Small business owners need accounting software because it helps in the organization of accounts receivable and accounts payable, gives a clear picture of profitability, and makes the preparation for tax season more convenient. When talking about small business accounting software, it is beneficial to gain access to powerful software features without having to be stressed about the customizations. The best small business accounting software should also be scalable as the business grows.
Luckily, we do not have a shortage of accounting software for small businesses, each with varied capabilities and subscription costs. Small businesses tend to choose their accounting software based on the industry they belong to and the number of employees. For example, a freelance graphic artist’s needs for an accounting software are certainly different than those of a hardware store owner.
We have gathered together the best small business accounting software the current market has to offer. During our evaluation, we considered cost, ease of use, features, integrations, and scalability.
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A great small business accounting software can provide information in seconds that will help you answer your questions concerning profitability, readiness to pay tax, loopholes in the business (departments where investment is needed), and cashflow leaks.
A great software should be able to provide the answers to the questions above through understandable and actionable reports and charts. Also, one of the great benefits of getting a small business accounting software is that it reduces repetitive data entry. For example, after creating a customer record, you do not have to look up that ZIP code again. This can be applied even to your lists of vendors, items or services, and of employees. You do not have to fill out messy spreadsheets manually ever again.
An accounting software that gives you mobile access through Android and iOS apps is also a great benefit especially for those who are always on the go.
Here are our picks for the best small business accounting software to try:
The Best Overall Accounting Software for Small Businesses
We ranked Intuit’s QuickBooks Online as the best overall accounting software for small businesses despite being one of the newest names on this list. The software offers both cloud-based and on-premise versions. It provides a comprehensive solution for all accounting activities such as business payments, management, and payment of bills and payroll functions.
Quickbooks allows users to create custom, professional invoices, sales receipts, and estimates that you can send in minutes. It also allows users to instantly see how their business is performing through its dashboards or generate reports. You can also monitor your cash flow, track your expenses, and manage your inventory all within the same software.
Quickbooks offers a 30-day free trial period after which paid services start at $4/month (if self-employed) or $8/month (for small businesses).
Best for Small Business Owners Who Just Got Started
If you have just started a small business and find the help of accounting software priceless, then Xero is a great choice for you. It gives you access to all the basic accounting tools you need to grow your small business.
Xero lets you manage every business asset like vehicles, machinery, hardware, and office equipment to come up with accurate accounting reports. It also lets you perform tasks such as capturing time and costs, sending invoices, and monitoring progress on a single platform. It also has tax features that make it easy to file taxes online, as well as prepare and submit sales tax returns. It even determines taxes for your sales and purchases adjusted based on the most recent rates. Managing your business is never easier than when using their dashboard. It includes in-built charts and graphs for actionable insights to help you make data-driven business decisions.
They offer a 30-day free trial period and then paid services start at $20/month.
Best for Businesses in the Service Industry
Founded in 2003, FreshBooks is one of the most popular and established accounting software on this list. With its help, management of all your accounting activities like invoicing, time tracking, making payments is seamless and hassle-free.
Users can create emails and invoices with great customization. It even lets you design your logo and signature. Say goodbye to manual expense tracking. With Freshbooks, you can link your bank account with the software and receive updates about your spending on regular intervals. Users can check the exact time spent on activities like engaging clients, finishing a project, and more. This helps improve the handling efficiency of stakeholders in your small business.
It offers a 30-day free trial period followed by paid services starting at only $6/month.
The Best Free Accounting Software
Wave is a powerful free accounting software that can provide a comprehensive, all-in-one solution to all your accounting needs. If you’re running a service-based small business (or are a freelancer) that sends simple invoices and doesn’t need to track inventory or run payroll, then Wave might be a great partner to get for your accounting needs. The best part? Wave is entirely free of cost.
Waves takes care of all your accounting woes such as expense and income tracking. For convenience, you can connect your bank accounts so that you can easily balance your books and make tax compliance a breeze. Quickly create and send invoices with just a click of a button. You can even custom-design invoices through its wealth of easy-to-use and highly customizable templates. Lastly, users can receive and read receipts on any mobile device. No matter where you are — even if you’re not connected to the internet — Wave lets you scan the receipts anytime.
There is no paid subscription; it is entirely free and has no hidden charges.
Great for Small Businesses with Specific Accounting Requirements
Sage Business Cloud Accounting is a popular accounting software provider. Its software is perfect for those who are not tech-savvy and do not have a lot of accounting knowledge. Sage allows multiple-user access while maintaining the safety and security of your data. You can use the software and access your books with no additional fees.
Sage gives you access to modules to manage quotes, invoices, handle and submit taxes, sync your bank accounts for expense monitoring, create cash flow forecasting reports, and more. You can do all this from either your desktop or via their mobile app.
