With the Small Business Accounting App, you can now enjoy the power of low-cost accounting software on your iOS (iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch) without any cost to you. This app is aimed for business owners, small business owners and entrepreneurs to track their daily cash flow and manage their operations efficiently.
In the past decade, there has been a tremendous growth in small business accounting software. While older methods required you to maintain large records for your business, these new programs make it easy to access all your information from any device at any time. In today’s digital world, this is vital for every small business owner so they can easily manage meeting client demands and developing future plans.
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.
GnuCash: Best for Sole Proprietors
Best for Sole Proprietors
GnuCash is a free, open-source accounting solution that can be downloaded for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. It offers double-entry accounting resources, a checkbook-style register, scheduled transactions, and customizable visual reporting.
GnuCash’s initial setup and somewhat dated-looking interface might turn a lot of potential users off. But if you’re willing to tough out its tricky installation and don’t need your accounting solution to be particularly pretty, you’re left with a solid application that covers a lot of bases for free.
That said, it’s not much of a long-term solution for businesses anticipating a lot of growth. It’s better suited for sole proprietors who need a program to get them through their day-to-day. If you fit that bill, check GnuCash out.
GnuCash’s Key Benefits
- Double-entry feature ensures books balance
- Budget management tools can help plan financial strategy
- Works on a variety of operating systems
- Can handle internationalized dates and currencies
GnuCash’s Key Drawbacks
- Installation is less straightforward than most other platforms
- Interface isn’t particularly accessible or visually appealing
- No customer support
Xero
Xero is the best in our review for micro-businesses that are looking for very simple accounting software. This software has a clean interface and also fully integrates with a third-party payroll service. Businesses can collect payment online from customers through Xero’s integration with Stripe and GoCardless.Pros
- Cloud-based
- Mobile app
- Payroll integration with Gusto
- Third-party app marketplace
- Simple inventory management
Cons
- Limited reporting
- Fees charged for ACH payments
- Limited customer service
Xero was founded in 2006 in New Zealand and now has over 2.7 million users worldwide. This accounting software is popular in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Xero has over 3,500 employees and is growing rapidly in the U.S., as well.1
Xero offers three monthly subscription options and a full-service payroll add-on: Early at $11 per month, Growing at $32 per month, and Established at $62 per month. The full-service payroll option is offered through Gusto and is an additional $39 per month, plus $6 per employee. The company offers a 30-day free trial and a promotion for 50% off for two months.
The Early plan limits usage and only allows entry for five invoices or quotes, five bills, and reconciliation of 20 bank transactions per month. This limited plan may be suitable for a micro-business with high-ticket transactions, but only a few per month, such as a consulting or small service provider. Both the Growing and Established plans offer unlimited invoices, bills, and transactions. The only difference between the two is that the Established plan has additional features like multi-currency, expense management, and project costing. All three plans offer Hubdoc, a bill and receipt capture solution.
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.
CloudBooks
With the free version of CloudBooks accounting software, you’ll be able to add unlimited users, invoice, create projects, perform integrated time tracking, track expenses, and provide estimates. That said, you’ll have to upgrade from the free version—and pay at least $10 a month—to be able to send more than five invoices per month, brand your invoices, and offer online payments on your invoices.
Conclusion
All businesses need to keep track of their finances. The bigger the business, the more complex the accounting system. Small businesses generally use lesser complicated systems, but it doesn’t mean these aren’t effective. Here is a list of applications for small businesses to use in administering financial data.
Anyone who’s ever had to balance their own books knows how tricky it can be dealing with the complicated paper trail associated with accounting. Most people are also familiar with the tedious tasks that are often necessary on their own. This is the main reason why the majority of small businesses still prefer to use pen and paper, if they even have a record of what they spend at all.