# Page 2 | ACS Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra

> Page 2 - Is ACS the right Membership Management solution for you? Explore 126 verified user reviews from people in industries like yours to make a confident choice.

Source: https://www.capterra.com/p/2668/ACS/reviews

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ACS

3.9 (126)

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Last updated March 13th, 2026

# Page 2 - Reviews of ACS

## Showing most helpful reviews

Showing 26-50 of 126 Reviews

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Rating

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Reviewer's Role

Length of Use

Frequency of Use

CS

Cerenity S.  
Teacher  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Easy to navigate and user friendly "

August 26, 2023

5.0

Very positive experience using ACS Softwares.

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Review Source

DS

David S.  
Communication Coordinator  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Not Easy or Quick to Use"

January 22, 2020

1.0

The old ACS system is just much too dated and expensive for current usage. ACS does have a new product called Realm that is supposed to be much easier and more flexible to use. I have looked at some of the demos for Realm and it does look like a vast improvement. If a church were to consider using ACS, I would encourage them to either specifically look at ACS' Realm product or go with another vendor entirely.

Pros

The best aspect of ACS is that it can hold and track a massive amount of diverse data. You can track all of the things you would expect in a database like names, contact info, birthdates, etc. As a church, you can track the first time someone attended, when they got baptized, and other random bits of info you may want to keep.

Cons

The traditional ACS system is incredibly difficult and cumbersome to use. Its computer app interface looks like it was made 20 years ago; it is not aesthetically pleasing. It requires hours and hours of training to learn how to use (they hold training sessions at different locations throughout the year and have various online helps). Running what you would think would be simple reports is not easy (I have had to pull together updated reports that have members names and addresses to do mailings. I have had to call ACS to have them walk me through how to do such reports as doing so is in no way intuitive. Also, using the computer app program to login to ACS takes several minutes to log into, which can be frustrating if all you are trying to do is look up a phone number (they do have a webbased platform where you can log in, but its function is not as robust in what it can do as the computer-based app, which as I said is slow and cumbersome).

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Executive Pastor  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Bulletproof, contains all the core functionality, but dated"

January 10, 2018

5.0

Crucial information that aids in caring for our church family.

Pros

I love that this software has been refined and is extremely reliable and fast. Efficient data entry and keyboard functionality. Powerful reporting. Covers the basics of what a ChMS should offer with ease, speed and power.

Cons

This software is dated. It's "cloud" based, but lacks lots of modern communication tools such as text communication, easy email distribution and remote web-based functions like small group attendance, and volunteer management. In all honesty, ACS is so big and has so many add-on features, it can probably do all of these things, but it's hard to know all of the functionality because it's not easily explained anywhere (and I've been a user for 12 years). Also, it's reporting process is not difficult for someone with some background in reports, but it's far too complex for an average pastor or lay-leader to use - which requires a database person to run reports. Also, no customizable dashboards, etc. So, it will probably do most everything you want, but you'll need a ChMS expert to figure it all out and run the reports...

Review Source

KV

Kathy V.  
Administrative Assistant  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Realm Church Management Software"

October 13, 2022

4.0

We formerly had a lot of cash and checks coming through the office for camps, studies and events, etc. With online event registration and payment, it cuts down the need for people to come in to register and pay. Also has various report options that go along with these registrations that are very helpful. Whenever we have a problem or question, customer support is very helpful and friendly!

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Review Source

LH

LaShun H.  
Finance Manager  
Accounting  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "A review of ACS"

September 15, 2022

4.0

Pros

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

Cons

Currently there are no issues with this software

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Worship Pastor  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "There are better options"

October 30, 2020

3.0

To be fair, it's been a few years since I have spoken to ACS customer support and they were friendly and tried to be very helpful at the time, but it wasn't a good experience. We had issues with updating older versions of the software and trying to make it work within our own bylaws and Canadian law, which wasn't on ACS as a software manufacturer, but it didn't help the overall experience. There seemed to be a disconnect between how we were (poorly) implementing the software and struggling with teaching staff and the way in which the ACS team communicated to us and told us to get excited about functionality that never worked in our context because of difficulty of implementation. Thankfully, there are better software options out there today - including Realm, which we transferred to from ACS and have had better luck.

Pros

If you spent a lot of time setting things up and were using it daily, ACS seems to have the capability to have good functionality. I've been in two different organizations where that wasn't the case, and heard similar things from other users, which meant ACS was something that I used only when I really couldn't get someone else to do the thing I needed, or I really needed to find a piece of information. It seems to be a great place to store all kinds of information.

Cons

The user interface was difficult, making learning it (and teaching it to church staff who are often technically slower) very difficult. Because people never learned it, it was used poorly and data was sometimes out of date, making the whole database only really functional for the financial side of things and we never managed to get the use out of it that we often hoped and tried for. Overall it was a frustrating piece of software when we had to engage with it and people would create their own systems and spreadsheets as work arounds.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Office Administrator  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "A Great Product Overall with World-Class Customer Service"

September 25, 2018

5.0

ACS is a church software product with several different suites to choose from. I found the People Suite, then Realm, extremely helpful in keeping member records, and the Financial Suite gives the church the reports and information needed for making budget decisions.

