# Page 3 | ACS Reviews 2026. Verified Reviews, Pros & Cons | Capterra > Page 3 - 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 --- ACS 3.9 (126) [View alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/2668/ACS/alternatives/) Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Learn more](https://www.capterra.com/our-story/) * * * Last updated March 13th, 2026 # Page 3 - Reviews of ACS ## Showing most helpful reviews Showing 51-75 of 126 Reviews Sort by: Most Helpful Rating Company Size Reviewer's Role Length of Use Frequency of Use SG Susan G. Office Manager Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Best church software I've seen!" November 3, 2016 5.0 The software is superb and the customer service goes above and beyond to answer all my questions. ACS offers everything I need to run the church office tasks. From member information, contributions, directory, to financial reports, payroll, taxes, etc. Pros Ease of use; frequent upgrades; makes my job more efficient Cons I really do like everything about it but if I had to name one thing, it would be the reports part of the program. The reports can be a little difficult to search & display the results you want. Review Source JK Jean K. Church Administrator Religious Institutions Used the software for: 6-12 months ### "ACS - Finance - People - Headmaster" August 3, 2018 4.0 We selected this product years ago, because we needed a church database software that could do a good job with Finance/General Ledger processes. The product we were using at the time did not perform well. We researched a variety of products, narrowed our search to 3, and visited areas churches that were using the 3 products to test them out. At that time, ACS was much more user friendly than the other products. We have now been talking to ACS about converting to Realm. Watching demos, Realm is much more modern looking and ease of use is high. We will be working on transitioning to this within the coming year. After talking to other churches who have made this transition, we will take a gradual approach - activating Realm with staff for a time period first before fully activating with the entire congregation. Pros Performs general ledger and accounts payable functions well. Headmaster is used for Preschool/Kindergarten classes. Cons Headmaster is a little cumbersome to use, but you get used to it. Heavy on data entry to set up students. We looked into using Event Scheduler, but determined it was too cumbersome for our use. Review Source MH Melodi H. Secretary/Publications Religious Institutions Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "Helpful, but not user-friendly" November 19, 2018 3.0 As a new employee coming into the administrative secretary position a few months ago, I was confident that it would take me no more than a couple of months to get familiar with ACS and to be flying through the steps necessary to keep an accurate accounting record. I have a higher than average knowledge and skill base with technology and software. I have been discouraged with how long it is taking me to grasp the full scope of the ACS software and how best to manage our accounting needs. Pros ACS Technologies accounting software for churches has many capabilities that are necessary in the accurate accounting of all the funds coming into and going out from the church. We are able to print detailed reports for our Finance Team to review each month, follow a clear auditing trail, and have up-to-date information on the funds remaining for each ministry team. Cons ACS is not at all user-friendly and requires a great deal of specialized training in order to be up and running within a reasonable amount of time. It is not intuitive and while the customer service phone line is very helpful and readily available, it is extremely difficult for someone to come in as a new employee and take over the reigns in regards to accounting. There are training sessions available, but they are typically only offered in South Carolina where the ACS corporate offices are located. That makes it difficult for a smaller church to afford to send one or two employees for training in a timely manner. There are manuals available for print, but again, weeding through the many pages of the manual is not an easy task for a person who is unfamiliar with the software. The tools needed for church accounting are there, however, they are difficult to master in practice. Review Source VF Vanessa F. Office Coordinator Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great Customer Service with ACS!" November 9, 2016 4.0 Our church has been with ACS for many years. Customer support is the biggest attraction to this company! We've used several of their products - Realm, Extend - and now are looking forward to what's coming next with mobile apps! Pros Love the customer service! They are great about working with you on issues. It's rare that they cannot solve a problem. Cons Not as intuitive as I'd like, but still fairly easy to use once you get used to it. Review Source MD Mark D. Community and Families Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "A proven product but a lot of training is required." April 25, 2017 3.0 Pros ACS does everything and more than what we need. Customer support is excellent. Cloud based for remote access is very helpful to work from home or office. Cons ACS is not intuitive at all. It has been around for decades and often feels like it is old software with a lot of patches to make it work with new ideas. Customer support is great, but you shouldn't need it frequently. We spent a full week training our staff on ACS and the modules we have added. It seems like we frequently get "kicked off" and have to log back in to keep using the software. Review Source KB Kaylin B. Data Management Administrator Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "ACS Review" January 8, 2019 2.0 Overall it is very dated and I would not recommend. They have not made significant updates for years and it feels like we are still in the early 2000s. Pros Their accounting module is amazing. I have not found any CMS that is anywhere close to being as good as ACS ileith accounting. Cons It is hard to learn and it is very dated. Not mobile friendly. Ugly. Review Source TL Terry L. Admin Used the software for: ### "Mostly high marks" April 16, 2014 4.0 We use ACS OnDemand (PeopleSuite, Attendance, Connections modules) and are preparing to roll out AccessACS to our membership as part of a website re-do. The pros: \* Using PeopleSuite and