One of the most important things that any business, particularly a startup or small business, needs is accounting software. Now that you’re in your company’s initial stages, you’re probably running things by hand at this point. That’s only going to last for so long. Unless you want to always be scrambling, counting up receipts at the end of each month, it’s time to make sure you get accounting for tech startups under control.
Here are the best!
Patriot Accounting Software
Of all entries on the list, Patriot has the best customer service and the best reviews. Customers simply love Patriot Software, and so did we. Patriot offers two services, Payroll and Accounting. This is unlike many other vendors, who frequently offer both payroll and accounting in the same package. Patriot, the parent company, has been around since 1986. Yes, you heard that right. They have been in the game for a long time.
The beauty of Patriot is that if you have any issues, they will get resolved by one of the staff. You simply don’t see any of the nightmare reviews associated with Quickbooks or even FreshBooks (to a lesser degree). Patriot really makes an effort to resolve customer issues and does not leave people behind because they are using a legacy system or make a basic error.
The setup of Patriot Accounting Software is super smooth and they currently have a 4.8-star rating out of nearly 1000 reviews on TrustPilot. They have replied 100% of the time to negative reviews. Some of the recent reviews are overwhelmingly in favor of the standard of customer care:
“The best customer service I have ever received. The gentleman that assisted me in setting up my business with Patriot Software, was great. He spent as much time as needed getting everything correct, and making sure I understood what was going on, and that I felt good about being able to do it myself.”
“Patriot’s customer services is exceptional. Everyone I have dealt with has always gone above and beyond to help me. The software is really to navigate even for a computer dinosaur.”
“I am so glad I found Patriot Software and gave it a try. I have called customer services a few times for clarification and have received the BEST service ever. Their support is spot on, professional and quick! The interface is user friendly. Keep up the good work.”
On CapTerra, Patriot Accounting Software has a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. They have a 4.9-star rating on their own web reviews. Moving on from the outstanding customer reviews, what does Patriot Accounting actually offer? It certainly does not disappoint in its core functionality. Patriot Accounting Basic costs $15 a month, and comes with:
- Free expert support
- Mobile support
- Unlimited payments to vendors
- Create and print 1099s and 1096s
- Optional 1099 e-Filing
- Track your expenses, income, and money
- Create and track unlimited customers and invoices
- Accept credit card payments
- Record payments
- Automatically import bank transactions
- Departments
- Payroll Integration
Patriot Accounting Premium costs $22.50 a month and additionally provides Account Reconciliation, the Capability To Create And Send Estimates, Recurring Invoices, Invoice Payment Reminders, Custom Invoice Templates, Unlimited Users With Permissions, Receipts And Document Management. For the extra $7.50 a month, the premium version is definitely worth it. An added advantage with Patriot Accounting Software is that you pay month to month with no long term contracts.
While Patriot Accounting Basic might seem to be more expensive than other providers, this is not the case when you take into account the unlimited payments to vendors. The FreshBooks Lite plan retails at $6, but only allows the billing of 5 clients, which is tiny and is really just a way to force people to slowly upgrade up the tier. Patriot allows the addition of an unlimited number of customers.
Unlike other entries on the list (such as QuickBooks), Patriot Accounting Software is perfectly suited for new business owners. No sophisticated accounting experience is necessary and it is incredibly easy to use. The tax reporting features are very on-point and streamlined.
Patriot Payroll (a separate service) also happens to be the cheapest among payroll processors, at $30 per month with $4 per additional contractor. Patriot is most well known for its payroll processing as opposed to its accounting services, which is a relatively recent addition.
Are there are real disadvantages to Patriot Accounting? Aside from the fact that it does not have a sophisticated range of accounting features in comparison to other providers (such as QuickBooks), not really. It could benefit from some more integrations, but is not going to compete with the heavyweights any time soon in this regard. It is not suited for professional accounting services or for large businesses over 100 employees. It does offer a good array of services and quite impressive data visualization tools. The dashboard is also very user-friendly.
To sum up, Patriot Accounting Software is literally perfect for small business owners. As long as you have no need for niche or sophisticated accounting tools, it will do what you need. It is reasonably priced, intuitive, provides excellent functionality, and has outstanding customer service. It is actually one of the cheapest providers out there – its $15 a month package offers similar functionality to the Quickbooks Premium $15 a month model. They just represent their packages differently.
