Church Windows Features

We use Church Windows for accounting, payroll, membership records, and donation tracking, so it is an integral part of our church administration. Because we are careful to enter data accurately and use the suite of software systematically, Church Windows is an excellent way for us to manage information and make timely reports to church leaders. We like having one software package to handle so many...

Read more

Some of the modules seem less user-friendly to us. For example, the Donations module where we record individuals' giving and generate reports for tax purposes is not intuitive to use, and we found it very difficult to set up quarterly and annual statements in the form and format that we desired, when we began using Donations when the software publisher updated an earlier Church Windows module, Contributions....

Read more

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows

The basics of the program is laid out nice.

The software has moved away from it's user friendly-ness a little bit. Some of the report features are confusing and if you don't check the right box or column you don't get what you are looking for. I think they wanted to make reports come from a central area but I find it confusing. Also- you have great videos, which are better than the written instructions, but if you have several issues you...

Read more

Shannon, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. If you're using the current version of Church Windows, please hit the F1 key on any screen in Church Windows to bring up the Help File topic on that page. When open, the help page can be printed. We hope this helps. We would also suggest you look at the Live Web Training option as a time and cost effective way of getting one-on-one training with one or our trainers. Please call our support techs when you have any questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com. Thanks again, Church Windows Support

It is basically a good database that is steadily improving as new abilities are added. Mail merging running list all of this is very easy. Also the Payroll software is easy and complete. A first timer can use it. You put the information in and update your information as needed. Church Windows data can be converted and used in Word, Excel even Outlook so it is very usable. Also I use it in WordPerfect which my pastor prefers.

You are forced to use the default programs but you can save your own version under a different name. The printing program can be a problem so you have to be careful what computer program with printer that you use.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows

The software was the best designed for church finances and was mostly usable for me when we were using the version that was on our office computers. The company is very responsive when we call with a question. I particularly like the feature that addresses and other information that is updated in the membership module is transferred across the other modules, i.e. accounting, statements, etc.

Because of security concerns, the New Visions Community decided that we should subscribe to the cloud version of Church Windows. But when we got it set up, I discovered that my screen reader software, (I am blind) could not "read" the material through the citrix or vos portals. Also the query feature for creating reports is difficult to understand and the manual is not updated at the same time that a new version is sent to update the software. It is not easy to teach or do.

Susan, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. We are doing everything humanly possible to ensure the Church Windows Help files are updated before a new version is released with changes and new features. If you find a Help page is not updated, please let us know so as to fix the problem in the next release. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows

Some data entry is easy - although there is repetitiveness required with each entry. Also really like that we can correct errors without having to make added entries. The customer service has been great when it is needed.

Adding comments and descriptions for invoices is complicated with having to check certain boxes, enter info in one place and then another place, and then added steps to figure out what will show on the check, the check stub, the reports for leaders, etc. The way that vendors are handled in the system feels clumsy and it creates added data entry because when running reports for the teams in order to get the vendor name to show up in reports we have to type it in the description. Feels like an unnecessary extra step.

Fochs, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows

I love the ease of reporting! Having all of my accounts, givers, and budgets in one place makes assisting the finance committee so easy. Catching coding mistakes and correcting them is painless. Thanks for making this program so user friendly. I am not a CPA!!

I wish the cost of the cloud based subscription were a lot more affordable for this small church. Other than that, this program is great.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better software. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

I love that the software is very easy to use. If you have an issue, there support desk is very patient and can answer all your questions.

I wish that when a member leaves the church, that their donations stay open for the present year. If you don't mark the box for inactive, their donations don't show up and will not match your General Giving in your account module for the month.

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better software. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

Some integration is seamless, a lot is not, however.

Custom reports are hard to design. Making changes is often cumbersome. Data does not import/export easily. Difficult for a new user to learn. Slow and cumbersome. Customer support bad.

Don, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better software. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

The features are really great. It has everything we need and even some things that we don't! The reports are clear and concise and there is a variety as far as what types/kinds of reports are available.

The user-friendliness ability is lacking. There seem to be way too many steps to do one task. Also, it is not compatible with our label machine so we have to do our labels though the program provided by the label maker (Dymo) instead of through Church Windows, which is what we would prefer. One thing I really, really wish that Church Windows offered was the ability to separate families/people into...

Read more

Melissa, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows

The User Interface is intuitive, powerful, and well designed. The Accounting module in particular is quite sophisticated, containing many standard and specialized reports. Our accountant loves it. It's modules are well integrated, and when it is working, it works beautifully. The local version, (as opposed to the Web version) is reasonably priced.

