Learning how to live out of a van isn’t as easy as one would believe, especially given the fact that there is such a plethora of financial accounting services available online. Choosing the right online accounting software for your lifestyle can be challenging, just as it can be challenging to determine which accounting methods will benefit your business the most. This article hopes to answer all of those questions and provide you with top 10 online accounting software solutions.
Have you decided to use online accounting software? Well, there are thousands of online accounting software solutions on the market, so selecting one may be challenging. To find the best solution for your business, look at its features and pricing. To help you choose the top 10 online accounting software, here is a comparison between ManageWise and Wave .
Wave
Websitewww.waveapps.comPrice fromFREE/mo
Most cost effective cloud accounting software.
Best for:
Wave is a 100% free cloud-based double-entry accounting product designed for small businesses that are just getting started. This easy to navigate product has everything a business needs to run smoothly, including project-based accounting and fixed asset management. Growing businesses that need to manage payroll for employees or take online payments directly from invoices will appreciate Wave’s low-cost add-on services.
Key features:
Wave offers comprehensive income and expense tracking, including customizable invoices with an automatic unpaid invoice reminder and built-in sales tax calculations. Wave also supports multiple currencies and offers direct integration with a variety of third-party platforms, such as Shopify, Shoeboxed, Etsy, Salesforce, PayPal, and Stripe, plus additional options through connectors like Zapier and PieSync.
Wave also offers particularly good reporting features in both cash and accrual formats, as well as a built-in time tracker and good contact management functionality. Inventory tracking is also available, but it isn’t considered one of Wave’s best-developed features. Plus, unlimited receipts can be scanned, which is a fantastic feature come tax time. The receipt scanning function is housed in the mobile app, which is available for Android and iOS, and once the receipt has been scanned, it’s automatically matched to the transaction in Wave.
Payroll is available for an extra fee, but it’s a modest monthly commitment. One drawback of the payroll functionality is that there is no built-in payroll tax payment system for 36 states, so businesses located in those states will have to file monthly and quarterly reports and payments manually. However, employees log in to Wave directly to access pay stubs and Forms W-2, which simplifies the overall payroll process significantly for small businesses.
Wave also facilitates credit card payments directly from the invoice. While there is a fee to use this service, the percentages are comparable to other products on this list, as well as the fees that businesses would incur with PayPal, Square, Stripe, and other payment platforms. Plus, business owners will likely find that the simplicity of having customers pay directly from the invoice makes the fee worth it.
As do some other products on this list, Wave now has a monthly add-on bookkeeping service, called Wave Advisors. It’s available for business owners who either don’t have time to do their own monthly bookkeeping or who need some extra help getting started or cleaning things up for the end of the year. Though true tax prep functionality isn’t currently available, Wave’s recent acquisition by H&R Block may change that in the future.
In addition, Wave allows users to add unlimited bank and credit card accounts. Transactions are automatically downloaded, and monthly reconciliations are a breeze. Wave now also offers a product called Wave Money, which provides users with a bank account, a debit card, and a mobile app, further streamlining the bookkeeping process.
One of Wave’s best features is that unlimited users can be added—both accountants and additional employee-type users. Most other products on this list charge extra for this feature, but Wave continues to hold to its original notion that free is better. In addition, and perhaps more importantly for entrepreneurs, Wave allows users to manage books for multiple entities via one login, which is quite different from the vast majority of cloud-based accounting products.
Ease of use:
New users can have Wave up and running in just a few minutes. For those users who require extra help, a 24/7 live chat support option is available for a small fee, and email support is available for everyone. Wave’s built-in dashboard provides easy-to-understand, instant access to the business’ financial information. The automated financial functions allow users to set up recurring transactions once, and Wave provides reminders for important upcoming transactions.
Cost:
Wave is free, ad-free, and fully-functional as an accounting package, so—by far—it’s the most cost-effective option on this list. Even the payroll and payments are cost-effective given their robustness. Users don’t even have to enter a credit card to create a free account, so peace of mind is built-in, too.
Things we liked:
- Free—no credit card required
- Easy to navigate
- Built-in sales tax calculations
- Strong multi-currency and multi-entity support
- Unlimited transactions, forever
Things we didn’t like:
- Not ideal for quickly growing businesses
- Limited inventory management features
- Payroll tax reporting and filing in very few states
OneUp
OneUp is the best small business accounting application you’ve probably never heard of. Ideal for sole proprietors and freelancers, with its robust inventory management module, OneUp is a great option for retail businesses.
