Accounting is the process of recording and managing financial transactions with regard to your business. Accountancy also includes summarization, analysis, and reporting of your financial transactions in order to keep your business books accurate at all times. It also involves processes to comply with the standard accounting regulations and tax rules.
Accounting is one of the important aspects of running a booming business. If you are looking for accounting software for your small business, you can opt for free accounting software options. DIY business accounting will not only save your time but it will also help you manage the financial aspect of the business in better ways.
To help you in making financial decisions concerning your business, the use of Accounting Software has become very important. This software provides you with accounting tools that can be used to gain financial insights. They also provide you with basic information that is essential in planning your financial operations. Accounting software is used in the business and industry for the purpose of tracking and reporting financial information, such as revenue or expenses. Accounting is an essential part of any business and is widely required by law.
Here are the best accounting software available:
1.QuickBooks Online
Every business organization looks forward to incorporating customized means that eases overall workability and increases productivity. QuickBooks is one of the modern, scalable, and rich featured accounting software which fulfills work obligations by boosting efficiency. This software aids small and medium scale business through various customized plans. QuickBooks is easy to use software that tracks, calculates, organizes financial aspects, and making them perfectly effective to transmit over various departments. With QuickBooks, it becomes easier to import transactions, reconcile bank accounts, and know where the money is invested.
QuickBooks Online allows tracking of income-expenses, generate invoices, regularise payments, import invoices, maximize tax deductions, run and export reports including profit/loss, expenses, balance sheets, easily track cash flows and avoid surprise transaction. Additionally, it allows dashboard customization, custom chart builder, track KPIs, track deductible miles, categorize business and personal trips, forecast cash flows, generate financial insights, run custom reports, match certified bookkeeper, and connect with the later as per convenience. QuickBooks reduces your stress by automating bills, recurrent payments, activate Auto Payroll, Tax penalty protection, manage inventory, calculate sales tax, track project profitability, and create groups accordingly. QuickBooks is one of the best accounting software for a small business which suffices all the financial requirement through its three different plans. Available for the free trial, QuickBooks also provides virtual support to its customers; help them choose the plans accordingly.
QuickBooks Online Accounting Features : Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, Expense Tracking, Payroll Management, Tax Management.
2. ZipBooks
Another top free accounting software for small businesses to consider is ZipBooks. ZipBooks offers all the crucial features of an accounting software—reports, bank syncing, billing, expense management, and invoicing—in one free account.
If you want to offer online payments to your invoiced customers via ZipBooks, you’ll need to do so via Square or PayPal. You’ll pay the standard PayPal rates and Square rates for those transactions.
ZipBooks offers an integrated payroll add-on option with Gusto. Gusto starts at $39 per month, plus $6 per person per month. For a limited time, you can get the Core plan for a discounted price of a monthly $19 base cost for the first six months. Gusto also has a new option for contractor-only employers, who simply pay the $6 per employee rate and no base price.
3. FreshBooks –
One of the best accounting software for small business, FreshBooks has been popular for helping the small business run smoothly and engage in profitable ventures. When you start a new business, you have to focus on its smooth venturing, profit-making, security, and handle tons of accounting activities. Since small and startup businesses lack resources, FreshBooks comes as a handy software that makes your business running smooth, fast, easy, and secure. This software is among the best accounting software for startups as it provides automated tools to manage your business hassle-free.
FreshBooks saves time by automating invoice reminders and putting the business on autopilot mode. It has become easier to generate insightful reports and keeping an eye on the financials that helps in making smarter decisions. With a customized dashboard, Freshbook keeps all your client conversations secured, handles projects, syncs with the team, and manages work schedules. The reports generated are easy to follow and powerful enough to understand and make business decisions. FreshBooks is a well designed, powerful, easy to follow, and functional platform to keep track of expenses, payments, and receivables.
FreshBooks Accounting Features : Accounts Receivable, Billing & Invoicing, Expense Tracking
4. Odoo Accounting –
Among the best online accounting software, Odoo Accounting is evolving faster with growing users. For decades manual accounting strategy has pulled down business and resulted in slow growth. Odoo Accounting is an online, strategic, automatic, and a beautiful concept of recording every transaction in such a way that you are left with ample time to focus on business growth. Breaking all the misconception around errors of online accounting, Odoo Accounting brings you an all together automated accounting system. This is one of the most-used accounting software for its advanced features, real-time insights, time-saving tools, and automated electronic invoicing.
