Do you want to learn about the best accounting software? Or are you interested in software for personal finance? Best account management software? Then check out these lists containing the top-rated programs for business, finance and accounting.
A new business is going to have a few questions. Besides the basic who, when and why, there will be questions about how to keep things organized and meet financial deadlines in a timely manner. The best accounting software can help you stay on top of your financials and make sure that you are running your business efficiently.
QuickBooks Self-Employed
QuickBooks Self-Employed accounting software is our top choice for part-time freelancers and independent contractors who primarily want to track their income and expenses for their tax return. This software is designed for business owners who file a Schedule C on their individual tax return.
Without keeping up with business activity using a software like this, freelancers would need to dig through all of their bank and credit card statements to add up their income and expenses at the end of each year, which can be quite daunting. QuickBooks Self-Employed will total up all business transactions automatically. Pros
- Cloud-based
- Mobile app
- Track mileage
- Differentiate between business and personal expenses
- Syncs with TurboTax
Cons
- Data cannot be easily transferred to other accounting software
- Limited reporting
- Limited invoicing functionality and customization
QuickBooks Self-Employed is an Intuit product with a cloud-based online interface and a mobile app. This software was created to help freelancers stay organized each year for tax season. Features of QuickBooks Self-Employed include tracking mileage, sorting expenses, organizing receipts, sending invoices, and estimating and filing taxes seamlessly through TurboTax.
Users can choose between three plan options: Self-Employed at $15 per month, Self-Employed Tax Bundle at $25 per month, and Self-Employed Live Tax Bundle at $35 per month. There is a 50% discount for the first three months. The two tax bundles include a TurboTax subscription for income tax filing. The Self-Employed Live Tax Bundle also gives you access to a CPA to answer questions throughout the year and during tax season. The CPA will also perform a final review of your tax return in TurboTax prior to filing.
The mobile app makes it easy to track mileage while driving and capture photos of receipts for business expenses. Most accounting software is not designed to separate business transactions from personal transactions, but a special feature of QuickBooks Self-Employed provides an option to mark each transaction as business or personal. This is helpful for freelancers who don’t have a separate bank account for their business activity.
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.
Quicken – Best Overall
Our favorite personal finance software is Quicken. Quicken has one of the most comprehensive lists of features of all the software listed here, and is known for being one of the fastest personal finance software on the market.
Quicken has four paid tiers, with a 30 day free trial on offer for each of them. Their Starter tier costs $35.99 a year, and allows you to view all your financial accounts in one place. You can also create a budget and manage your bills, to see exactly how much money you’re spending, and where it can be saved. Quicken can be used on both a desktop and their mobile app.
The next tier, the Deluxe tier, costs $51.99 a year, and Quicken claims this is their most popular tier. This tier gives you everything in the Starter tier, as well as the ability to create customised budgets, manage and track any debts you have, or create savings goals.
The Premier tier, the next step up, is $77.99 a year, and Quicken claims this tier has the best value for your money. On top of everything in the Deluxe tier, you’ll be able to pay your bills through Quicken, access customer support, and simplify any taxes or investments you’re dealing with.
The final tier, the Home and Business tier, is the only tier that allows you to manage a business as well as your personal finances. This costs $103.99 a year, and, as well as everything in the previous tiers, you’ll be able to manage both personal and business expenses, email invoices through Quicken itself, and track your business’s taxes, profits, and (hopefully lack of) losses.
Quicken is the most well rounded software on this list, giving you everything you’d expect from a personal finance app, being accessible from anywhere you’d need it, and having lightning fast speed.
Mint – Best for Budgeting
Let’s start off with the good news, Mint is entirely free. There are no features locked behind paywalls, and no choices to be made about which is the best tier for you. If you’re wondering, Mint makes money through referrals made to financial institutions in their “Ways to Save” section.
So what can Mint do for you? Mint can easily aggregate all of your financial accounts (whether they’re credit cards, investments, or good ol’ bank accounts) and present all their data in easily digestible reports on the main dashboard.
While it can do a lot of things that you’d want from a personal finance app, like creating goals, there are also some very solid budgeting features that can help those trying to limit their spending. After setting up all your
accounts, your transactions will be auto-sorted into categories, allowing you to see where most of your money is going. You can even make your own subcategories.
There are also some features that are extremely useful, like giving you your credit score, as well as alerting you when bills come in. You’ll even get weekly summaries of your finances sent to you over email.
If you’re worried about keeping a budget, then using a free app is one of the best ways to go about saving money. Not only is Mint free, but its budgeting capabilities will really help anyone looking to squeeze pennies.
YNAB – Best for Habit Building
YNAB is not the name of a lesser eldritch god – it actually stands for You Need A Budget. If you’re someone who is prone to spending money when you feel like it, you might know that being financially flippant can put you in some pretty hot water. That’s why YNAB is intended for those who need to create, and, more importantly, stick to good money-saving habits.
YNAB doesn’t have any kind of tiered structure. There’s just one product, and you can either pay for it at a rate of $11.99 a month, or $84 a year (which will save you $59). Both can be cancelled at any time.
As the name would suggest, YNAB lets you set budgeting goals. You can share these goals with a partner, hopefully holding each other accountable for paying bills, monitoring investments, and saving money. It allows you to set saving goals, and rewards these goals with a lot of fanfare.
Your progress will be fed back to you in the form of various charts and graphs that can show you how well you’re doing in your quest to save money. And on top of this, YNAB offers free online workshops that can help you learn and retain good money management skills.
It’s not the most feature-packed software on this list, but it’s very fairly priced and will allow you to get used to saving money, hopefully using the app’s positive feedback to encourage you to learn these habits for good.
Personal Capital
Price: Free app, with fees for wealth-management services should you choose to use them.
To be blunt: Personal Capital is what you graduate to, from Mint. Both personal finance managers are free, easy and friendly to learn and use, and will show you a comprehensive view of your finances.
Personal Capital, though, has foregone budgeting and bill-payment tools to focus on next-level concerns. Features like its 401(k) analyzer, what-if Retirement Planner, and projected portfolio values are exactly what you need if you have the good fortune to arrive at the phase in which “How am I going to save some money” has become “What am I going to do with it all?” It’s next-level personal finance software, best for people who have gotten to that next level.
Conclusion:
New businesses think about their main products and services, but they overlook the fact that successful businessmen are not only skilled in what they do, but they also use great systems to help them keep track of their business.