Features
- Free expert support
- Mobile support
- Unlimited payments to vendors
- Create and print 1099s and 1096s
- Optional 1099 e-Filing
- Track your expenses, income, and money
- Create and track unlimited customers and invoices
- Accept credit card payments
- Record payments
- Automatically import bank transactions
- Departments
- Payroll Integration
Price: $15 for Patriot Accounting Basic, $22.50 for Patriot Accounting Premium.Why We Recommend
Ticks all the boxes. But we recommend mainly for the quality of customer service and the easy to use platform.Best for…
Small business owners that work with a lot of freelancers, micro-businesses. Not designed for larger businesses.Pros
- Super intuitive
- Fantastic customer support
- Beautiful design
- Easy to use
- Amazingly easy to set up
- Cheapest on the market
- Perfect complement to Patriot Payroll
Cons
- No fund or project accounting
- Lacks certain accounting features in comparison to competitors
- Lack of integrations
Read full Patriot Software review
FreshBooks
Easiest to use
4out of 5
- Bookkeeping4
- Advanced Features3.6
- Financial Reporting4.4
FreshBooks is another great option for UK small businesses – it offers three feature-rich plans at affordable prices and boasts a slick UI that makes doing things like creating invoices and entering payments a breeze.
Its basic plan, Lite, starts at just £11 per month – one of the cheapest plans we came across. And, with unlimited invoices, expense entries, time tracking, and estimates, it’s also one of the most generous… though you’re limited to five billable clients only.
Upgrading to Plus (£19 per month) adds unlimited proposals, and allows you to automate recurring invoices and late payment reminders. It also extends your client limit to 50, though larger businesses will want to look at a Premium plan (£30 per month), which has a capacity of 500 billable clients.
You’ll also need to remember to keep an eye on any costs lurking below the surface. If you’re a sole trader, then FreshBooks is one of the cheaper options out there. However, adding additional team members costs £7 per person, per month – so we don’t recommend it for larger teams. FreshBooks’ more advanced payment features will also incur a fee of £15 per month.
| Plan | Cost | Features | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | Plus | Premium | |
| £11 per month (excl. VAT) | £19 per month (excl. VAT) | £30 per month (excl. VAT) | |
| Send unlimited invoices to up to 5 clientsMTD VAT return filingUnlimited expenses | Send unlimited invoices to up to 50 clientsInvite your accountantBank reconciliation | Send unlimited invoices to up to 500 clientsTrack project profitabilityAccounts payable |
Compare Freshbooks plans and find the latest offersDeals & Discounts
Freshbooks is currently offering a 50% discount on your first three months of usage. You can also save get an extra discount by paying annually.
Zoho Books
Best for project tracking
With a CRM (customer relationship management) tool, email hosting, and project management solutions, Zoho has built a reputation on simple, user-friendly tools for businesses – and its accounting software doesn’t disappoint. There’s even a high quality free Zoho Books plan that’s perfectly respectable for small teams or single-person setups.
Zoho’s free plan is only suitable for very small businesses as it doesn’t offer important features like bank feeds, and only includes email support.
Naturally, the better features come with a price tag attached. Zoho Standard (£12 per month, for three users) allows you to track, reconcile, and budget with ease, from your smartphone or computer. You’ll also be able to stay on top of your projects and timesheets, and manage up to 5,000 invoices.
The next tier, Professional, costs £24 per month, for five users. This adds bills, multi-currency handling, reporting tags, purchase approval, and up to 10 workflow rules.
Zoho’s answer for more established businesses is Premium (£30 per month, for ten users). For the money, you’ll be able to track activity across multiple branches, create custom reports – and get a snazzy custom domain, too.
Adding extra users will set you back £2.50 per user, per month. Auto-scans also need to be purchased in bulk – 50 monthly scans costs £8 per month.3 out of 4
- backward
- forward
| Plan | Cost | Features | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Standard | Professional | Premium |
| Free | £12 a month (excl. VAT) | £24 per month (excl. VAT) | £30 per month (excl. VAT) |
| Manage up to 1,000 invoices per yearMTD VAT filingExpenses & mileage tracking | Manage up to 5,000 invoicesAutomatically import transactionsAdd recurring expenses | Bill managementMulti-currency handlingRetainer invoices | Track activity across multiple branchesCustom domainCustom reports |
Compare Zoho plans to see the latest deals
Conclusion
There are thousands of accounting software, but there are only a few that will truly help your startup thrive. It’s natural to think that the most expensive software will best suit your business, but this isn’t always the case. At first glance, choosing accounting software for your startup might seem like an easy thing to do; however, there are some things you should know before making the leap.