Pros

ACS Realm is a simpler version of ACS People Suite, and much more intuitive. The implementation was smooth and the transition fully backed by their wonderful customer service. I also love getting a live, knowledgeable person on the phone within a few seconds of calling. Payroll is also very easy in ACS Financial Suite.

Cons

The Financial Suite is not intuitive, but mistakes have gotten easier to fix due to upgrades. The church is still waiting to switch to ACS Realm Financials, as payroll cannot be done there, despite well over a year of promises that it is happening soon. It would be helpful for Realm input of donations to flow to the Financial Suite. Also, ACS People Suite gave options for certain reports that cannot be run in ACS Realm.

Review Source

BM

Brian M.  
COO  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "ACS - great value for churches and small nonprofits"

March 25, 2016

4.5

Pros

As a small nonprofit, we have used ACS General Ledger, People, and Contributions for over 15 years. What I like best is that it is an affordable, integrated, double-entry accounting system designed specifically for churches and small non-profit organizations. The People and Contributions modules allow us to easily monitor pledges, acknowledge donations, summarize gifts by fund, and report on subsets of our donor base using criteria we choose. The General Ledger offers the custom budget-actual reports and statement of financial position (non-profit balance sheet), as well as the summary of restricted accounts that is not found in typical for-profit packages. ACS also allows your administrator to set specific user permissions customization, so you can limit each user to only the functions that he or she needs. Vendor support is key, and we have found the vendor support behind ACS to be very solid. The software does not do everything, but what it does it does well. When we have had problems or questions, ACS technical support has pro-actively worked them out. In most support sessions, the ACS rep is temporarily granted remote control of our local computers and works directly with our data and reports. Support reps are readily available when we call, and they are very knowledgeable of the product.

Cons

Overall, we like ACS. I don't have a lot of criticism. The addition of a functional expense statement would be very helpful, since this is the format used by the IRS on Form 990 (required of most 403(b) organizations but not for most churches). Direct delivery of GL reports by email would also be helpful, but printing to pdf and emailing is not terribly difficult. As our number of donor records and years of data have grown, I have found the software to slow down somewhat, particularly when running custom extracts of donor data.

Review Source

Andrew H.  
Technical Director  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "It's reliable yet dated church management software"

April 15, 2019

3.0

We have been ACS users for probably close to 10 years and it works, it does work. However, we are in the process of switching to The Rock and, although it's much more powerful, The Rock also requires a greater size management team with technical programming proficiencies. When choosing your management software, you'll pay for it one way or another. In my opinion, ACS is a great solution for small to medium size churches...say up to 2000 people.

Pros

ACS is a fairly reliable and robust church management software useful for, among other things, managing your general ledger, giving, kids check-in, and people database. If you're a musician, I could tell you that it's like a Shure SM58 vocal microphone...you can drop it 100 times and it still works great...but other mics sound better...and may cost more.

Cons

It is very much out of date according to today's standards. It seems to prefer a large amount of bandwidth for our kids checkin machines running ACS for checkin...it technically isn't a ton of data, but ACS really seems to prefer having a big pipe for it, network wise. ACS is fairly limited in who can and should have access to different parts of it. My biggest complain, though, would be that ACS just hasn't kept up with the development side of their platform to match the technology that everyone is used to using in 2019.

Review Source

SM

Suzanne M.  
church administrator  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Exploring software for your church - consider ACS."

July 26, 2019

5.0

My experience with ACS has been very good. I started with them when we all had DOS computers and moved up to the windows platform. Now, we are able to have versions of the software on our phone. The system has the capability of being backed up to the cloud and does not need to be kept on your church's server. There is also an alternative for more contemporary churches called "Realm."

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Reason for choosing ACS

Cost, product and support. I also believe the people at the company are superior and they stand behind their product.

Review Source

AR

Aimee R.  
summer projects secretary/teacher  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "ACS is okay..."

July 14, 2017

3.0

We can keep track of our members and visitors and keep good records for visitation.

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Review Source

JS

Jo S.  
Social Media, Ministry Assistant  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Documentation lacking, some add-on modules don't mesh well, reporting in Access sorely lacking."

July 5, 2016

4.0

In general, many of the features of your software are frustrating and not intuitive. I was a programmer and it seems your programmers need to spend more time using the product in real world applications. It should be word like in functions like word. Copying and pasting, formatting those types of applications.

Pros

#1 Pro is that ACS addresses the most important tasks a church is in need of.

Cons

I have found many thing that weren't intuitive. Uploading of photos ok although no way to standardize within the program (cropping sorely needed) and downloading photos isn't intuitive. The modules are limited, all the data in Access needs to transfer into the people suite for reporting purposes. Access pretty useless for reporting purposes. Using the volunteer management is not really practical to use as intended. Although you have made changes where you can transmit data to excel or word. OnDemand stings because you can't save locally in an easy manner. Many times our church has served more or less as your beta testing because we actually try to use all the features and give feedback but we get nothing in return for that. We only do that because it is lacking features or functionality.