OneUp is also suitable for growing businesses, with pricing based solely on number of users rather than features, with the Self plan, for a single user, including the same features as the Unlimited plan.
OneUp offers a good selection of features, including the option to connect your bank accounts or enter transactions manually.
Other features include the ability to process vendor and sales quotes, purchase orders, and credit memos, and the Opportunities feature lets you track and manage all potential sales directly to a product.
OneUp offers a terrific invoicing option, with the ability to request payment immediately.
OneUp does not offer the option to process checks for vendor payments, though you can pay your vendors electronically or enter payment information directly in the application. A mobile app is also available for both iOS and Android devices.
OneUp pricing starts at $9/month for the Self plan, and goes all the way up to $169/month for the Unlimited plan, with all plans including the same features, so you’ll only need to scale up if you add additional users, not to gain access to more powerful features. The biggest drawback to OneUp is the lack of a payroll option.
By far, the biggest benefit of using OneUp is having access to all of the application’s features and functions from day one, whichever plan you choose.
ZarMoney
» Why You Should Buy This:
ZarMoney is a robust, extensive cloud accounting solution that not only helps you manage your books and bills but also offers complete transparency in the management of your entire global inventory. The software comes in with a set of invoicing templates that are sleek, subtle and look thoroughly professional. By using this accounting system, you can easily accept online payments as well as take full control of your cash flow.
And that’s not it. ZarMoney contains functions that make way for the automatic imports of your banking transactions, simplifying everything to manage from a single place. Moreover, its bank reconciliation and automated calculation of sales tax, along with on-point reporting, make it a great accounting partner.
» Who Is It For:
ZarMoney is meant to be used by businesses across industries. You can be a small business, an ever-growing, established enterprise or a sole entrepreneur, and depend on this online accounting software to keep your books up-to-date all the time. It is ideal for those who are looking for a system that is fuss-free to use but offers supreme efficacy at the same time.
Besides, if you want a software solution that is customizable as per your needs, then this might be the one for you.
» Why We Picked It:
We added ZarMoney into our well-curated list of the top business accounting software after studying the system’s exhaustive list of features. It includes everything you may need to keep your bookkeeping operations error-free and smooth. Whether it is account receivable and customers or account payables and vendors, the system covers everything from billing to order management to notifications. We specifically loved the way one can personalize its dashboard.
Also, it has robust functions for reporting, fund transfers and sales tax in place, sparing you the last-minute hassles. If you are a bigger organization with more employees, you will even be able to define user roles, controlling who can access what on the software.
» Pricing Details:
There are three different plans to buy ZarMoney accounting software:
› Entrepreneur – It is priced at $15 a month with a single user plan.
› Small Business – It costs $20 a month with a maximum of two users.
› Enterprise – It is available for $350 a month and allows 30+ users.
You can go for free trials or a demo before going ahead with your purchase.
» Pros and Cons:
Pros:
› 100% cloud-based software, thus, no need to install any software
› Anytime, anywhere access from any device; all you need is a good internet connection
› Solid security measures to protect your sensitive data
› Insightful reports to help enhance your business decisions
› Automated calculation and filing of your taxes
› Multiple users with role-based access
› Bank reconciliation & transaction imports, saving you time
› Quick creation, printing & sending of quotations
› Inventory, purchase & sales order management
› Professional invoicing & secure receipts of online payments
› Prompt customer support
Cons:
› The pricing goes up with an increase in the number of users
» Reviews & Ratings:
ZarMoney has struck a chord with its users as the software enjoys higher ratings on major software review sites. Ease of use, good customer service and efficient functionality seem to be the heroes driving in the praises. See it for yourself:
» Capterra: 4.7/5 » G2crowd: 4.8/5 » GetApp: 4.7/5
» Conclusion:
With its easy-to-use interface and simplified accounting functions, ZarMoney is becoming a popular choice among business owners for their accounting needs. It seems promising in the future too with its ever-evolving functions.
“Great accounting software. I switched from other software to Zar due to the full functions it offered. Some things that it has that other don’t . Just to name one. Generate PO for product purchase plus all the packing and receiving that goes with it.”
– Tim G.
Conclusion
Online accounting software is becoming much more advanced, much quicker than I thought it would just a couple of years ago. It seems that one every few months there’s a new company that comes out with an app that offers much more than just accounts payable, general ledger, bank reconciliation and other features you would expect from traditional accounting software. The majority of the best online accounting software are now starting to incorporate business intelligence, cloud technology, electronic check writing/depositing, integration with payroll companies, multiple currency handling and even tools for tax preparation.