The Best Accounting Software for Small Businesses in 2023

Xero is a leading provider of software for small businesses, and its pricing reflects the quality of its product. However, if you’re on a tight budget or need phone support, there are other options out there that might be better suited for your needs. This makes it easy to manage all of your business finances in one place. Best of all, the software is highly affordable, with a variety of pricing options to suit any budget. As a small business owner, keeping track of your finances can be a challenge.

We looked at 19 accounting software companies with specialized products for small businesses before choosing our top five software options. We considered cost, scalability, ease of use, reputation, and accounting features. 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.

What type of accounting is best for small business?

Before making any sales, almost all businesses have to send a quotation to their prospects or potential customers. And Having full-fledged quotation software within your bookkeeping software is bliss. Businesses like freelancers, small businesses, and micro to large enterprises must use accounting software. The only difference is that as the business grows over a period of time, the business needs a custom bookkeeping system that makes sense with its needs and requirements.

Additionally, it offers integrations with third-party apps such as G Suite and PayPal. Accounting software is the solution, as it can help streamline business processes. It provides powerful features like invoicing, expense tracking, sales tax filing, and payroll processing. Furthermore, it integrates seamlessly with popular ecommerce tools like Shopify to help business owners gain insights and analytics and make well-informed decisions. Makes sure to research the options available and choose the best accounting software for your startup. We recommend FreshBooks especially for sole proprietors and companies with perhaps an employee or two—though it’s capable of handling more.

Zoho Books makes accounting easy for startups

Starting a business involves a period of trial and error, but there are mistakes business owners can avoid right from the get-go. One of the common mistakes business startups make is not investing in proper technology that streamlines crucial parts of the business operation. Despite knowing the importance of meticulous bookkeeping in business continuity and growth, startup owners tend to either hire inexperienced professionals or do the bookkeeping themselves. While the idea behind this choice is to save money, there is a high risk of human error that can cost the business more in reality.

The program also has a client portal to help you seamlessly connect with your customers. Akaunting is a free, open-source accounting solution for small businesses and freelancers with a global reach and sizable user base. The program’s full suite of features is available for free — making it one of the few “one-stop-shop” solutions on this list. GnuCash’s initial setup and somewhat dated-looking interface might turn a lot of potential users off.

Business Accounting Software Pros and Cons

It puts highly effective accounting functionality into an exceptional user experience. The service stands out because it’s easily customizable, comes in multiple versions with hundreds of add-on apps, and offers better mobile access than most rivals. It really depends upon your business, but one important consideration for a startup will be cost. If cost is a concern, consider how many people in your business will need to access the software (which could end up costing more!).

And financial data is one of the top sources of information on how your company is doing. Your burn rate, revenue, cash flows, etc. – you’ll want to track all of these carefully. Plus, you’ll want the standard outputs like Income Statements and Balance Sheets for your venture capital investors. QBO has these built off the shelf, so it’s easy to gather the data you want – and you can customize reports as well.

How to choose accounting software

Most service-based small businesses will find that Simple Start meets all of their needs. For product-based small businesses, Plus will have more options for inventory and customizations. There are many excellent bookkeeping for startups accounting software applications for startups, depending on the particular needs of your business. QuickBooks Online is a scalable solution if your company plans to become a mid to large enterprise.

• To help, we’ve narrowed in on the best options for a wide variety of small businesses.
• Accounting software like Wave can also seamlessly connect with your bank accounts so you can automate tasks like recording transactions and generating reports.
• However, for small businesses that need an easy-to-use accounting solution with a variety of features, LessAccounting may be the right choice.
• One important feature to consider is whether or not the software can generate invoices.
• Then, users can snap images of their receipts using mobile devices with a camera and attach the documentation to their specific expense transactions.

Sage 50cloud is desktop-based with a cloud-based hybrid functionality. It is truly a desktop application, but you use the cloud to back it up to store and save your data. These include NCH, Zoho Books, Kashoo, ZipBooks, Sunrise, GnuCash, TrulySmall Invoices and Wave Accounting. Today’s leading accounting platforms offer standard security features such as data encryption, secure credential tokenization and more. While human error will always play some role in security breaches, you can be confident in your accounting platform when it comes to keeping your information safe. Here are the metrics we used to evaluate the leading accounting software companies.

Accounting Software

If you often work remotely and need a strong mobile app, consider Zoho Books. Xero is inexpensive and especially good for startups that don’t need external support. If you’re a service-based startup that intends to stay small, FreshBooks is worth taking a look at.

Centralize your financial reports and make them simple for your staff to access. With simple yet clear business reports, you may gain insight into your company success. However, by taking the time to research your options and understand your needs, you can find the perfect software for your startup, along with a good startup accountant.