Sage offers a 30-day free trial period after which paid services start at only $10/month.
The Best Accounting Software with Automation
Zoho Books is an amazing tool for a small business owner to track cash flow and finances. Zoho Books gives you access to powerful automation features so that you can manage workflows across departments more efficiently. This software has a wide array of tools for inventory management, bank synchronization, time-tracking, and financial reporting — all accessible through a user-friendly interface.
Zoho’s intuitive dashboard makes it easy for any member of your business to utilize the software. Its impressive customer support and its capacity to accept payments online make Zoho one of the better software for more casual users.
It offers a 14-day free trial period and paid services start at $9/month.
A Dedicated Bookkeeper for Businesses
One service that separates Sunrise from the rest on this list is that it gives you access to the services of a dedicated bookkeeper. So, if your business is willing to spend more, you can choose to outsource some of those responsibilities within the accounting software.
Sunrise’s user-friendliness and wealth of features is perfect for freelancers and solo business owners who need a tool to help them monitor their cash flow and invoice customers. This software is also ideal for small businesses that need double-entry accounting and can live without time tracking, comprehensive reports, and mobile access.
Sunrise is available for free but if you need the help of dedicated bookkeepers, you need to get the plan that starts at $149/month.
Best for Businesses that Have Simple Accounting Needs
If you’re a small business owner or a freelancer, you know how crucial paying attention to your cash flow is. Kashoo gives you access to multiple tools so that you can stay on top of your financial status. You can also set up credit card payments on each invoice, which makes it easy for your customers to pay you directly.
With Kashoo, you can easily keep track of all of your clients and suppliers as well as run an inventory of items or services that you sell. If your business only employs a handful of people, Kashoo works well with payroll software such as Sure Payroll.
Offers a 14-day free trial period then paid services start at $199/year or $19.95/month.
Best Accounting Software for eCommerce Businesses
GoDaddy Bookkeeping succeeded in building a straightforward tool that helps self-employed individuals, freelancers, and contractors compute their taxes every quarter. You’ve probably heard of GoDaddy somewhere else (they’re better known for being one of the best web hosting service providers) and this should be an indication that its bookkeeping service is definitely worth checking out too.
While GoDaddy has not introduced any major changes since 2019, the site has evolved over the years to include good invoicing tools, as well as integrations with eBay, Etsy, and Amazon. This makes it easy for small and part-time merchants to link their sales on those sites for accurate bookkeeping.
GoDaddy offers a 45-day free trial period followed by paid services starting at $4.99/month.
The Best Bang-for-the-Buck Accounting Software
Moneyspire has a good-looking main window with a clean layout, giving it one of the best looks as far as user interface is concerned. You can access the Overview, Accounts, Reminders, Budget, Reports, and Invoices features through different panes.
If you don’t like the default interface, you can easily customize it. You can experiment with the color, font, data locations, sorting mode, register column order, start page, and other details.
It is available for free and if you want to access other features, you only have to pay a one-time fee of $59.
Accounting software is software that does various accounting and bookkeeping tasks. It stores a business’s financial data and is often used to perform business transactions.
Most modern iterations of accounting software already give the business owner access to the cloud. That means you can connect from any internet-capable device, like your laptop or smartphone. This also means that you’ll have access to real-time data as the accounting software, being online, automatically receives and updates because it’s always connected to the internet.
Different kinds of accounting software have different features. However, it is basic for all of them to allow you to automatically enter, store, and analyze data for you. This is especially useful for saving time on tasks like bank reconciliation. They also offer useful tools like invoicing, bill payment, payroll, and financial reporting.
Accounting software is also a tool used by business owners to track income, expenses, and finances. Compared to manual processing, it’s more efficient and makes fewer mistakes. It also helps save time through automation and is a great tool to store important documents and receipts to access at any time.
Utilizing accounting software for small businesses is extremely beneficial because it saves you time. If you’re running a small business, you’re most likely tasked to do multiple roles at once. Leaving otherwise manual tasks to automation will allow you to focus on the more important aspects of the business. It is also helpful in generating reports. With an accounting software, it’s easier to be on top of your business. You can easily generate reports that let you see your financial status with just a few clicks of a button.
Using small business accounting software also means you can expect more accurate, error-free reports. It also simplifies complicated company processes such as payroll, tax filing, and inventory tracking.
There is no question that accounting software are heaven-sent to small business owners due to their ability to make complicated company processes simpler and more manageable.
We hope you’ll be able to find the best accounting software for you from the names we gathered on this list. As always, we want to take this opportunity to remind you that the best software does not depend on its price or the number of features it offers alone, but rather on the interplay of your budget, type of industry you belong to, availability of customer support, and ease-of-use.
Last updated on by Joshua Holdeman
