It’s a real pain to maintain accounting records manually, and it can be even harder to manage different systems for different clients. It’s even more of a pain if you have to take care of it yourself. The cloud accounting software market is booming with so many companies offering their services for your company. But how do you know which one is the best for you? In this guide, I reviewed the top 10 cloud accounting software currently on the market and picked out features from each one.
Cloud accounting is a great method for accounting the expenses and keeping the books of your small company. The popularity of cloud accounting software can be attributed to many reasons, some being the ability of the software to create financial statements directly from its dashboard, cloud accounting is a solution that can be accessed from anywhere through a web browser, and also it offers familiar interfaces and designs so as to provide a familiar feel for accountants.
QuickBooks Online
Websitewww.quickbooks.intuit.comPrice from$8.00/moFree Trial30 Days
Best overall cloud accounting software.
Best for:
QuickBooks Online is one of the most widely used cloud accounting software products in America, and it’s designed for any business or accounting professional who needs quick and easy access to accounting software. With many different subscription levels, anybody can find the version that best suits their needs, but because QuickBooks Online is most useful for small to medium-sized businesses, businesses that are expanding rapidly, have subentities, or have multiple locations may find that they outgrow QuickBooks Online’s capabilities.
Key features:
As are all products in this list, QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based product. It’s a full-featured double-entry accounting software that is applicable for a wide variety of business types and sizes. In addition, QuickBooks Online offers a mobile app for both Android and iOS. While the mobile app isn’t as full-featured as the browser-based version of QuickBooks Online, it does automate mileage tracking via your phone’s GPS.
QuickBooks Online’s tiered subscription service ensures that users only pay for the features they need. At its core, QuickBooks online is a robust double-entry accounting platform, so users can trust that it will help businesses manage accounts payable and receivable, general ledger tasks, and basic reporting.
Simple Start, which is the least expensive subscription tier, is the basis of features for all other packages. Simple Start allows users to maximize tax deductions, track mileage, manage cash flow, send unlimited invoices, accept unlimited payments, run reports, send estimates, track sales and sales taxes, capture and organize receipts, and manage contractors. With the Essentials package, users can manage and pay bills, track time, manage multiple currencies, and give access to multiple users. Plus subscribers can track profitability and inventory, track transactions by class, create budgets, and access more robust reports.
In addition to all the features in the lower subscriptions, the Advanced subscription includes role access customization, unlimited chart of accounts items, batch invoices and expenses, business analytics and insights, enhanced custom fields, access to a dedicated account team, on-demand online training, automated workflows, and restoration of company data.
The number of users is tied directly to the subscription. Simple Start, the most basic and least expensive tier, allows a single user. The Essentials package allows up to three users to have access, and the Plus package allows up to five users. Advanced, which is the most robust, and allows up to 25 users. Specific access permissions can be set at the Essentials, Plus, and Advanced levels.
The biggest disadvantage of QuickBooks Online is that it only supports a single entity per subscription. Users who own multiple businesses will need to purchase multiple QuickBooks Online subscriptions and manage each independently.
All subscription tiers integrate with Quickbooks Online Payroll, and while it does incur an additional subscription fee, it automates much of the payroll process, including automatic payroll tax tracking. In addition, QuickBooks Payroll includes optional human resources features, including health benefits, 401k plans, workers’ compensation, that other products don’t offer. Payroll Core covers the basics with simple, reliable automated payroll designed for small teams. Payroll Premium allows automated payroll, time tracking, same-day direct deposit, expert setup review, and HR support. Payroll Elite is the most comprehensive package, offering protected automated payroll, end-to-end setup with a suite of services, certified HR support, and tax penalty protections. Intuit’s sister product, TSheets, further simplifies the payroll process with time tracking.
Beyond Intuit’s suite of integrated products, there are hundreds of additional built-in and third-party integrations. For sending and receiving payments users can choose from Bill.com, Melio, PayPal, Stripe, Square, and many other options. Customer and project management integrations include HubSpot, Capsule CRM, Salesforce, Insightly, BigTime, Jobber, and more. And, if you’re an online retailer, QuickBooks Online integrates with Shopify, Amazon, eBay, and Etsy.
Ease of use:
As one of the biggest and most popular financial services software products, QuickBooks Online is used by millions of businesses around the world. Because of its quick setup and modern, simple design, QuickBooks Online is easy to learn even for those who don’t have much accounting experience. If help is needed, all plans give customers access to expert support. For users who need bookkeeping help or don’t want to do the work themselves, QuickBooks Online now offers QuickBooks Live, which is a monthly subscription bookkeeping service.
Cost:
QuickBooks Online subscriptions are generally affordable, and the feature set increases with each subscription tier, allowing users to choose a subscription that provides only the features they need. Plus, users can try QuickBooks Online for free for 30 days, and Intuit frequently offers significant discounts (as much as 50% off monthly fees, in some cases) for new subscribers. As noted, Payroll does incur an additional subscription fee, as may some integrated apps. Users will need to compare the benefits of the cost against the time savings they experience when making these purchase decisions.
Things we liked:
- Lots of integrations
- Easy to set up and use
- Cost-effective for smaller businesses
- Multi-currency support
- Mobile access
Things we didn’t like:
- Single entity only
- Payroll requires subscription
- Limited to one user on lowest subscription tier
QuickBooks Desktop
QuickBooks Desktop 2020 includes several new features that are designed to streamline various processes. These new features include:
- Enhanced system navigation
- Expanded help capability
- Automatic payment reminders sent to past due customers
- Ability to consolidate invoices into a single email
In addition, all QuickBooks editions offer the following features:
Invoicing
QuickBooks Desktop offers top notch invoicing software capability, allowing users to create a professional invoice for their customers. The Premier edition offers users a variety of industry-specific invoice templates including professional, product, and service invoice templates.
You also have the option to use QuickBooks Payments in order to get paid faster, including the ability to add a ”Pay Now” button to customer invoices for easy payment.
Inventory
Good inventory tracking capability is available in all QuickBooks Desktop editions, with the ability to track all products sold, cost of goods, and inventory management, including inventory adjustments.
You can easily add inventory items to QuickBooks Desktop, with custom fields available for tracking additional details.
The Premier edition’s inventory module offers more advanced inventory features, including low stock alerts, the ability to track any product by manufacturer’s part number, the option to add product cost, and the ability to set reorder points. In addition, there are custom fields that can be used to track additional information for any inventory item.
Adminsoft Accounts
Complete accounting software for small business owners
TODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Free with no strings attached+Handles stock control and more+Even has some HR capabilities
Adminsoft Accounts is a software accounting package that’s powered by advertising to generate revenue, making it free to download and use. It delivers a surprisingly thorough free accounting system (and an refreshingly honest set of terms and conditions).
It can handle not just invoicing and statements but remittance advice, stock control, purchase orders, budgeting and some HR functions too. It’s a UK program so the default is pounds sterling, but it works happily in other currencies too.
There is a paid-for version you can buy to run the software without advertising with a slightly higher cost if you also want to include AutoManager or Shop/Cafe Manager.
Conclusion
Cloud accounting software entered the market few years back to provide subscription based accounting services without the need for an on-premise server. A lot of these cloud accounting solutions have proven successful over time, but there are some that stand out from the crowd of potential users.