs or slows down when donor files increase. The lack of functional expense reporting is lacking given the current state of the art technology. ACS is also limited on the choice of administrators on who should access this or that. The ACS software needs to be upgraded, as the speed is poor when running large reports. The look needs to be redesigned not too aesthetically pleasing, but also the API access which is almost non-existent.

Alternatives envisagées 

Pourquoi passer à ACS

Avantages

The transition from Servant Keeper to ACS was smooth. The onboarding team and the customer service reps are easy to work with and try to be as helpful as possible. The Church Life app is great, and has been a blessing to our church members.

Inconvénients

Working through a separate "portal" is a total pain. The software seems like it's not advancing with the times, and I would much prefer a true "cloud" based system. We are often "kicked off" the portal and have to log in again. We also have difficulty with AccessACS, because it can only be accessed by a Windows based browser (and we all use Mac computers). It's a bit of a hassle to access AccessACS through a separate browser to do the needed uploading tasks and helping our folks with their passwords and such. Finally, they really haven't updated much in the software. It's stagnant, and I see some areas where we may want to explore more modern technology.

Avantages

This software was the solution we needed. When ACS Realm is fully launched, we will find that our questions will be answered with the product provided.

Inconvénients

Sometimes the software can be clunky and not able to fully customize the solution we need but then the question is asked, "What do I really need to do?"

Avantages

ACS offers excellent customer support. I have heard that the newer version is more advanced.

Inconvénients

We use an older version of ACS Financials and need to upgrade. The older version is rigid and reporting can be burdenson.

Avantages

This software will do most anything you want with great support especially with Megachurch support. It is built for all kinds of churches and includes all the modules you would need. ACS is one of the only church management systems that include a financial module that will manage GL accounts as well as POs.

Inconvénients

Software needs to be upgraded from the backend. Speed is an issue when running large reports and I think SQL would help this. This software is feature rich so it makes it not so user friendly sometimes and it kinda has a 90s look in several areas. NO API ACCESS.

Avantages

I love that once you understand the logic behind the software it's very user friendly.

Inconvénients

If you don't take a training class on the logic behind the software it's difficult to understand the more detailed inner workings of the software.

Avantages

We used ACS for a number of years, not understanding that there were such better alternatives. It came with reccomendations that it was the choice of some larger churches we knew.

Inconvénients

It is archaic. The user interface is hard to read and looks like something from the dark ages.

Avantages

I like how it stores a lot of information and that the customer service is always very prompt.

Inconvénients

I do not like the ​interface, it is outdated and can be confusing.

Avantages

The ease of use. The versatility. They update and upgrade every week to stay relevant. Very helpful to make sure we are happy especially during Covid.

Inconvénients

The ability to get a photo attached to your profile for an older person. That our church database is everyone - not just a database for members and one for donors/visitors.

Avantages

My title may be odd but it describes this software. This software is very powerful and its capabilities are far greater than any church I have ever worked at has taken advantage of. It is marvelous in it's simplicity but also the sky is the limit with regards to it's complexity in it's ability to create reports, schedule volunteers, and communicate with teams.

Inconvénients

It is a very steep learning curve. Although the customer service is excellent, but it is important to remember that the learning curve is high if you have a transition in staff (give them time to learn and use the tutorials.)

Avantages

I like the fact that it is easy to use at first glance. It is easy to log on and view information and to use the database entry pieces

Inconvénients

I do not like the fact that you cannot sort out your database to a great degree. For example, you can add fields, but it is not easy to do and to then sort according to your added fields is not easy.

Avantages

ACS is great if you need everything. They offer a lot, and have been around for a while, so they know the Church world. Their support is usually quick and knowledgable. You don't have to be an IT master to work with them as they walk you through everything you need.

Inconvénients

They offer everything, sometimes it's better when a software focuses on just what You need not everything that raises costs and may end up bloating software.

Avantages

The attendance module has allowed us to automate a process that used to take many man hours. It has also improved our ability to keep in touch with our members.

Inconvénients

The reporting feature of the software is highly customizable which is great for it's ability to enable you pull information exactly how you need it, but it makes it's user friendliness a bit lacking.

