Comparison of popular Small Business Accounting Software with features & pricing to help you select the best Business Accounting Software:
Business Accounting Software is an application that records all the company’s transactions and generates reports. These accounting tools offer the functionalities to prepare financial reports that will give you visibility over profit.
You will be able to compare the revenue & costs easily and check the bank & loan balances. It can predict tax liabilities. Such powerful information on finance will help you to make important decisions.
Most of the accounting software available in the market can handle payroll. They can be integrated with the existing payroll systems.
Example: QuickBooks and FreshBooks can be integrated with the popular payroll system – Gusto. Some applications have payroll capabilities built into them.
What You Will Learn:
Small Business Accounting Software
The below image explains the details of this research.
Few More Points to Consider
While choosing the accounting software for small businesses, you can consider the following factors:
- Features required by small businesses include generating customized financial reports, payroll, tracking of inventory, and choosing from the multiple invoicing options.
- Based on your specific requirements, you can look for the features like multi-currency transactions for overseas customers or a web-based application to collaborate with the team.
- Ease of use
- Integrations with other business software.
- Security of data
- Customer support
- Cost of the tool.
Price Range
The prices of Small Business accounting software is in the range of $0 to $150. Most of the applications offer basic plans in the range of $0 to $56 per month whereas premium plans can go up to $140 per user per month.
Our TOP Recommendations:
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| FreshBooks | Zoho Books | Bonsai | QuickBooks |
| • Expense Tracking • Accounting • Invoice creation | • Workflow Automation • Finance Management • Expense Tracking | • Financial Reporting • Expense Tracking • Tax Automation | • Payment Management • Invoicing • Billing Automation |
| Price: $4.50 monthly Free Trial: Available | Price: $9 monthly Free Trial: Available | Price: $17 monthly Free Trial: Available | Price: $7.50 monthly Free Trial: Available |
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Benefits
- The use of accounting software reduces the risk of human errors.
- Its use will give you a more professional appearance.
- Accounting software is mobile-friendly and will allow you to access the data from anywhere on a variety of devices.
- These tools provide real-time visibility of the business and help you with business decisions.
TrustRadius researched the buying activity of accounting software and it says that small to medium-sized businesses are the consistent users of these tools. The below image will show you the result of this research.
Key Capabilities
Every small business accounting software must have the functions of invoicing, bank & credit card syncing, online payment collection from customers, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and bank & credit card syncing.
It should also have a facility to prepare basic financial statements E.g. profit and loss statements. There should be user access for accountants or tax professionals.
Best Way to Maintain Accounting Records
The best way to maintain accounting records is to use accounting software. It will be the fast and ideal solution to digitally maintain the records. You can access digital records anywhere. Unlike physical records, they will not get destroyed by a fire or natural disaster.
Digitally, you can easily keep the records up-to-date. Another advantage of digital records is that they are easy to share.
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List of Top Accounting Software for Small Business
Here is a list of popular Business Accounting Software:
- FreshBooks
- Incfile
- Zoho Books
- Intuit QuickBooks
- Oracle NetSuite
- Bonsai
- Wave
- Xero
- SlickPie
- Pabbly
- Kashoo
- Sage 50cloud
- ZipBooks
- AccountingEdge Pro
- Sunrise
- GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping
- OneUp
- Tipalti
Comparison of the BEST Small Business Accounting Software
| Software | Best for | Features | Price | Our Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
FreshBooks | Invoicing. | Invoicing, Expenses, Accounting, Payments, etc. | Lite: $4.50/ month Plus: $7.50/ month Premium: $15/month |  |
Incfile | Accounting, Bookkeeping and Tax Filing | Business and Personal Tax Filing, Compliance Assistance, Financial Reporting | Starts at $90/month |  |
| Zoho Books | Automation | Managing finances & automating business workflows. | It starts at $15 per organization per month. | |
QuickBooks | User-friendliness | Managing income, expenses, etc. | The price starts at $12.50 per month. | |
Oracle NetSuite | Overall best | Finance & Accounting, Billing, etc. | Get a quote | |
Bonsai | Automated expense tracking | Tax reminders, P&L tracking, financial reporting. | Starter plan: $17 per month, Professional plan: $32/month, Business plan: $52/month. (Billed Annually). | |
Wave | Micro-businesses | Accounting, Invoicing, etc. | Free | |
Xero | Overall best | Invoicing, Multi-currency, Accept payments, | Starter: $20/month Standard: $30/month Premium: $40/month | |
SlickPie | Free software. | Online invoicing, automated data entry, financial reports, etc. | Starter: Free Pro: $39.95/ month. | |
Pabbly  | Affordable plan. | Tax handling, Customer portal, Sales analytics | $9 per month. Sign Up for free. | |
#1) FreshBooks
Best for invoicing
FreshBooks is perfect accounting software for freelancers, self-employed professionals, and businesses. It offers the functionalities of Invoicing, Expenses, Payments, Accounting, etc. It is accessible from iOS and Android devices. It offers the features of time tracking and reporting.