With Odoo Accounting integrated into the business, get your bank statements synced with your bank account automatically. Importing files, exporting, sharing desktop, creating invoices, managing recurring bills have become easier than following the conventional method. Odoo Accounting controls supplier invoices, manages expenses, bills, tracks payments, keeps a track of your money, saves time by automating reconciliation. If you are worried about missing receivables than Odoo automatically generates invoices and sets reminders for your debtors. The software is capable of creating beautiful reports, balance sheets, cash flow statements, carry out data comparison, and automatically create project tasks. Its time to unleash your business growth with this business accounting software available online.
Odoo Accounting Features: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, CPA Firms, Expense Tracking, Fixed Asset Management, Fund Accounting, Government, Nonprofits, Payroll Management, Project Accounting, Purchase Orders, Tax Management.
5. Zoho Books
Zoho Books is one of the top accounting software that manages finances, keeps the company GST compliant, and automates business workflows. As your business grows, it becomes difficult to manage everything while focusing on business growth. Zoho Books integrates with other apps installed in the business system that run every aspect of a business. Right from negotiating business deals, raising sales orders, generating invoices, and accepting payments, Zoho Books handles mundane accounting tasks. The software helps in focusing on business without disrupting the workflow. Additionally, Zoho Books creates GST invoices, files tax returns, and helps the business to remain GST compliant.
Zoho Books creates e-way bills, automatically detects transactions, helps in capturing transport bills, calculate GST liability, enables push transactions, and segregate the supply of GST levied goods. Zoho Books of accounts chase every transaction, enable payment reminders, and provide the customers with online payment options. The payable feature incorporated in Zoho Books allows you to keep a track of your money. It has become easier to create and send purchase orders, upload expense receipts, keep a track of payments. In addition to handling cash, Zoho Books is capable of tracking inventory, replenish stock, organize stock, and generate vital information like stock costing, pricing, and stock in hand.
Zoho Books Accounting Features : Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, Purchase Orders
5.Sage Business Cloud Accounting
Sage is a popular cloud-based accounting software widely integrated by small and medium scale businesses. Trusted by more than 3 million people, Sage has been providing simple accounting solutions for the past 38 years. The software is one of the best accounting software for small business that not only manages your data but also keeps a track on money flow. For any start-up, it is important to manage the business and scrutinize new ideas without worrying much about the management and admin tasks. Sage solves your issues by eliminating the financial compliances, handling data, and making it available as per requirement.
Sage is online accounting software for small businesses that creates and sends online invoices, accepts payments, connects with your bank, and manages transactions effortlessly. From sales to purchase, cash flows, and reporting, Sage cloud accounting management software serves the business with commendable features. Additionally, Sage integrates with Microsoft Office 365 to provide a hybrid, complete accounting solution. It monitors and manages cash flows, optimizes sales, analyses performance, provides remote access, and compliances with various tax structures. Sage is an advanced solution that comes with a 60-day risk-free guarantee and full-time online support. Now, it’s no longer an errand task to maintain your receivables, payables, and money when Sage is available at your service.
Sage Business Cloud Accounting Features: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, Expense Tracking, Nonprofits, Payroll Management, Tax Management
6. Wave Accounting
An easy to use business accounting software is a boon for any organization. Wave Accounting software is a free, powerful, and smart option for organizations that are looking to unleash business growth. When you work hard for your business, you look forward to solutions that can be easily integrated into the system and allows you to focus on other aspects. Wave Accounting provides you an organized and stress-free accounting solution. The software offers a smart dashboard that organizes your income, expenses, payables, and receivables. Wave uses double-entry accounting software which largely makes it accountant-friendly software.
Wave Accounting is the best accounting software enriched with powerful bookkeeping features that makes it stand out among other accounting software. Track overdue bills, make payments, keep an eye on bank reconciliation, handle debit and credit cards, cash inflow and outflow, manage profit and loss, and many other relatable activities. Wave is accounting software that allows business owners and accounting professionals to gather all the relevant information into one financial system. The software accomplishes entire accounting duties, streamlines projects, and eliminates chances of human error. Wave Accounting allows users to create accounts for free. Being one of the best online accounting software for small business, Wave can be installed at no hidden price. Yes, it’s free!
Wave Accounting Features : Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, CPA Firms, Expense Tracking, Fixed Asset Management, Fund Accounting, Government, Nonprofits, Payroll Management, Project Accounting, Purchase Orders, Tax Management
7. SlickPie
The free accounting software SlickPie is also worth looking into for your small business finances. The free version of this accounting software allows for unlimited automated receipt entries, 10 different companies on one account, and email support. It also allows you to create quotes and estimates that can easily become professional invoices. SlickPie also allows you to connect your PayPal and Stripe accounts for free. That means customers will be able to fulfill their invoices with card or PayPal payments online—and you’ll simply have to pay the standard transaction fees that PayPal and Stripe charge.