Avantages

Ease of use; frequent upgrades; makes my job more efficient

Inconvénients

I really do like everything about it but if I had to name one thing, it would be the reports part of the program. The reports can be a little difficult to search & display the results you want.

Avantages

I worked at a church that had used this software for a long time. It was very old and clunky compared to newer competitors. ACS was working on a more modern version, but it wasn't available for churches of our size at the time.

Inconvénients

It was archaic. Was cumbersome, ugly and not intuitive. The church paid a surprisingly high amount for the software.

Avantages

ACS is a software that just has worked for us. I have been here for 7 years now and the finance department has loved it the entire time I've been here.

Inconvénients

We just switched from on-prem to on-demand and while we love the ability to use windows or Mac machines, we had to downgrade the number of people who could access it to stay within budget. The 5 usernames is a nice starting point but it was not deemed cost effective to add more users.

Avantages

ACS does everything we need in church management software! Aside from service planning it does EVERYTHING needed!

Inconvénients

I would love to see ACS step into the service planning side of things too and truly become an "all in one" stop shop! Interaction with CCLI, ect...
The software does take a bit to get used to, it could be more user friendly.

Avantages

ACS Technologies accounting software for churches has many capabilities that are necessary in the accurate accounting of all the funds coming into and going out from the church. We are able to print detailed reports for our Finance Team to review each month, follow a clear auditing trail, and have up-to-date information on the funds remaining for each ministry team.

Inconvénients

ACS is not at all user-friendly and requires a great deal of specialized training in order to be up and running within a reasonable amount of time. It is not intuitive and while the customer service phone line is very helpful and readily available, it is extremely difficult for someone to come in as a new employee and take over the reigns in regards to accounting. There are training sessions available, but they are typically only offered in South Carolina where the ACS corporate offices are located. That makes it difficult for a smaller church to afford to send one or two employees for training in a timely manner. There are manuals available for print, but again, weeding through the many pages of the manual is not an easy task for a person who is unfamiliar with the software. The tools needed for church accounting are there, however, they are difficult to master in practice.

Avantages

ACS does everything I need a ChMS to do--keeps track of members, church finances, volunteers, communications, etc. ACTS is a trusted name in this space, and their products are solid and reliable.

Inconvénients

ACS may do everything I want a ChMS to do...but not without a lot of frustration. Sorting out workflow and finding the relevant settings takes far too long and is not at all intuitive. While all the modules technically work together, in practice their integration is flimsy and difficult to understand.

Avantages

ACS was powerful and stable. It's accounting software was also a huge perk.

Inconvénients

The company started focusing on other products and this one got left in the dust. New features were non-existant. The user interface was clunky and reminiscent of Windos 95. Most of our staff were too intimidated to use it, so they made up their own solutions. This led to so many problems.

Avantages

ACS does everything and more than what we need. Customer support is excellent. Cloud based for remote access is very helpful to work from home or office.

Inconvénients

ACS is not intuitive at all. It has been around for decades and often feels like it is old software with a lot of patches to make it work with new ideas. Customer support is great, but you shouldn't need it frequently. We spent a full week training our staff on ACS and the modules we have added. It seems like we frequently get "kicked off" and have to log back in to keep using the software.

Avantages

Ease of use--the reporting is awesome.

Inconvénients

Could look more pleasing to the eye like most of the programs today. But it gets the job done. I've seen the progression over the twenty years I have used ACS.

Avantages

As a small non-profit, we were looking for software to help streamline our data collection and reporting; one which focuses on client management and tracking. When we were introduced to ACS, they were a God-send. It was a flexible system that provided numerous options. We were able to manage our client intake much more easily than in the past. Overall, we found them to be a great fit for our organization.

Inconvénients

Once you understand the main parts, the system works well, however, more integration is needed. Usually, the help-desk representative was very prompt with their answers to questions. There were so many features that we didn't get to learn them all.

Avantages

What I liked most about ACS is that it can be simple to just grab someone's contact info or address from a list.

Inconvénients

What I like least about ACS is that it seems very large and clunky. Could use updating.

Avantages

The database was very useful and made my job much easier.

Inconvénients

It was not easy to correct mistakes. Waiting for help was a lengthy process.

Avantages

Navigation with this software is quite easy to use, I enjoy the ability to search for my contacts easily, but once again it is slow and outdated and could definitely use a face lift.