Your team will be able to seamlessly collaborate on projects. FreshBooks can be integrated with 100 applications.
Features:
- Automatic tracking of expenses.
- It offers easy-to-use double-entry accounting.
Verdict: FreshBooks offers accounting software with features for Invoicing, Payments, Expenses, etc. You will be able to create professional-looking invoices with FreshBooks. You will get accuracy through automatic checks and balances.
Price:
- Lite: $4.50 per month
- Plus: $7.50 per month
- Premium: $15 per month
- You can get a quote for more than 500 billable clients.
#2) Incfile
Best for Accounting, Bookkeeping and Tax Filing.
With Incfile, you get an accounting/bookkeeping service that was tailor-made for small businesses. At a low-monthly fee, you get hands-on support from dedicated accounting and bookkeeping specialists who handle the task on your behalf and ensure your business remains compliant to avoid frequent IRS audits.
Besides keeping your accounts in check, the experts at Incfile also help you with tax filing. You can count on Incfile to accurately file both your business and personal taxes.
Features:
- Business and Personal Tax Filing
- Compliance Assistance
- Financial Reporting
- One-on-One Support from dedicated professionals
Verdict: If cost-effective and time-efficient accounting, bookkeeping, and tax filing services are what you seek, then you’ll be more than satisfied what Incfile has to offer.
Price: Plans starts at $90/month. The price you can expect to pay will depend on entity type and state of formation.
#3) Zoho Books
Best for automation.
Zoho Books is a tool for automating business workflows and managing finances. It is an online tool that will help with mundane accounting tasks. With Zoho Books, you will be able to chase payments through payment reminders and offer customers an option to pay online.
It has functionalities for creating & sending purchase orders, uploading expense receipts, and keeping a track of the payments made by you. You will be able to keep a track of inventory. It has a facility to set up rules so that the bank transactions will get categorized.
Features:
- Zoho Books offers the features of Bank Reconciliation and recurring transactions.
- It offers custom invoices and expense tracking features.
Verdict: Zoho Books is an integrated platform for end-to-end accounting and easy collaboration. It offers the functionalities for Receivables, Payables, Inventory, Banking, Time tracking, Contacts, and Reports.
Price:
- Free Trial: 14 days
- Basic: $9 per organization per month.
- Standard: $19 per organization per month.
- Professional: $29 per organization per month.
#4) Intuit QuickBooks
Best for user-friendliness.
QuickBooks is a tool for managing income, expenses, etc. It provides easy-to-read reports. It will help you with capturing and organizing receipts. It has features to track sales and sales tax.
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You will be able to manage cash flow with this software. It can be used online by signing in to QuickBooks or by downloading the application for Windows or Mac devices.
Features:
- Intuit QuickBooks has features for invoices and accepting payments.
- The premium plan can estimate quarterly taxes.
Verdict: Intuit QuickBooks is a tool that offers basic Bookkeeping tools, Automated billing features, and functionalities to organize & manage Projects, Inventory, & Contractors. It provides deeper insights and dedicated support.
Price:
- Free trial for 30 days.
- The price starts at $7.50 per month.
#5) Oracle NetSuite
Best Overall.
NetSuite offers a cloud-based solution for small businesses with functionalities for ERP/Accounting, CRM, Ecommerce, and PSA. This tool is suitable for emerging businesses, startups, and established businesses. Its financial management solution provides the functionalities for finance & accounting, billing, and financial reporting.
Features:
- NetSuite Financial Management solutions provide unified business insights.
- It has features for intuitive planning, budgeting, and forecasting.
Verdict: NetSuite offers a cloud-based solution for small as well as large businesses. For financial management, it offers the features of Finance & Accounting, Billing, Revenue recognition, Financial Planning, Financial Reporting, Global Accounting & Consolidation, etc.
Price: Free product tour is available. You can get a quote for its pricing details.
#6) Bonsai
Best for Automated expense tracking.
Bonsai is accounting software that was designed after considering the unique needs of small businesses and freelancers in mind.
The software serves as the perfect tool for start-ups and self-employed professionals to manage their expenses with automated spend tracking. It also helps that this software is capable of estimating taxes so you can clear them before the due date.
Features:
- Easy-to-comprehend financial reporting.
