Church treasurers and bookkeepers wrestle with fund accounting that generic tools were never built to handle — keeping a building fund, a missions gift, and general operations properly separated and reportable.^1 Grain Ledger is fund-based accounting software built specifically for churches and ministries, with true fund accounting at its foundation rather than bolted on afterward.^1
It brings giving, expenses, budgets, payroll, and GAAP-compliant reporting into one modern ledger, syncs bank activity via Plaid, and connects to the church giving platforms a congregation already uses.^2 Designated gifts stay tied to the right fund from donation through report — restricted and unrestricted net assets are tracked automatically for FASB 117 compliance — and every number on a statement drills down to its source.^4 AI invoice scanning and email invoice automation cut manual data entry, and a one-click QuickBooks migration eases the switch.^2
A free iPhone companion app lets finance teams review and classify transactions, capture and upload receipts, monitor budgets, and access payroll self-service — paystubs, withholdings, and a mobile time clock — from anywhere, signing into an existing Grain workspace with single sign-on.^5
Grain Ledger was built by Gibson Brueher, a longtime church-technology veteran (previously at Pushpay and founder of ChurchSocial.ai), to solve the real-world stewardship challenges churches face.^6 The platform is an official finance partner of Acts 29, serving its network of over 650 church plants across nearly 50 countries and 30+ languages with dedicated onboarding and fund setup.^7
"Grain Ledger is true fund accounting and works great. One click migration from QBO too with QBO sync." — r/churchtech user^8
"Grain Ledger is free for small churches and has some really nice integrations with tools like Planning Center." — r/churchtech user^9
"A modern solution for church accounting... a serious competitor to long-established church accounting software." — Capterra reviewer^10
Notable- Fund accounting, donor insights, budgeting, church payroll, and board-ready reporting in a single platform, with SOC 2 Type II compliant cloud infrastructure and end-to-end AES-256 encryption.^2
- Free iPhone companion app for on-the-go transaction review, receipt capture, budget monitoring, and payroll self-service.^5
- Standalone church payroll with automatic fund allocation, direct deposit, mobile time clock, and federal and state tax filings.^2
- Official Acts 29 finance partner with tailored church-plant onboarding, fund templates, and runway tracking.^7
- Integrates with Planning Center, Pushpay, Rock RMS, and Subsplash for giving; Ramp and Bill.com/Divvy for spend; Plaid for bank sync — with Tithely coming soon.^3
- Public API (docs.grainledger.com) enables custom integrations and reporting workflows.^1
- Free to start for churches under $20K in monthly expenses, with paid plans as a church grows — no credit card required.^1