One feature that this free accounting software seems to be lacking is reports—the SlickPie website doesn’t highlight any built-in reporting capabilities. If you’re hoping to extract valuable, high-level insights from your accounting software, then you might want to consider options other than SlickPie.
8.Patriot Accounting
Patriot Software, with its robust accounting functions, makes it simpler for accountants and businesses to keep a tab on their books. Considered one of the easy-to-use accounting software available in the market, it is affordable enough for start-ups, small businesses, and individual entrepreneurs to resort to. At the same time, the software is capable of fulfilling the complex accounting needs of established organizations across industries. The best thing is, you can start using this system without undergoing any special training.
9. Xero
Online accounting software for small businesses, Xero has been popular for its advanced features, online support, and customized dashboards. The software is equipped with the latest tools, structures, features, and resources to help the company run even during hard times. Xero is helpful for its remote access that allows you to check cash flows and transactions from any device; iPad, desktop, PC, tablet, or phone. This small business accounting software is organized, magical, smart, and simple. The software is also available as mobile apps to help you track bank reconciliation, send invoices, create expense claims, and forward payments.
Equipped with time-saving tools, you need to grow the business, Xero offers a professional environment for the company. With Xero, manage your cash flows by scheduling payments and batch paying suppliers, handle personal expenses and easily segregate from business expenses, create custom purchase orders, copy bills for payments, attach source documents for better finance management. Additionally, this business accounting software updates business exchange reconciles with foreign currency, integrates with more than 800 apps to manage inventory, expenses, invoicing, and time-tracking. Xero is a smart software with more than 2 million subscribers who sought easy solutions for accounting management.
Xero Accounting Features : Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, CPA Firms, Expense Tracking, Fixed Asset Management, Fund Accounting, Government, Nonprofits, Payroll Management, Project Accounting, Purchase Orders, Tax Management
10. Patriot
Streamlining your entire accounting operations, Patriot Software enables you to import your trial balance, customer, and vendor data hassle-freely. It also supports the payment of bills and the creation of unlimited invoices. Furthermore, it facilitates the automatic import of your bank transactions and payment acceptance via credit cards. What’s more? You can also track your income, expenses and funds, record them for future reference, and generate accurate financial reports for better business decisions. And set up reminders so that you never have to miss any incoming or outgoing payments. To top it all, the system lets you define your own rules for business accounting transactions, safeguarding your finances.
Patriot Accounting Features: Account reconciliation, Automatic Import of Bank Transactions, Easy Import of Customer and Vendor data, Simplified Bill Payments, Unlimited Invoicing, Invoice Payment Reminders, Payment Receipts & Recording, Tracking of Income & Expenses, Cash-to-accrual Toggle, Financial Reporting, Contractor Check Payments with e-signatures, Smart Suggestions, Optional e-Filing, Payment Acceptance through Credit card, Free Support by Experts
11. Crunch
Crunch is the only business accounting software that loves accounting as much as you are concerned for the business. Easy to use, pocket-friendly, expert-support, and jargon-free; Crunch is trusted by more than ten thousand contractors and freelancers. One of the best accounting software for small businesses, Crunch is perfectly designed for the companies established all over the UK. The software offers customized packages to select from, depending on the client’s requirement. It provides the ultimate solution for sole traders, freelancers, contractors, income workers, LTD companies, consultants, and small and growing businesses.
So what makes Crunch a sought after accounting software? The answer is its incredible, user-friendly features. Crunch acts as your bookkeeper, accountant, and dedicated assistance. The electronic accounting software provides real-time dashboards to help you get an immediate view of business performance. The software manages your expenses and tracks your income from various sources. Crunch automatically tracks invoices and makes it easier to generate your receivables. Additionally, if you are a start-up company, Crunch acts as the best online accounting software for startups. The team helps the business with its formation and explains everything to make sure you do not incur additional costs or pay taxes.
Crunch Accounting Features : Accounts Receivable, Billing & Invoicing, Expense Tracking, Tax Management, Bank Reconciliation, Payroll Management, Purchase Orders
12. AlignBooks
About : One of the most trusted online accounting software for MSMEs, AlignBooks, contains exceptional features to manage your business books as well as inventory. Whether your accounting needs are simple or complex, this comprehensive suite of software helps meet your distinct business requirements with ease. The software comes in with a host of effective modules, right from bookkeeping, billing, purchasing and inventory to sales, invoicing, payroll integration and CRM. A bundle of that, together, streamlines your organization’s operations, boosting its overall efficiency significantly.
