Seeking Affordable Receipt Tracking Solutions for Small Churches

Managing finances efficiently is crucial for small organizations, including churches. If you’re part of a church that employs a small team and relies on credit cards for various expenses, you may find yourself searching for a better way to track receipts and expenditures. Currently, expenses are documented manually, creating potential pitfalls in the process.

Current Methodology
For this church, the payroll staff (between five and ten employees) utilizes a shared credit account with Chase (most likely the Ink for Business cards). At month’s end, each employee logs into their Chase account to complete a worksheet detailing their expenditures. They print and attach corresponding receipts, which are then submitted to an Accounting officer for initial approval before going through a secondary approval process – all handled on paper. While this method suffices, it’s primarily aimed at fraud prevention rather than effective record-keeping.

A New Approach
To simplify this process, I’m seeking an affordable software solution that allows employees to link their credit cards and easily input receipts directly from their mobile devices. Ideally, this would function similarly to the convenience offered by American Express cards, making expense tracking seamless and user-friendly.

Currently, the church employs QuickBooks for its Accounting needs, specifically using the QuickBooks Online Plus plan. However, the current setup does not allow for credit card integration, as it only links to bank accounts. While QuickBooks is a solid choice for financial management, it seems that each employee would require a separate account for individual receipt submission, which could be limited by the plan’s user restrictions—specifically, the allowance of only three users.

A potential question arises: Is it possible to configure user permissions such that they can solely add receipts to transactions without access to comprehensive Accounting features?

Conclusion
If you have recommendations for receipt tracking solutions that are both budget-friendly and effective for managing church finances, it would be greatly appreciated. The goal is to streamline the process and reduce administrative overhead while ensuring that all financial activities are transparent and easily monitored. Your insights could greatly benefit organizations like this in achieving better financial management.