Attendance moved us from multiple spreadsheets (and hundreds of errors/discrepancies) to track member info and attendance. \* The Connections module is being used for our evangelism/visitation teams. They were slow to adopt, but their leader has championed its use and they're getting there. \* It allowed us to introduce spiritual gifts tied to volunteer opportunities to our membership, and our deacons and volunteer organizers can use it to track involvement and identify volunteers when opportunities arise. \* The directory phone/tablet app is very handy for our ministers and leadership (it has not been rolled out to the membership yet, but will be introduced this summer.) The Cons: \* Attendance. We are a small/mid size church (just over 1,000 member/visitor files) so we handle attendance manually. The AccessACS module is too clunky for volunteers to enter attendance, which has placed the workload back on our very small office staff. \* There are significant limitations to the reporting on member involvement. Customized reports (and access to a report builder) are pricey. \* Creating a MS Word letter template is far more complicated than it should be. \* Texting capability ranges from bad (integration between PeopleSuite and AccessACS) to non-existent (integration with PhoneTree). Bottom line: We purchased ACS years ago as a stand-alone, one-user model. We're now entering Year 2 of using the OnDemand, multi-user model. It has allowed us to become far more efficient than we were, but it's not where we want to be long-term. Review Source AH Amy H. Owner Automotive Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Used ACS for 7 years" November 17, 2020 3.0 When we had talks of switching the software to a new company ACS was so far behind that we wouldnt have even been able to transfer our database into a new system Pros I worked as a pastoral assisant for 7 years at my church and we used this software. I found the system to be very outdated and difficult to use, the only thing I liked about it was the customer service when you had a question. Cons Honeslty the software is stuck in the 90s, I am shocked how far behind the programing is, it was not user friendly at all/ Alternatives considered [Planning Center](https://www.capterra.com/p/76708/Planning-Center/) Review Source DL Denise L. Secretary/ Teacher Education Management Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Secretary/ Teacher " December 9, 2020 3.0 Having to wait on hold for extensive periods of time was very inconvenient. Pros The database was very useful and made my job much easier. Cons It was not easy to correct mistakes. Waiting for help was a lengthy process. Review Source AB Alisha B. Exec Admin Asst Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Good management software for churches" October 26, 2018 4.0 Church membership management, running reports, accounting and bookkeeping, contributions, etc Pros \- Easy to use - Great customer service - Great customizability Cons Could look more modern, but certainly gets the job done Review Source SH Sarah H. Business Administrator Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great software" November 5, 2019 5.0 We love ACS and will continue doing business with them. Pros Love the support team and their vast knowledge of the product. It is easy to use. Cons Needs more reporting/queerying options for accounting. Review Source AG Amanda G. Receptionist Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Perfect for a church new to church management software" July 11, 2017 3.0 I was new to my position at a church and ACS was the program we had in use when I started. It was a great program and was easy to learn with very minimal training. Pros Organizes a lot of information for you church members and also can keep track of the contribution side of your ministry. Cons The look and some functions are a bit outdated. They are constantly doing updates and the cost is a bit expensive. Review Source BV Brandon V. Next Generation Pastor Used the software for: 2+ years ### "ACS was a huge learning curve for me, but its robust database made it worth it." January 16, 2018 4.0 Pros ACS is powerful. It holds a whole lot of data and can do everything from help manage group and events to managing payroll. Once you learn how to navigate the software, you are able to dig into a lot of different search criteria and information to find just about any piece of info you would want on a church member. I personally do not work with the financial side, but I hear nothing but great things about how secure and robust the financial info is as well. Cons ACS has a huge learning curve and the user interface is antiquated and pretty hard to navigate. The ACS team knows this however and rather than rock the boat for those who know ACS inside and out, they developed REALM which we have since moved to. Review Source AP Ashley P. Associate Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "ACS is a must have software for churches. " September 5, 2017 5.0 Helps keep up with membership info and tracking. Pros The best part about this software is the search ability to locate information. While it takes some time to become familiar with how the searches work, you can pretty much find what you are looking for as long as the data has been imputed correctly. For example, you can locate a certain phone number. However, you still need to know how the phone number was classified when it was entered into the software. Cons The part I like least about this software is the difficulty of merging documents for mass mail out. There are many steps and takes some time to master this process. It would be great to simply this process. Review Source WL William L. Used the software for: ### "By far the worst ChMS I've ever seen" May 9, 2015 1.0 ACS used to be the leader in this industry, but that was in the 1990s. Unfortunately, their software is still stuck in the 90s. It's incredibly difficult to figure out; not at all intuitive. The UX is terrible: it's like working on a Windows 95 machine in your old high school's computer lab. Big issue for me: The software is ONLY for Windows. Do not be fooled by their deceptive product "OnDemand" which claims to let you use ACS on your Mac or iPad. It's total BS! What it does is log you in remotely to a Windows computer somewhere. And unless they've recently updated the software (unlikely), you can't even use it on iPad without an external keyboard. Further, their pricing structure is ridiculous. You pay for every little