- Send annual and quarterly tax reminders.
- Helps you track profit and loss over different periods during the year.
- Automatically imports expense from a bank account with a tax-write off.
Verdict: Bonsai is simple yet advanced accounting software that specifically caters to the demands of small businesses. You get software that is capable of presenting you with income reports, tracking expenses, and sending tax reminders, all in one.
Price:
Bonsai offers three plans that are all billed annually. There is also a free trial.
- Starter plan: $17 per month
- Professional plan: $32/month
- Business plan: $52/month
The first two months with the annual plan will be free.
#7) Wave
Best for micro-businesses.
Wave is a free finance software that has functionalities for Accounting, Invoicing, and Receipt scanning. It can track sales tax on income and expenses. It is a fully-functional double-entry system that can create financial statements for year-end.
It can be used for multiple businesses in one account. It has a receipt scanning feature with a mobile app that will let you scan unlimited receipts.
Features:
- Wave offers data security through 256-bit SSL encryption.
- It can provide powerful reports on Overdue Invoice & Bills, Cash Flow, Profit & loss, etc.
Verdict: Wave is a completely free software for Accounting, Invoicing, and Receipt Scanning. There are no limitations or hidden fees. You can create an account and start using the software for free. It is a web-based solution and offers a mobile app for Invoicing and Receipt Scanning. The mobile app supports Android and iOS devices.
Price: Free.
Website: Wave
#8) Xero
Best Overall.
Xero is online accounting software with a lot of features such as Accepting payments, Asset management, Bank connections, etc. It has functionalities for Invoicing, Pay Bills, Quotes, and Reporting. It supports Multi-currency accounting. It will let you attach the documents such as invoices, bills, etc. to the data.
Features:
- Xero offers features to Accept payments, Bank connections, and Bank reconciliation.
- It has Advisor tools, Asset management functionalities, and a Business performance dashboard.
Verdict: This online software is a perfect solution for small businesses. It has all the time-saving tools. It offers a mobile app for iOS and Android devices. It will help you with tracking sales and purchases. You can integrate Xero with more than 800 third-party apps.
Price:
- Starter ($20 per month)
- Standard ($30 per month)
- Premium ($40 per month).
- Free Trial available.
Website: Xero
#9) SlickPie
Best for free software.
SlickPie is an expense management software that has functionalities for Invoicing, Billing, Automated data entry, Live bank feeds, etc. It has a facility for financial reports. Its MagicBot will help you with streamlining the expenses as you can pull out the information from receipts and convert it into digital data.
You will be able to perform all the expense management functionalities, from invoices to detailed reports.
Features:
- SlickPie has a MagicBot that is a tool to enter automated receipt data.
- It offers all the functionalities for expense management.
Verdict: SlickPie has a simple and intuitive design that makes the tool easy to use. You will get effortless accounting experience with SlickPie. It will help you to transform your business through facilities like automating transactions of Recurring invoices and Automatic payment reminders.
Price:
- Starter: Free
- Pro: $39.95 per month.
Website: SlickPie
#10) Pabbly
Best for an affordable plan.
Pabbly is an online marketing and sales software. It offers powerful tools such as Form creation, Email marketing, Billing, Automation, etc.
It has the functionality of subscription billing that will help you with Recurring billing and subscription management. It will help you to collect the payment securely through multiple payment gateways.
Features:
- Pabbly supports a global payment gateway.
- It has an affiliate management module that will let you set commission rules as well as handle payouts.
Verdict: Pabbly is one single package of 5 business-critical applications. Its subscription billing tool comes with features of a Customer portal, Coupon management, Tax handling, and Sales Analytics.
Price: $9 per month. Sign Up for free.
Website: Pabbly
#11) Kashoo
Best for easy setup.
Kashoo is the accounting software with the latest technology integrated into it. It is a perfect solution for small businesses. It can be used by Contractors, Freelancers, Digital professionals, etc.
Its smart tool performs automatic categorization so that you will be compliant with IRS or CRA. It provides security to your data with 256-bit SSL-encryption. It will ensure that the data is backed up daily and protected against unauthorized access.
Features:
- Kashoo has built-in safeguards to protect and guide.
- Automatic categorization
Verdict: Kashoo is specially built for small businesses and thus offers all the necessary features required by them.
Price: $16.65 per month, 14-days free trial.
Website: Kashoo
#12) Sage 50cloud Accounting
Best for user-friendliness.
Sage 50cloud Accounting is a solution for Accounting & Invoicing. It has functionalities for managing Cash flow, Inventory, and Taxes, etc. It is a cloud-based solution and thus offers the flexibility of remote data access. It has functionalities for creating & sending bills and invoices, recording purchase orders, managing job costs, etc.
