User Support Forum

Trying to evaluate whether to:1) continue printing pay checks and doing payroll reporting using Power Church 2) Use the feature in Power Church to continue doing payroll but create a Direct Deposit/Nacha file 3) Use a service such as ADP, Paychex, one of the church specific payroll vendors.

We have a few salaried, but mostly hourly employees. 12 total.

You know the limitations on each of the 3 methods above. What works for you? Anyone use an outside service? If so, how easy is it to make the journal entry?

Purchased Power Church on my first go-around as Treasurer in 1998. Upgraded to PC Online yesterday.

Thanks.

OhBeWan wrote:Trying to evaluate whether to:1) continue printing pay checks and doing payroll reporting using Power Church 2) Use the feature in Power Church to continue doing payroll but create a Direct Deposit/Nacha file 3) Use a service such as ADP, Paychex, one of the church specific payroll vendors.

We have a few salaried, but mostly hourly employees. 12 total.

You know the limitations on each of the 3 methods above. What works for you? Anyone use an outside service? If so, how easy is it to make the journal entry?

Purchased Power Church on my first go-around as Treasurer in 1998. Upgraded to PC Online yesterday.

Thanks.

If you have a bank that will do the Nacha file, that's the way to go. I have two employees that we do direct deposit for, and I do it via online entry at the bank using their online bill pay. However, with 12 employees, the direct deposit file is probably the way to go.

It will boil down to this:

1. How much will it cost for you to use the bank direct deposit/nacha file function?
2. How much will it cost you to pay the payroll company, and how much time will it take to enter the data into Powerchurch ?
3. Do most of the employees want direct deposit, or are they happy getting a check, if so why not keep printing checks.

NZ thanks. I hadn't considered that anyone would want to make an extra trip to pick up their check, then go to the bank or use some mobile app to deposit their check. Especially if they are a part-time employee. But you are right, some may not want to give us their account info. Hopefully, this is the 21st century and I won't have that problem.

In addition to the pluses and minuses you suggest, those services file and pay all of the taxes and employee reporting. That is a strong selling point. I understand that PC produces all of the necessary reports but someone saying "I will take care of it."

Please note that I have no affiliation to any service provider and in fact I did direct deposit through the accounting software using a NACHA file.

Thanks, again.

OhBeWan wrote:NZ thanks. I hadn't considered that anyone would want to make an extra trip to pick up their check, then go to the bank or use some mobile app to deposit their check. Especially if they are a part-time employee. But you are right, some may not want to give us their account info. Hopefully, this is the 21st century and I won't have that problem.

In addition to the pluses and minuses you suggest, those services file and pay all of the taxes and employee reporting. That is a strong selling point. I understand that PC produces all of the necessary reports but someone saying "I will take care of it."

Please note that I have no affiliation to any service provider and in fact I did direct deposit through the accounting software using a NACHA file.

Thanks, again.

FWIW ... I am the bookkeeper at the church where I'm also admin. Doing the taxes takes all of 10 minutes, that's federal and state. Quarterly taxes for local adds another 10 minutes; just part of the job.

We only have three employees and utilize ADP for payroll. It’s very cost effective for us and only takes a few minutes to enter into PC. I like that they do all the reporting and record keeping.

cbrown wrote:We only have three employees and utilize ADP for payroll. It’s very cost effective for us and only takes a few minutes to enter into PC. I like that they do all the reporting and record keeping.

As I said elsewhere, it all depends on where you feel your ministry dollars are better spent. Based on the time it takes me to do payroll, it costs less than $15 a month.

OK. I have 1 vote for ADP. 1 for Nacha. Any others? And reasons why?

We use PayChex to process our payroll. We use them for pay direct deposits, IRS funds transfers, quarterly and annual filing. Plus, staff can go online and reprint pay stubs and W2s when needed. For our many independent contractors, we use the Powerchurch service for 1099s. I used to go to Staples, buy the forms and print 1099s myself, but using the service is easier. Of course YOU still have to reconcile your books with the payroll processor. As said, depends on how many are on your payroll, and where you get the most value from your time and money.