In addition to that, you can also track assets and monitor production through dedicated modules. The system supports multiple currencies and allows setting up user privileges. With its in-built controls, it becomes easier to prepare intelligent MIS reports. That, as a result, improves critical business functions, such as planning and implementation. And since AlignBooks is a cloud accounting software that is also available as Android and iOS mobile apps, you can keep your accounts in check anytime from wherever you are. To make things simpler, it also offers an offline mode, along with a secure backup of your data. What’s more? The system provides real-time automated backups for all your data and transactions. It also undergoes smooth version upgrades directly without disturbing the live system.
AlignBooks Accounting Features: Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, CPA Firms, Expense Tracking, Fixed Asset Management, Payroll Management, Project Accounting, Purchase Order Management, Tax Management
13. ONE UP
Bookkeeping is the most important part of accounts, is a tedious task that can be achieved by installing a simplified, smart accounting software. ONE UP is an example of one of the best accounting software which does all the hard work for you by setting up your bank and synchronizing your accounts. ONE UP is one of the fastest online accounting software for small business owners and accountants. ONE UP retrieves daily bank transactions, matches them with your choices, and pops up options after a few days. The software understands your behavior and validates suggestions accordingly. This is a smart feature that helps the users in finding bank entries within a few seconds without wasting much time.
ONE UP is a unique bookkeeping software that matches bank transactions with overdue invoices, existing vendor bills, bank transfers, or creates a new one when required. The software delivers cashflow and profit information on an everyday basis, to help you stay on top of your finances and remain informed as well. ONE UP features a tax calculator to help you calculate periodic sales tax and know exactly the financial position of the business. At the year-end, ONE UP allows you to share the books of profits and loss with designated software outside the business for auditing and taxation purpose. Additional features include inventory, invoicing, and CRM which are fully available on desktop and mobile versions.
ONE UP Accounting Features: Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, Expense Tracking
14. Workday Financial Management
Workday is a cloud-based financial management system that brings your accounting, consolidation, procurement, reporting, projects, and analytics into one single platform. This software provides unparalleled insight into the financial status of your company and advances better control over the accounts management. Workday is one of the best accounting software available in the market as it embraces the organizational process without disrupting your everyday business chores. The software goes beyond the basics of accounting and gives you real-time business control. Understanding actionable reports, making timely decisions, managing embedded activity, are few activities that make Workday at par.
Workday stands out among the list of accounting software for its global operation, multicurrency capabilities, and impeccable features. From audit management, revenue management, reporting, analytics, consolidated balance sheet, financial planning, strategic sourcing, project management, Grants management; Workday software provides them all. The software meets multinational requirements with country-specific configuration. Businesses can now reach new levels of financial efficiency by utilizing in-memory accounting and reporting features offered by Workday. The software allows easy sharing results on the dashboard, scorecards, and configurable KPIs. Additionally, companies can manage cash transactions, forward payments, and track bank accounts, signatories, activity fees, and cash positions as well.
Workday Financial Management Accounting Features: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, Expense Tracking, Fixed Asset Management, Government, Nonprofits, Payroll Management, Project Accounting, Purchase Orders, Tax Management
15. Kashoo
Invest your 28 minutes per year on simple cloud-based accounting software like Kashoo and see your business grow rapidly. If you have a small business, then this is not a joke! Kashoo is one of the best accounting software for small businesses that sorts a whole year’s worth in lesser time than it takes for an accountant. The software allows you a free account to check what it has to offer. From tracking expenses, managing cash in hand to paying your tax, Kashoo is there to do it all!
The smart software changes the way you run your small business by offering an array of features. Generate automated reports that instantly update and runs your business, make professional-looking invoices, and receive instant payments and automate tracking expenses to make your job easier. Kashoo is doing an incredible job by linking your business with bank accounts, syncing them perfectly, and uplift business’ financial health. The software helps you segregate personal expenses from business expenses, manage cash flows, and bank transaction with just one click. This incredible software is available for a free trial and personalized pricing facilities.
Kashoo Accounting Features: Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, CPA Firms, Expense Tracking, Payroll Management, Project Accounting, Tax Management
17. ZarMoney
An advanced cloud-based accounting software; ZarMoney is one of the powerful platforms that grow with you. Equipped with multiple features, ZarMoney is professional-level software that balances your inventory and keeps your books of accounts updated. From invoicing, managing bills, offering complete visibility of inventory, and advancing payments; this software does it all! ZarMoney, the best accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses, gives you instant access to more than 40 built-in and hundreds of customizable reports for all business functions. Thousands of small and medium-sized businesses are choosing ZarMoney for its financial tools and smart pricing solutions.