thing separately. I met with a rep a couple of years ago who was pitching OnDemand to me, and I asked why we had to pay extra to use the software on our Macs. He said it's because it's a different "module." Total crap! That's like going to a restaurant, paying $85 for a steak and potato, and then being told that butter, salt, pepper, napkins, and silverware all cost extra. Stay away from ACS. It's not worth the trouble. Review Source Response from ACS Technologies June 9, 2015 Hi William, Thank you for caring so much about what¿s best for the church. We do too. We sincerely appreciate your efforts to help people make the best decisions for their church and ministry. That¿s very honorable of you. We¿ll take your feedback and use it to help us get even better. Thanks again for your encouragement. AM Anthony M. Director for Worship Arts Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "ACS is a financial/membership workhorse for our church" February 6, 2020 5.0 ACS has been an invaluable tool for us to manage the finances and membership of our church. It handles details which allows us to focus on ministry. Pros The ability to sort individuals and groups within the larger congregation. We have set up numerous subgroups in our congregation and use ACS to generate our directories. Cons Some categories could not be customized as we would have liked. In the people arm, some fields were mandatory even if unnecessary for our purposes. Review Source AY April Y. Administrative Assistant Non-Profit Organization Management Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Great Customer Service & Support!" June 17, 2016 4.0 ACS OnDemand church database is not incredibly pretty or user-friendly, but it is very capable software for mid- to large-sized churches to choose. Pros The biggest pro is ACS' support team. They will capably answer almost any question about how to use the database when you get stuck, and will remain friendly, patient and helpful throughout the call. A+ Cons The thing I dislike most is the "look and feel" of the user experience. It just isn't pretty. Review Source JR Jai R. Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Solid, but not exciting" September 25, 2015 3.5 Pros ACS has a lot of features, and customizable fields, etc. Great customer service for problems (for additional fee per month). Cons Updates come out very slowly, and the product feels at least 5-10 years out of date. Reports are not very customizable unless you purchase additional module. Not very responsive to requested features. Not Mac-compatible (unless you use cloud version which is more expensive). Have trouble getting staff to use the software - they tend to just want to access it on their phone app. Online Giving is not easy for first-time users. Lots of small group leaders have had trouble using the online attendance tracking. Review Source JW Jeremy W. Executive Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great at somethings" November 30, 2018 3.0 Like I said in the title ...there are certian things ASC does great...The G.L. is one of those...but out side of that there seem to be several competitors that are now out pacing ASC...Infact we will be moving away from thier people suite in the spring... Pros Great at the general ledger and a ton of flexible reporting Cons Ugly U.I. which sounds silly but makes it a lot harder to get the average user to engauge with Steep learning curve Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Great for a small church" April 3, 2019 5.0 We wanted a way to integrate membership management and giving records. This afforded us that possibility. Pros The ease of use was great. First-time users were able to learn it quickly. Also, there are good instruction videos as well as customer call center. Able to meet our needs without stress Cons For a small church, the price could be a little cheaper per month or offer a multi-month discount Review Source DG David G. Executive Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "difficult" May 8, 2017 3.0 Pros It does interface with our financial system and they have good accounting people to solve accounting problems Cons Set-up for reports is too complicated and graphs are difficult to arrange and filters are confusing. Review Source DC Drew C. Discipleship Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "Lots of options and power, but the interface is severely outdated and clunky" December 6, 2016 3.0 We have used some form of ACS since 2005. It handles finances, child check-in, event scheduling, volunteer scheduling, attendance, groups, contact information, and much more. It even has an online arm. Pros ACS has just about everything you could ask for, and then some. Their pricing is more competitive than other major companies. Cons Although there is an online arm of this product, all the information must be kept locally (although some would think this a pro). The controls are non-intuitive and clunky. Even the online version of this has the look and feel of something just above MS Dos. Review Source DC David C. Executive Pastor Religious Institutions Used the software for: 2+ years ### "ACS Financials" December 5, 2018 5.0 Great at what they do. An industry leader Pros Great accounting software package with robust reporting options. Cons Not able to easily import bills. Wish it could link better with our bank and online billing. Review Source MC Mike C. IT Director Religious Institutions Used the software for: 1-2 years ### "Old software in need of an overhaul " September 15, 2020 4.0 Pros It was a strong tool for us for quite some time. Cons The software hasn’t aged well. In an age of cloud and apps this software looks stuck in the 90’s Review Source VR Verified Reviewer Analista Used the software for: Less than 6 months ### "ACS, it has everything I need. It's great" May 22, 2018 4.0 I improve my way of organizing and analyzing my activities inside and outside of my social environment. Applications are necessary because they help us improve our relationships and have time for other activities Pros It is very useful- I liked the ease of use and the characteristics it offers for the management of the church and the school. In addition, the ACS customer service and development teams were incredible. I recommend it a lot. Excellent Cons It is necessary to make some updates in certain areas to streamline the customer service process. In addition, it does not have the latest in operating system updates and passwords. Review Source Similar Products Featured