Overview

Grain Ledger is a web-based accounting platform for churches that want fund accounting alongside giving and expense workflows. It is a strong fit for congregations that need to track restricted money and connect donations with financial reporting, but the free plan’s operating limits can make a paid tier necessary sooner than its $0 price suggests.

Its practical advantage is the range of church finance work covered in one system, from bank reconciliation and vendor bills to donor statements and fund reports. The trade-off is a tier structure that restricts smaller churches by activity and bank access, while larger organizations must consider scale-based pricing.

Key features

Accounting, banking, and expenses

Double-entry fund accounting supports restricted and unrestricted funds, with a customizable nonprofit chart of accounts. Plaid bank sync brings transactions in for categorization and reconciliation, reducing manual entry between bank activity and the books. The expense tools cover vendor bills, approvals, accounts-payable aging, corporate card activity, and 1099 vendor information, a useful scope for churches that want routine payables connected to accounting.

Starter allows one bank connection and one active budget. That may suit a small church with a simple banking setup, but multiple accounts or parallel budget work call for Growth or Scale. The free tier also caps monthly expenses at $20,000, so it is not a fit for churches whose spending exceeds that threshold.

Reporting and giving

Reports include GAAP-compliant balance sheets, statements of activities, and cash flows, with drill-down to journal entries and transactions. That traceability can help finance teams follow reported totals back to underlying activity. Donation imports, donor matching, giving analytics, and annual giving statements with IRS-compliant disclosures bring donor administration into the same platform.

Integrations, security, and payroll

Integrations include Planning Center, Ramp, Bill.com / Divvy, Pushpay, OnlineGiving.org, Rock RMS, and Subsplash; Tithely is marked as coming soon. The maker says data is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS 1.2+, and its cloud infrastructure is SOC 2 Type II compliant in a US region. It also says personal identifiers are deleted 30 days after account termination while financial audit trails are retained for up to seven years.

Email support is available, with plan-specific priority email or phone support. Grain Payroll is an optional add-on offering automatic fund allocation, a mobile time clock and approvals, direct deposit, and federal and state tax filings. At $50/month plus $10 per employee/month, it adds a recurring cost that churches should account for separately from their accounting plan.

Pricing

Starter is free and includes unlimited funds, but caps monthly expenses at $20,000, bank connections at one, users at three, and active budgets at one. It is a credible starting point for a small church with straightforward operations; exceeding any of those limits means moving to a paid plan.

Growth costs $70/month, billed $70/month. It supports up to $1 million in annualized revenue or expenses, three bank connections, unlimited users, unlimited monthly expenses, and unlimited active budgets. It is the clear step up for churches that have outgrown Starter’s user, expense, or budget caps, though its three-bank limit remains relevant for organizations with more accounts.

Scale costs $100/month, billed $100/month, with scale-based pricing. It includes unlimited bank connections and users, plus custom roles and reports. Churches needing those capabilities should compare the scale-based structure with Growth rather than assume the listed monthly price covers every scale of operation.

Grain Payroll is available with every accounting plan at $50/month base plus $10 per employee/month. The per-employee charge makes payroll cost rise with headcount, even for churches using the free Starter accounting plan.

Platforms

Grain Ledger runs on the web. Churches looking specifically for a mobile accounting app should compare that platform coverage with their day-to-day needs before choosing it.

Who it's for

Grain Ledger is best suited to churches that need restricted-fund accounting, giving workflows, expense tracking, and drillable financial reports in one web platform. Starter fits smaller congregations staying within its $20,000 monthly expense ceiling and its bank, user, and budget caps. Growth is a more practical fit when those caps become obstacles; organizations needing unlimited bank connections, custom roles, or custom reports should examine Scale’s scale-based pricing.

It is less suitable for a church that needs more than one bank connection or more than one active budget but is not ready for a paid plan, or for an organization that wants platform coverage beyond the web.

Pros and cons

Pros: Fund accounting handles restricted and unrestricted money, giving churches a structure aligned with how they track designated funds.
Pros: Giving imports and annual donor statements sit alongside accounting and expense workflows, reducing the need to separate those tasks across systems.
Pros: GAAP-compliant reports drill down to journal entries and transactions, helping teams trace reported balances and activity.
Cons: Starter’s one-bank, three-user, one-budget, and $20,000 monthly expense limits can force a paid upgrade as a church grows.
Cons: Growth still caps bank connections at three, while Scale uses scale-based pricing that may be harder to budget against a fixed monthly rate.
Cons: Payroll is an additional charge of $50/month plus $10 per employee/month rather than part of the accounting subscription.

Alternatives

Church Accounting Software, Nonprofit Accounting Software, and Fund Accounting Software are broader directories for comparing options by category.

MoneyMinder is worth considering for organizations that want a free plan with budgeting, a custom chart of accounts, budget forecasting, and Excel export, plus Android and iOS apps.
NP Ledger may suit a new or smaller nonprofit that needs 990-N/990-EZ support and 1099 contractor tracking; its Starter plan is $289.00 USD per year and allows two users.
FastFund Accounting is another paid web option, with a Standard plan at $50.00 USD per month that includes cash-based and fund accounting, budgeting, and project tracking.
Sevastack is a free alternative whose listed Free plan is priced in INR and includes donor and project caps.
Aplos may be preferable for a team that needs a two-user paid plan with fund-based statements and a board portal; its Lite plan costs $79.00 USD per month.
Denali Fund is another paid fund-accounting option.
LineLedger offers a free plan with unlimited companies, users, transactions, invoices, bills, customers, and vendors.
T3 Books is a paid web alternative with plans starting at $35.00 USD per month for one user and unlimited audit-only users.

Verdict

Choose Grain Ledger if your church needs fund accounting tied to giving, expenses, and traceable financial reports in one web platform. Starter is useful for a small operation that fits its tight caps, while Growth removes several of the most immediate limits. Look elsewhere if you need a mobile platform, exceed Growth’s three-bank limit, or require a predictable Scale price before committing.

	Grain Ledger	Shelby Accounting
Free plan	Yes
Paid from	$50/mo	$5/mo
Platforms	Web	Web
Free plan	Yes
Paid from	70 /mo
Fund accounting	Yes	Yes
Audit trail	Yes
Restricted-fund tracking	Yes
Budgeting	Yes
Financial reports	Yes
Budget tracking		Yes
Expense management		Yes
Bank reconciliation		Yes
Financial reporting		Yes

Grain Ledger vs Shelby Accounting

Grain Ledger

Shelby Accounting