Inconvénients

As stated before in my previous comments above, ACS needs to be updated to reflect more modern graphics, and accessibility. I think it would be wonderful to have an app that links to your phone.

Avantages

Love the support team and their vast knowledge of the product. It is easy to use.

Inconvénients

Needs more reporting/queerying options for accounting.

Avantages

It manages our church membership well and the customer service is excellent

Inconvénients

The software is a little clunky and out dated to a degree

Avantages

ACS is powerful. It holds a whole lot of data and can do everything from help manage group and events to managing payroll. Once you learn how to navigate the software, you are able to dig into a lot of different search criteria and information to find just about any piece of info you would want on a church member. I personally do not work with the financial side, but I hear nothing but great things about how secure and robust the financial info is as well.

Inconvénients

ACS has a huge learning curve and the user interface is antiquated and pretty hard to navigate. The ACS team knows this however and rather than rock the boat for those who know ACS inside and out, they developed REALM which we have since moved to.

Avantages

Ease of navigation, customizable reporting, effective help menu system. Adjustable to individual user in the settings and screen layouts.

Inconvénients

Occasional crashes, if it locks up, you have to re-log in, and via the log in, exit the program that just crashed, then reinitialize.

Avantages

Although we no longer use ACS, it was a great church software for us. It held all the information we needed, such as financial, contributions, and church member information. Great customer service and mostly user friendly.

Inconvénients

At the time we used ACS, I found it difficult to correct errors in accounting software.

Avantages

The biggest pro is ACS' support team. They will capably answer almost any question about how to use the database when you get stuck, and will remain friendly, patient and helpful throughout the call. A+

Inconvénients

The thing I dislike most is the "look and feel" of the user experience. It just isn't pretty.

Avantages

ACS was one of the earlier full-featured church database management systems. Its original iteration was groundbreaking.

Inconvénients

ACS struggled to keep up with the changing digital landscape and was too slow to implement online features, cross-platform compatibility, and the like. As a result, the software is clunky and not particularly user-friendly.

Avantages

Great at the general ledger and a ton of flexible reporting

Inconvénients

Ugly U.I. which sounds silly but makes it a lot harder to get the average user to engauge with
Steep learning curve

Avantages

The ease of use was great. First-time users were able to learn it quickly. Also, there are good instruction videos as well as customer call center. Able to meet our needs without stress

Inconvénients

For a small church, the price could be a little cheaper per month or offer a multi-month discount

Avantages

ACS has a new version of their software that is called REALM. It is all online and extremely user friendly. They have online help for every aspect of the program.

Inconvénients

The only con is the small learning curve to begin using.

Avantages

ACS has just about everything you could ask for, and then some. Their pricing is more competitive than other major companies.

Inconvénients

Although there is an online arm of this product, all the information must be kept locally (although some would think this a pro). The controls are non-intuitive and clunky. Even the online version of this has the look and feel of something just above MS Dos.

Avantages

It does do everything you need for church accounting. The support is very good. The training materials are extensive. The trainers and very good and usually very helpful.

Inconvénients

It is cumbersome, very slow to use (with many extra steps for every task), not intuitive and and very outdated. Some of the training material goes back to 2003, and looks exactly the same. There are extensive training materials, but they are most often so basic they do not answer anything besides basic questions.

Avantages

It was a strong tool for us for quite some time.

Inconvénients

The software hasn’t aged well. In an age of cloud and apps this software looks stuck in the 90’s

Avantages

It is very useful- I liked the ease of use and the characteristics it offers for the management of the church and the school. In addition, the ACS customer service and development teams were incredible. I recommend it a lot. Excellent

Inconvénients

It is necessary to make some updates in certain areas to streamline the customer service process. In addition, it does not have the latest in operating system updates and passwords.

Avantages

We are able to keep a complete database of members, associates, visitors and children. We are also able to keep track of tithes and offerings

Inconvénients

Wish there was the ability to print pictures of people and then there name, so that if you don't know the person's name.

Avantages

simple to use, but a lot of capability. Easy to keep track of giving and make reports for unpaid tuitions.

Inconvénients

difficult to use for a school when students drop or change classes after making payments. Wish there was a way to connect to another software to automatically load registrations.