ZarMoney manages the status of sales order, automatically notifies customers, and provides payment terms and early discounts. In addition to managing business customers, the accounting software creates and sends professional quotes and estimates, converts them into orders, automatically prints invoices, and maintains customized contracts. With sales orders, ZarMoney smartly handles purchase orders, generates credit bills, tracks payments, and automatically detects liabilities. The advanced features include hyper security by limiting access to desired staff, provide password protection, and restrict access based on computer locations. With this unique business accounting software, businesses can manage their inventory, handle bank transactions, automatically calculate taxes, prepare tax filing reports, and create advanced comprehensive reports.
ZarMoney Accounting Features: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, CPA Firms, Expense Tracking, Fund Accounting, Nonprofits, Project Accounting, Purchase Orders, Tax Management
18. ZipBooks
ZipBooks is simple accounting software that gives you a smarter way to record books of accounts and maintain a profitable business. Over the years, the developers of ZipBooks are bringing out the best features to help small business in every aspect. From managing professional level invoices, reporting, and recording bookkeeping, ZipBooks gives you smart insights into the business. This powerful accounting software for small business surpasses all the expectations that one can have from any accounting software. Equipped with multiple features, ZipBooks balances your work by auto-categorizing transactions.
ZipBooks lets you create beautiful, customized invoices, in a few seconds. It connects your bank accounts and credit cards to save time and update. The business accounting software manages taxation in addition to handling bookkeeping. From handling back-office operations from multiple locations to balancing accounts books, ZipBooks keeps immaculate records for your business. The software provides a smart way to track all your transactions, keep on the top list of your creditors, and figure out how much profit you actually earn. Additionally, the software gives you day-to-day updates and intelligent feedback to improve your transaction, make wise tax decisions, and cut down unwanted expenses. From free starter plans to three varied customized plans, ZipBooks sorts your bookkeeping issues smartly.
ZipBooks Accounting Features: Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, CPA Firms, Expense Tracking, Fund Accounting, Government, Nonprofits, Payroll Management, Project Accounting, Purchase Orders, Tax Management
19. myBooks
Empowering small scale business, myBooks is one of the best ways to manage business accounting online. Overcoming the conventional accounting style, myBooks is the best response to all the loopholes that inherent over the past few decades. Termed as the best accounting software for small business, myBooks fulfills issues related to information gaps, inaccuracies, agonizing lead times, and overheads. Accounting software is popular when it does not hurt the financial condition of your business; myBooks is one of the most-used accounting software as it is affordable, easy to integrate, and equipped with the right features to democratize leading technologies.
myBooks is free accounting software that syncs all financial activities in one place. The software connects your bank and imports transactions automatically in the software. It provides a single desktop to view each transaction without worrying about manual entries. The platform is easy to use, simple business accounting software that does not call for any computer degree. It is easy to configure and set up so that real work can be carried out sooner. myBooks accounting software is one of the best accounting solutions for enterprises, small entrepreneurs, freelancers, small IT, accountants, and financial companies.
myBooks Accounting Features: Accounts Receivable, Billing & Invoicing, Tax Management, Bank Reconciliation, Purchase Orders
20. Plooto
Topping the list of accounting software for small and medium-sized businesses, Plooto is an all-in-one payment platform. Accounts payables and receivables are the most intricate components that every business struggles to conquer. Delivering best payment solutions for financial control, unifying payments, approvals, and reconciliation; Plooto is one of the best accounting software that a business can ask for! Plooto streamlines Account receivables, global payments, account payables, for the clients efficiently and increases overall team productivity. Whether it is a domestic or an international client or vendor, Plooto makes it easy to pay through and reconcile with your accounting software in one place.
Plooto reduces touchpoints for every transaction, review and approve payments before any funds are transferred, and eliminate complexibilities. This unique payment software eliminates worries about where your money goes or when they will arrive by keeping you updated through each transaction. Additionally, Plooto sync two-way with top accounting software like Xero and QuickBooks for smart accounting solutions. This integration saves businesses from data entry errors and inefficiency, providing accurate books with absolutely zero effort. The smart transformation solution to your financial operation is available for a one-single plan with customized add-ons. It provides free collaboration with professionals, unlimited users, free accountant, unlimited access, and live support.
Plooto Accounting Features: Accounts Receivable, Bank Reconciliation, Billing & Invoicing, CPA Firms, Expense Tracking, Payroll Management, Purchase Orders
Conclusion
Now that you’ve combed through your top accounting software options—and learned about alternate routes—what’s next?
Well, your next steps will depend on which option you’ve decided to move forward with. If you’re set on sticking with a accounting software for your small business, it’s time to start trying them out. Luckily, you can pick a few and see which works best through trying them out.