Review Source

Nicholas S.  
Student Pastor  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Look elsewhere for a ministry database"

December 12, 2018

1.0

Pros

There are several desirable features with this software. A primary one is the high amount of customization. However, this customization is only available to administrators and people with understanding of coding.

Cons

Immensely outdated and not functional. While using this software, I felt I put more work into using the software than actual results it gave. I would steer clear of this software if you're looking for a simple, user-friendly and intuitive experience.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Executive Pastor  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Legacy ACS Suite is Not Your Beat Option"

January 8, 2020

3.0

Excellent customer service. Realm product is am improvement. Financials package is still an industry leader.

Pros

Robust, lots of functions, built with churches in mind

Cons

Clunky, slow, old interface, can't adapt to ongoing demands of changing churches

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Business Administrator  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "ACS for First Church"

October 3, 2018

4.0

Pledgers who are not attending.

Pros

Reports, tracking a stewardship campaign over several years, customer service is tops.

Cons

Uses a software that doesn't convert excel spreadsheets into a functional spreadsheet. The columns do not keep the formulas. Therefore you have to make the formulas in a new column. Multiply steps for reports. Should have more reports that are already set up in the software.

Review Source

Josh E.  
Administrator  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Aching for ACS"

September 30, 2019

4.0

The customer service at ACS is outstanding and would recommend this company and their products to anyone.

Pros

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.

Cons

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?"

Review Source

LL

Leigh L.  
Director of Finance  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Research other products firt"

June 10, 2021

4.0

Excellent customer service for an older version of the product.

Pros

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

Cons

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

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
IT Manager  
Information Technology and Services  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Great Functionality Needs Upgrade"

December 12, 2018

5.0

We used ACS for everything for several years, but now only use them for financials. We moved to a more user friendly platform for our users. This is a give and take situation the new system is more user friendly, but not as feature rich as ACS.

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Review Source

VR

Verified Reviewer  
Event and Office Coordinator  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Budget friendly"

January 22, 2019

3.0

Overall, the service performs what you need it to do at a lower budget cost, but it could offer more in terms of functionality and appearance.

Pros

It is very easy to set up multiple users and customize what they can access at any given time. I also liked how you can have multiple windows open at a time even if they were from different access "suites."

Cons

The service as a whole is difficult to use. I have found the process to find multiple reports very time-consuming even when you know what you are looking for. The service is not as straight forward to use as I had hoped. You also are not able to customize how the reports look which I would have appreciated when sending reports to clients.

Review Source

DO

David O.  
Counselor  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Not a good choice..."

November 20, 2019

1.0

We made it work for us but it was very hard to make work. We spent a lot of time with their team trying to make it do what we wanted. After a couple of years, we abandoned it.

Pros

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.

Cons

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

Reason for choosing ACS

Our church was growing large and we heard that some other large churches used it. But we later learned that most of them changed to something else.

Review Source

DW

David W.  
Senior Pastor / IT  
Religious Institutions  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "ACS is THE BEST!!"

January 9, 2020

5.0

ACS cares about us. Cares about churches. Our business relationship with them helps us to do what we, the church, were intended to do in the first place, which is build the Kingdom of God.

Pros

We have been ACS clients since the beginning!! Currently we are using Realm for membership tracking, but still use ACS Financials for our book-keeping needs. It does everything we need, and our books are not as simple as one might think.

Cons

The only con I can think of is that I wish ACS Financials could integrate with Realm. We have ACS Financials down pat, and I wish we could port it over!!

Review Source

Corey S.  
Director  
Education Management  
Used the software for: 1-2 years

### "I used ACS in my previous job as a Finance Manager for a church"

May 10, 2018

4.0

Pros

I really liked the ease of use and the features that ACS offered for church and school management. Also, ACS's customer service and development teams were incredible.

Cons

At times, the wait time for customer service was rather lengthy, especially around peak seasons like in February and March near tax time.

Review Source

CS

Chris S.  
Pastor  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "As Great as You Can Make It"

February 1, 2019

5.0

This software is amazing one-stop shop for database, scheduling, volunteer, financial, and communication software.

Pros

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.

Cons

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.)

Review Source

NM

Nadine M.  
Assistant Director of Small Groups  
Non-Profit Organization Management  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "ACS - small group management"

June 12, 2016

4.0

We are a non-denom multi-site church in the DC suburbs (predominantly African-American) with apx 4000 in weekly attendance and 10,000 watching services online. We chose ACS software over the competition because it was robust enough to meet our needs. And like most churches...our needs are varied and nuanced.

Pros

1\. The customer support!!!! If I can't figure out how to do something, there are so many ways to get help: Phone calls to a live person that walks me through things step-by-step, webinars, other ACS users in different online communities, etc. 2. The flexibility of the product and how it's grown...and continues to grow...to meet our needs.

Cons

The volunteer management piece isn't as directly integrated as we would like.

Review Source

Ronnie V.  
Campus Pastor  
  
Used the software for: 2+ years

### "Endless Possibilities with this, no matter your size."

April 16, 2018

4.0

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Review Source

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