Features:
- Sage 50cloud Accounting offers the features for Cash flow & invoicing and Payments & Banking.
- It has features for job costing, payroll, and reporting.
Verdict: Sage 50cloud Accounting is an easy to use application that offers plans for Solopreneurs, Entrepreneurs, and Small businesses. It can also provide industry-specific functionalities.
Price:
- Pro Accounting: $340 per user per year
- Premium Accounting: $510 per user per year.
- Quantum Accounting: $842 per user per year.
- Test drive available.
Website: Sage 50cloud Accounting
#13) ZipBooks
Best for accounting capabilities.
ZipBooks is the software for Accounting and Online Invoicing. It offers functionalities for sending invoices and tracking time & expenses. It can be integrated with your bank to help you with processing credit cards.
ZipBooks is the free software that will allow you to connect with 1 bank, view basic reports, accept digital payments, send unlimited invoices, and manage unlimited vendors & customers.
With premium plans, it offers advanced functionalities such as sharing documents securely, locking of completed books, editing transactions in bulk, and migrating existing accounting data, etc.
Features:
- ZipBooks provides smart insights and reports.
- It has features for scheduling recurring invoices with auto-bill and connecting with multiple bank accounts.
Verdict: ZipBooks is a simple yet powerful software for Accounting, Invoicing, and billing. It will get seamlessly integrated with your billing into your books. It is a tool with functionalities of Bank connect, Time tracking, Smart tagging, Team management, and Mobile accounting.
Price:
- Starter: Free
- Smarter: $15 per month.
- Sophisticated: $35 per month.
- Accountant: Get a quote.
Website: ZipBooks
Additional Business Accounting Software
#14) AccountingEdge Pro
AccountingEdge Pro is the accounting software for small businesses. It supports performing key account functions remotely through the cloud-based app – AccountEdge Connect. This tool is for everyone, small as well as growing businesses.
AccountEdge Hosted is for hosting the company files from anywhere on any device so that the files will be accessible. You can try the product for free. Its price for Windows starts at $149 as a one-time fee.
Website: AccountingEdge Pro
#15) Sunrise
Sunrise is a bookkeeping software specially made for small businesses. It can be used for unlimited transactions. It is available for free. The mobile app is available for collecting payments, managing invoices, and organizing receipts.
Its paid plans start at $149 per month for up to 120 transactions a month. With a free plan, it offers the features of unlimited customized invoices, unlimited bank transactions, cash flow reports, double-entry accounting, accepting online & mobile payments, etc.
Website: Sunrise
#16) GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping
GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping is for organized and automated bookkeeping. You will be able to create professional invoices with this tool. It has functionalities for invoices & estimates and for tracking mileage & time.
It can provide current year business reports. It will allow you to accept payments from mobile devices.
With the premium plans, it offers the features of unlimited business reports, automatic import of bank & credit card transactions, etc. The price of the tool starts at $4.99 per month.
Website: GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping
#17) OneUp
OneUp is an automatic bookkeeping tool with functionalities for invoicing, accounting, inventory, and CRM. It is a flexible application and will allow you to create your invoices, enter invoices by hand, and enter sales orders.
It has a customizable template for invoices. It can retrieve daily bank transactions. OneUp will categorize the bank entries. Its price starts at $9 per month. It offers a free trial for 30 days.
Website: OneUp
#18) Tipalti
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Tipalti is an account payable software that has functionalities for automating the complete payment operations. Global mass B2B payments will be frictionless & efficient.
It supports global supplier payments and will allow you to pay to 190 countries in 120 currencies. It can automate the complete invoice-to-pay to reconciliation accounts payable process.
Website: Tipalti
Conclusion
We have gone through several specialized accounting software for small businesses. Based on the features, scalability, price, and ease of use, we have selected the above mentioned top 16 tools.
NetSuite and Wave are our top recommended solutions for small businesses. NetSuite offers a solution that is suitable for small as well as large businesses. Wave is completely free software with excellent accounting capabilities. The other tools in our list that offer a free plan are SlickPie and ZipBooks.
Quickbooks is one of the popular small business accounting software and it is also known for its ease of use. Xero is the overall best solution but has a bit expensive plans. Sage 50cloud Accounting has the most expensive pricing plans.
We hope this tutorial on Small Business Accounting Software will help you in choosing the right one for your business.
Further reading =>> Top alternatives to BlackLine
Research Process:
- Time Taken To Research And Write This Article: 26 Hrs
- Total Tools Researched Online: 32
- Top Tools Shortlisted For Review: 15