Since Wave offers just one accounting plan, businesses can’t scale up to plans that include more accounting tasks for growing businesses. And Wave’s lack of inventory tracking makes it better matched to service-based solopreneurs and freelancers who don’t need both accounting and inventory software. Xero is one of the most popular accounting software for small businesses.

• ZipBooks’s Accounting pricing tier offers more advanced accounting features for you and your clients at a custom price rate.
• By automating the process of tracking expenses, it is easier to collect and categorize tax-deductible expenses, which allows for major tax savings each year.
• However, Xero’s $13 a month plan limits you to entering only five bills and sending only 20 invoices a month.
• NetSuite’s accounting software is a good choice for businesses that need help with financial compliance and those that want to automate as many accounting tasks as possible.
• QuickBooks Self-Employed, owned by Intuit, is a basic online and mobile app designed primarily for freelancers or independent contractors who file a Schedule C for tax purposes.

Our robust small business accounting reports are easy to use and show month-to-month or year-to-year comparisons so you can easily identify cash flow trends. For this reason, many businesses hire bookkeepers or accountants to maintain or review their books. Cloud-based online accounting software makes it convenient for businesses to share their accounting data with their bookkeepers or accountants.

Accounting AI software features role-based dashboards that allow SaaS CFOs to track their metrics in real time. Cloud accounting software comes equipped with role-based dashboards that allow SaaS CFOs access to by-the-second financial updates. Busy is a popular integrated business accounting software with 2 million installations worldwide, offering accounting tools for micro, small and medium sized businesses. This effective software allows full control over many accounting functions including financial tracking, reporting, compliance, and collaboration processes. Cloud accounting software is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that allows users to manage and track their finances online without the need for local installations on individual computers. The convergence of accounting software with cloud technology is ushering in a new era for businesses, providing unmatched convenience and adaptability.

How to choose accounting software

For many small businesses, software is the more affordable alternative to hiring an accountant or a large firm to manage their accounting, tax prep and payroll. However, with so many options on the market today, choosing the right solution can be a challenge. To help, we’ve narrowed in on the best options for a wide variety of small businesses.

• Accounting software does not always offer the proper security functions.
• Below we take a look at 10 of the most popular accounting software offerings on the market, to help you make the correct choice.
• The mobile app makes it easy to track mileage while driving and capture photos of receipts for business expenses.
• Although QuickBooks Online is an impressive solution, there may be better options for your business’s accounting needs.

Founded in 2003 in Toronto, FreshBooks started as just an invoicing software. Over time, more features have been added, and as of 2023, FreshBooks has over 30 million users. The Early plan limits usage and only allows entry for 20 invoices or quotes and five bills per month. This limited plan may be suitable for a micro-business with high-ticket transactions but only a few per month, such as a consulting or small service provider. This software has a clean interface and also fully integrates with a third-party payroll service. Businesses can collect payment online from customers through Xero’s integration with Stripe and GoCardless.

Do I need accounting software for my small business?

If you want fully featured accounting software with an excellent app, clean dashboard, and affordable price, we recommend Xero. Based on its features and pricing alone, it’s a great bookkeeping and accounting company for most business types, from freelancers to LLCs. Its Sage Accounting plan music industry accounting normally costs $25 per month, but it offers 70% off your first six months, so you end up paying $7.50 per month. This comes with unlimited users, quotes, estimates, cash flow forecasts, purchase invoice management and automatically snap and post receipts for free for the first three months.

FreshBooks Features

AccountEdge Pro provides a meticulously crafted suite tailored to small businesses. Grounded on the desktop, it offers a suite of command centers addressing various facets of your business, from sales and invoicing to payroll and inventory. Its commitment to the evolving demands of modern businesses is evident through the optional cloud app, AccountEdge Connect. This app provides remote accounting capabilities without compromising the foundational features of the desktop software. In addition, the AccountEdge Hosted option provides remote access from any device, offering flexibility to businesses.

It has one paid plan, which is $19.99 per month and includes features, such as cash flow insights, auto-categorizing expenses and payment integrations. If you’re looking for a cheaper solution, Kashoo offers an invoice-centric plan for $0.00. Along with sending invoices, you can use the free plan to track expenses, accept online payments, and send estimates. We’re not sure if the free plan lets you track income and expenses or not—Kashoo’s site gives contradictory answers. FreshBooks’s combination of stellar features, customizable invoices, and well-reviewed mobile apps make it pretty much perfect—especially for freelancers. Unlike Xero, FreshBooks lets you send an unlimited number of invoices and estimates with every plan.

Zoho Books is best for small businesses needing strong online accounting, great mobile apps, and good invoicing. If you’re interested in using payroll software, you can start a free 30-day trial when you sign up for Wave. Mint is perfect for individuals and families who want to gain a better understanding of how they are spending their money and then use that information to set new spending or saving goals for the future. After creating an account online or on the mobile app, users can sync their bank accounts and credit cards with the Mint platform. From there, Mint will help to categorize transactions by type and summarize financial activity.

Quickbooks QuickBooks’ Plus plan is our top spot for the best accounting software for products-based businesses for a number of reasons. First, it makes it easy for you to track the cost of goods and products and set low inventory alerts. Depending on your specific needs, certain platforms might have features that make more sense for your business.

The features that Sage does offer are done well, such as their inventory tracking system and unlimited user count on accounts. Carefully consider the cost versus the benefits when looking into Sage’s accounting software. Most modern accounting software tools now include mobile apps for easy, on-the-go financial tracking. Depending on the app, you should be able to see a quick overview of your financial health, track expenses, send invoices, accept payments and view basic financial reports from your phone or tablet.

What are the benefits of small-business accounting software?

Like Zoho Books, Kashoo’s automation is its selling point—and unlike Zoho Books, it syncs with SurePayroll, one of our top payroll providers. If you’re on a budget, you can reduce costs by opting for a less expensive plan, choosing à la carte options or only paying for the features you need. Businesses seeking a highly adaptable accounting solution that offers a precise and detailed overview of their finances. QuickBooks is a good choice for freelancers and small businesses that need a simple way to track expenses, organize receipts and log mileage. As mentioned above when working with traditional documents and traditional accounting software filling out forms is a time-consuming activity. PDFelement not only allows any PDF form to be transformed into an editable form with ease, but it also allows for the simple creation of fillable forms from scratch.

His work has been featured in outlets such as Keypoint Intelligence, FitSmallBusiness and PCMag. You might also run into limited customization options to meet your business needs, technical issues and a learning curve. If you don’t also work with an accountant, you might have less insight and run into some errors.

Which Accounting Software Is Best For Your Business?

Spreadsheet-based solutions like QuickBooks are a slight improvement, but only slight. Their products only move inefficient processes from paper to spreadsheets, but cloud AP offers true process automation. In this blog, we’ll dive into the benefits of embracing cloud accounting for SaaS AP. Zoho Books is online accounting software that manages your finances, automates business workflows, and helps you work collectively across departments.