Ready to start a small business? I’m sure you have tons of questions about what software is best for your business. Start with the basics. What accounting software should you use for your new small business? Check out this extensive list of best accounting software for new small businesses and start with research.
Do you want to learn about best software for new small business? Or about best software for starting a small business? Check out these best accounting software for new small business. You will find this article helpful if you’re looking to know the best way to set up a small business, without breaking the bank.
Wave
Wave is an ideal accounting software platform for a service-based small business that sends simple invoices and doesn’t need to track inventory or run payroll. For many freelancers or service-based businesses, Wave’s free features will cover all of their accounting needs and is the best free software in our review. At year-end, accountants can pull the necessary reports from Wave to prepare a business’ tax return. Pros
- Free accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning
- No transaction or billing limits
- Run multiple businesses in one account
- Unlimited number of users
- Mobile app
Cons
- Limited third-party app integrations
- Higher fees for credit cards and ACH payments
- Full-service payroll is limited to only 14 states
- No inventory management
Wave was founded in 2010 and is based in Toronto. The company has over 250 employees and was purchased by H&R Block in 2019. The foundational accounting features that most small businesses need, such as income and expense tracking, financial reporting, invoicing, and scanning receipts, are all included with this free software. These features can be accessed online or on the mobile app. Customer payment processing and payroll are considered premium services that cost extra, but all of the bookkeeping, invoicing, and reporting features are completely free.
Wave makes its money on its payment gateway. To process payment from a customer, Wave charges 2.9% plus 30¢ per transaction for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover, and 3.4% plus 30¢ per transaction for American Express. These fees are slightly higher than other accounting software. Additionally, to process an ACH payment, rather than a credit card, Wave charges 1% per transaction with a $1 minimum fee. This is unique to Wave, as the majority of accounting software does not charge a fee for ACH payment processing.
Wave offers two payroll plans as an add-on service. The first plan is $20 per month plus $6 per employee or contractor. In this plan, Wave will process payroll and prepare payroll tax calculations, but the user is responsible for manually completing payroll tax forms and submitting tax payments. The second plan is $35 per month plus $6 per employee or contractor. In this plan, payroll is full-service, which means that all tax filings and payments are completely managed by Wave. This full-service payroll option is only available in 14 states.
iBE.net
As a business management software/ company management system, iBE.net is an appropriate choice for mid-sized companies as it offers expense tracking, invoice reports, CRM support along with an easy integration of project details. It is extensively used in consulting, marketing, management, and other technical industries. It is like your entire business within your palm of hands.
Top features:
- Customize your own dashboards
- Use pre-delivered reports
- Generate invoices in seconds
- Visualize, analyze, and organize your data with valuable insights
Odoo
Odoo is an all-in-one business management software that offers a range of business applications which forms a complete suite of enterprise management applications. It covers CRM, eCommerce, accounting, inventory, sales, and project management. Odoo apps are perfectly integrated with each other, allowing you to fully automate your business processes.
Top features:
- Unique framework with strong technical foundations
- Take a quick look at your business with dashboards
- Real-time communication makes way for better collaboration
Netsuite
Netsuite is a unified business management suite being used by more than 40,000 large, mid-sized, and small fast-growing businesses. It provides various tools for ERP, Financials, CRM, HR, eCommerce. It offers comprehensive functionality with industry-specific support for a broad range of industries means NetSuite works the way your business works.
Top features:
- Cloud-based, mobile-enabled, and social
- Easily accessible reports and key performance indicators
- Highly flexible and customizable
- Effective resource management, project accounting, timesheet and expense management
Timecamp
Timecamp is a one-solution-fits-all business management solution that comes with a time tracker with computer activities, productivity monitoring, attendance tracking, integrations and more. The software tracks time automatically so you don’t have to worry about spending hours on figuring out how to do it. TimeCamp offers you an intuitive interface to get your team on board effortlessly.
Top features:
- Create and send invoices based on time tracked per project and customer
- Seamless integrations with project management, accounting, help desk software and more
- Simple and intuitive interface
- assign the time entries to the right project, monitor employees’ internet usage and generate detailed reports
- Desktop and mobile app available for many platforms and devices
Bitrix24
If you are looking for a software that offers a complete suite of management, collaboration, and communication tools, then Bitrix24 could be the ideal choice for your business. It is a complete business management software that takes care of your tasks and projects to document management along with real-time communication tools from video conferencing to group chat.