It is very touchy, installation wise. Wireless networking is not supported; neither are APUs, you MUST have CPUs in all Church Windows PCs for it to function reliably. It periodically loses connectivity, and sometimes requires reinstalls in order to correct problems. I am the administrator of the system, and frankly, if the users didn't like it so much (particularly the treasurer), I'd suggest a change. I am underwhelmed by their tech support; they tend to disclaim responsibility for problems, claiming networking issues, Windows issues, etc., are the cause even though no other software we use seems to have the problem.

Ease of extracting information from the data to create reports. The number of boxes where details may be entered is excellent - every possible situation has been considered, including winter or out-of-town school addresses plus different last names for individuals within the family unit plus multi-level phone numbers and emails.

I love to have the support of the software by speaking with a real person. My patience challenges me at times to wait for the phone call back! Sometimes there are difficulties in choosing the right report ie. directory vs. basic because the format of the directory report is good but there are decisions embedded there which override any selections I might make for the report ie. individual vs. family identities

Joy, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better software. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

The software offers the user the ability to record data in an accurate way and therefore, produce an accurate report. Moving from an Excel spreadsheet method, this allows a more accurate product and allows for a multitude of reports in many formats.

If I were to chose a negative, I suppose it would be the learning curve. While there are many resources offered by the support staff, it takes a good bit of time to really appreciate the many functions offered by the program.

I've been using Church Windows since 1999. I currently use the Membership, Contribution and Accounting modules. They've come a long in the last 19 years and they are constantly upgrading their software as the market demands. Over the years they continue to solicit, and implement, suggestions from their customers. It's one thing to sell a product, but its another thing entirely to keep folks satisfied with your product for almost 20 years!

Probably the reports features, but that is mostly due to my reluctance to try creating custom-made reports. Its one of those things that you get out of it what you put into it - so no fault to Church Windows, just me.

Rebecca, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better software. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

I like that we can call for support and almost all the time they are very helpful even for those of us that are very basic in knowledge. I like that membership, finances , receipts etc are all intertwined together. Not sure if there is anything better for a Church or not but Im not willing to relearn a system. It took our team awhile to get switched from Financial to Accounting and we struggled but like anything we adjusted - dont know how to compare as far as other systems but this seems to be fine. When someone suggested we try a spreadsheet we all said NO.

I dont like that i have to manually enter my figures from payroll when i go to Pay Bills With Outstanding Balance - with Financials those figures were automatically brought over and there was no chance of making a typo each month. It worries me every month i will make a mistake. Some of the processes seem repetitious to get to the end result but we have gotten used to it now. It takes 4 steps to...

Read more

Maureen, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows

This software has incredible capability. The new upgrades have made the system much easier and user friendly, and I am looking forward to more as they become available. The company is easy to work with and has been very diligent in getting the answers whenever I have needed to call in with a question or a problem. I believe the customer service department has gone above and beyond for our needs.

Sometimes I feel as if the product has too much capability- there are a lot of components that we do not need. Still feel there are a few fixes that need to come along to make it more user friendly. Wish they would offer more frequent "intensive" question remote classes as opposed to basic beginner classes.

Jennifer, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. We suggest the church consider our Live Web Training option. It's more personal training. We log on to your computer to answer specific questions about your data. You can find more information at the Training page on our website. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

Church Windows is useful for me as a church administrator because it is flexible, easy to use and has many helpful report options we use regularly. What I like most is that it is user friendly!

There is one report that is we use for each congregation meeting and it can't be created accurately. I have to create 2 separate reports and then merge them. It took a long time to figure out why this is the case, but after some tech calls and tests, we understand why it happens. I just wish it could be created in one report because it is a longer process to make it this way. It is only twice a year that we have to do this, so it is a small complaint in the scope of of all the wonderful reports we get from CW. Generally the reports are awesome, easy to create and useful.

Jeanne, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows

I love that everything is linked together - from income to expenses to membership

I cannot manipulate the reports as much as I would like to to print them out the way committee members would like to see them. Since the update to Membership, it takes a lot longer to get the reports I want and also to figure out how to get what I used to with just a couple of clicks. Also, I have no idea how much this affected my membership since that last major overhaul of the Membership modual,...

Read more

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. If you're having problems with the new Membership features, please call technical support for help. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

It keeps everything flowing smoothly between modules so that everything is in one place and not fragmented. The church was using two or three different methods of keeping track of things prior to my setting up Church Windows.

