Overview

Fund accounting is the center of the product, with banking, payables, donation imports, and financial reporting around it. That breadth can reduce the need to split church finance work across separate systems. The trade-off is a narrow free tier and a higher-capacity Scale plan whose pricing depends on scale.

Key features

Accounting, banking, and expenses

Double-entry accounting supports restricted and unrestricted funds, while a customizable nonprofit chart of accounts gives churches room to organize their finances. Plaid bank sync imports transactions for categorization and reconciliation. Bill tracking, approvals, AP aging, corporate card activity, and 1099 vendor information bring several recurring expense tasks into the same product. Starter’s one bank connection and one active budget may be workable for a small church, but are limiting if it manages multiple accounts or needs several budgets in progress.

Reports and giving

GAAP-compliant balance sheets, statements of activities, and cash-flow statements can be drilled down to journal entries and transactions. Donation imports, donor matching, giving analytics, and annual giving statements with IRS-compliant disclosures make the product relevant to churches that want giving activity connected to their financial records.

Integrations, payroll, and security

Integrations include Planning Center, Ramp, Bill.com / Divvy, Pushpay, OnlineGiving.org, Rock RMS, and Subsplash; Tithely is marked coming soon. Grain Payroll is an optional add-on with automatic fund allocation, a mobile time clock and approvals, direct deposit, and federal and state tax filings. The maker says data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS 1.2+, and that its cloud infrastructure is SOC 2 Type II compliant in a US region. Personal identifiers are deleted 30 days after account termination; financial audit trails are retained for up to seven years.

Pricing

Starter is free and includes unlimited funds, but is capped at $20k in monthly expenses, one bank connection, three users, and one active budget. It suits a small church that can work within those ceilings; growing beyond any of them means moving to a paid plan.

Growth costs 70.00 USD per month, billed $70/month. It raises the scale ceiling to up to $1M in annualized revenue or expenses and includes three bank connections, unlimited users, unlimited monthly expenses, and unlimited active budgets. This is the clearest fit for churches that have outgrown Starter but do not need Scale’s custom roles and reports.

Scale costs 100.00 USD per month, billed $100/month, with scale-based pricing, unlimited bank connections and users, and custom roles and reports. Churches needing those controls should consider it, while those with straightforward reporting needs may find Growth sufficient. Grain Payroll works with every accounting plan at 50.00 USD per month base plus $10 per employee / month, so its cost rises with headcount.

Platforms

Grain Ledger runs on the web. That makes it a browser-based option rather than a choice for organizations seeking a listed desktop or mobile app.

Who it's for

Grain Ledger is a good match for churches that need restricted-fund accounting, giving workflows, expense tracking, and drill-down financial reports together. Its free plan offers a low-cost starting point for smaller operations, while Growth adds room for more users, budgets, and expenses. Churches that exceed Growth’s annualized ceiling or need custom roles and reports can consider Scale, but should weigh its scale-based pricing.

Pros and cons

Pro: Restricted and unrestricted fund accounting sits alongside donation imports and financial reports, connecting church-specific finance tasks.
Pro: Bill approvals, AP aging, card activity, and 1099 vendor information cover more than basic bookkeeping.
Pro: Starter includes unlimited funds at no cost, giving smaller churches a way to begin without a subscription.
Con: Starter allows only one bank connection, three users, and one active budget, which can constrain even modestly complex operations.
Con: Scale uses scale-based pricing, making it less straightforward to budget for than the fixed-price Growth plan.
Con: The platform is web-only, so it is not suited to buyers who require a listed native mobile or desktop app.

Alternatives

For a broader set of church and nonprofit accounting options, compare Nonprofit Accounting Software, Church Accounting Software, and Fund Accounting Software.

MoneyMinder is worth considering if free budgeting tools, a custom chart of accounts, forecasting, and Excel export matter more than Grain Ledger’s church-specific giving and expense workflows.
Church Windows may suit buyers who want a desktop option and are comfortable with a 12-month contract for its $19.00 USD per month Standard plan.
Churchsoft Assist 2026 is another option to compare.
Clubtreasurer may be worth considering for buyers seeking a web-based paid option with an Essentials plan priced at 7.00 GBP per year.
NP Ledger may suit smaller nonprofits seeking a paid Starter plan with two users and 1099 contractor tracking.
Tangicloud Fundamentals is an alternative for buyers considering per-user annual pricing and Microsoft hosting.
FastFund Accounting is worth comparing for buyers seeking a $50.00 USD per month plan that includes fund accounting, budgeting, and project tracking.
Fund EZ is another option to compare.

Verdict

Choose Grain Ledger if your church needs fund accounting tied to giving, expense controls, and detailed financial reports, and its plan limits fit your scale. Starter is a useful entry point for smaller churches, while Growth is the practical step up for those needing more users and budgets. Look elsewhere if you require a mobile or desktop app, or if Scale’s custom, scale-based pricing does not fit your budget.

	Grain Ledger	VADAR Systems
Free plan	Yes
Paid from	$50/mo
Platforms	Web	Web
Free plan	Yes	No
Paid from	70 /mo
Audit trail	Yes
Fund accounting	Yes
Restricted-fund tracking	Yes
Budgeting	Yes
Financial reports	Yes
Deployment		cloud

Grain Ledger vs VADAR Systems

Grain Ledger

VADAR Systems