Top features:
- An internal social network lets you collaborate easier, faster and more efficiently
- Get instant feedback, share ideas, create workgroups and engage your employees
- online multi-user editing and custom document approval workflows
- Sell more with Bitrix24’s CRM and sales team management
- It works on your iPhone, iPad or Android too
QuickBooks Online
You might have been told QuickBooks Online is not a good fit for inventory-based businesses like your small-manufacturing company.
On its own, this is true. QuickBooks Online has a very limited inventory feature, though Intuit is continuously updating and upgrading it.
However, there are a number of very powerful third-party integrations specifically designed for small-manufacturing businesses that integrate beautifully with QuickBooks Online. Fishbowl Manufacturing provides a full ERP system for your manufacturing business that integrates with QuickBooks Online using a plugin built right into the software. Fishbowl integrates with a number of other accounting platforms, as well, so if you switch accountants you will also be able to switch accounting platforms with ease (if necessary). Although it is server-based, there is a hosting option you can use to access Fishbowl via a URL.
MISys Manufacturing is another great option for your “back-of-house” manufacturing accounting needs. MISys is modular, meaning you can start small and build as your business grows and you need more functionality. This will help you keep your costs down while you are building your business. Unlike Fishbowl, MISys integrates only with QuickBooks and Sage products, so keep this in mind if you plan to work closely with an accountant or bookkeeper.
QuickBooks Online is supported by thousands of accountants and bookkeepers around the world, making it easy to find a provider who specializes in accounting for small manufacturers. This, combined with the ease of integration with software specifically designed for manufacturing businesses, makes it our top pick.
NetSuite Manufacturing
NetSuite Manufacturing is a completely cloud-based, all-in-one solution built specifically for manufacturers. Used by large, global manufacturing companies, NetSuite has everything any manufacturing business of any size needs to run operate effectively and profitably.
With this level of robustness comes some challenges, though. NetSuite could be a little too robust for small and emerging manufacturing businesses, creating complexities where simplicity would benefit the business owner more. NetSuite is also not as widely supported as QuickBooks products, meaning you could have difficulty finding an accountant or bookkeeper to support it.
Still, if you are planning to grow your manufacturing business into a large enterprise, NetSuite is worth considering. Even if you choose to use different accounting software for your small-manufacturing business now, keep NetSuite in the back of your mind as a solution to consider as your business grows.
Apptivo
Apptivo delivers a wide array of functionalities in customer relationship management (CRM). It also helps your business to grow with project management, invoicing, and timesheet capabilities. If your business process has some specific needs, it can be easily customized.
Top features:
- Track the complete sales process from anywhere with the online CRM software
- Collaborate on tasks, manage timesheets, and log expense reports
- Powerful ticketing system to deliver stellar customer support
- Billing system to send and receive online payments from anywhere
- Supply chain management with vendor tracking, purchasing, and inventory
HoneyBook
HoneyBook is an all-in-one business management platform and company management system. From first contact to booking your ideal client, HoneyBook makes it easy for you to capture leads, manage projects, automate workflows, send contracts and invoices, and get paid.
Top features:
- Mobile app so you can manage your business on the go
- Proposals and invoices optimized to get you booked
- Contracts your clients can sign in seconds
- Easy and intuitive workflows
- Design forward client experience
Atlassian JIRA
JIRA is a workflow mapping and project planning software that is designed to help software development teams of all sizes and industries. Kanban boards, burnout charts, project reporting tools, etc are some of the popular capabilities of this tool that support teams at various stages of the development lifecycle. Also, it integrates with various developer tools and is available as a cloud-based or on-premise solution.
Top features:
- Roadmaps that are connected to real work
- Visualizing work in progress
- Bugs and defect management
- Polished user experience
- Customizable dashboards and wallboards
Toggl
Overview: For very small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs who just need a simple time tracker, Toggl might be the best bet. While there are many great software solutions out there that include extensive features such as expense management, mileage tracking, employee monitoring, and more, many small businesses don’t need all of those features (and don’t want to pay for them). With Toggl, it’s all about ease of use because employees can instantly track time across hundreds of third-party apps, computers, and devices — just hit Start and the timer gets going. Toggl is free with paid tiers that start at $9/month for add-ons such as invoicing features.
Free trial: Toggl offers a 30-day trial for all features.
Tech support: Toggl offers a free self-service help center on its website.
Conclusion:
Starting a new small business is a daunting task, especially when you’re dealing with how to choose accounting software for the business. It can be difficult to find the right one that provides everything you need at an affordable price. And it’s not just about finding the right software but about choosing the best one for you.