It's a pretty good software program however since they have been changing it the Membership module is very cumbersome. Hard to follow. Not really user friendly at all. The person in our office that has to maintain this is very ready for a change. The reporting could be a lot more efficient. Now, if I want to see what is happening in a fund I basically have to look three places (four if the money is coming through the donations module) to be able to piece it together. This is not different with the changes but has always been a bit more cumbersome when someone asks for the activity in detail for a fund for the year. It is really mostly the membership module that is causing us to rethink whether or not this program still works for us, though.

Nancy, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better software. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

The Customer Support! Although the software is very user friendly everyone needs help. The customer support, webinars and training offered cannot be beat! I've take classes on site, through the webinars and have spent hours on the phone being instructed on how to do tasks, and have always felt comfortable at the end of the day. We use all the modules offered.

Occasionally there is a delay in getting a call back from the Customer Support group, but I know it's because they are helping someone else conquer a problem as thoroughly as they will help me solve mine!

Diane, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better software. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

I think the contribution area is the best. It gives an accurate and easy account of what my parishioners have contributed. It is easy to locate any area that I may have questions about. The online and telephone help is extremely necessary and most of the people I have spoken with have been very patient and explained how and why it was necessary to do something in the program.

I think setting up the fund accounts was the most difficult. I did not begin this program I am inherited it when I took this position. The fund accounts were difficult to learn how to set up but I have been using this program for 18 years now. Trying to teach someone else to use this program may be a little more difficult unless they have used an accounting program before.

Wendy, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better software. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

You are able to look up a single entry with a search! If you have to correct an entry the software will correct with a new journal entry so everything is above board for your audits. You can write a report of almost any information in the system not just "canned" reports! You have a choice of entering people and Members or Visitors and can produce lists and labels for either or. The report writing is easy to use and you don't have to be a programmer to create your own reports! Easy Look-ups for people, one click to choose, search for first or last names, saves a zillion clicks over the other software I was using.

Exported reports only come up easily for Microsoft Excel. Not so handy when you use WordPerfect or OpenOffice.

Cindy, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better software. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows Support

Church Windows Software meets our needs. We are a congregation of 500 baptized members. The ease of data entry in Donations and Accounting modules is especially nice. Reporting features over the years have been greatly improved and are user friendly. The ability to add data elements in membership is extremely beneficial for tracking and reporting information.

Overall, I can't give a "con" about the software. Perhaps something to note is not a con of the software but is my inexperience in designing a report. The feature is in the software but it seems cumbersome to me when I want to make a new report.

Donna, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows

I like how all of the options and functions are easy to find and navigate through in finding the information and the end result of printing out a report, labels, or directory listing that I am looking for. All of the information is easy to read, find, and use when I am able to print out a listing and read it correctly.

I did not like how the instructions are somewhat muddled and a little hard to interpret sometimes. The system itself is easy to use, but however the steps in order to understand in how to use the software is not necessarily the easiest to understand. Whenever I have contacted Church Windows phone support they have always been very helpful, but sometimes it gets confusing in order to know how to ask the certain questions to under to achieve the end results for what I am looking for. I am going to explore more so in newest coffee break webinars in order to access the features and function to help me understand the system and help me to navigate around it much better.

Church Windows is a very user-friendly software. It's easy to navigate through the different modules. I use the Accounting, Payroll, Membership and Donations modules the most. I went to their location in Columbus for one day of training when I started using this software. It was very helpful and our instructor, CSR, was excellent! Since then I have been able to breeze through the accounting module with ease. It's great for printing financial reports for meetings, payables and receivables, tracking income and expenses, creating individual funds, writing checks and processing payroll. For the most part it's super easy to use! If I do have a question that I just can't figure out, I call their customer support and they're very friendly and helpful.

The only draw back to Church Windows is when you call customer support, they can't help you right away. Someone has to call you back, normally it's within the hour. But sometimes it can be longer depending on the day and time you call. By the time you get a call back you're on to something else and you have to go back and remember why you needed them to help you. There have been times that I have figured it out before I get a call back. I believe you can pay more for immediate assistance, however I don't call very much so it's not worth the extra cost to our church. Some may want to pay the extra to get immediate assistance until you're more familiar with the software, then you can switch to the lower cost. Because it won't be long you'll be proficient and won't require much support!

Tammy, Thank you for taking the time out of your day to submit a review of Church Windows Software. Your input is truly appreciated and helps make Church Windows better. Please let us know if you have questions by calling us at 800-533-5227 or email us at support@churchwindows.com Thanks again, Church Windows