The 9 Best Small Business Accounting Software of 2023

If you’re a solo entrepreneur, professional services provider, or freelancer (like me), you might have simpler business finances, but still want to save time on tax prep and invoicing. You can choose a lower-cost “light” version of accounting software that gives you just what you need, without all the advanced features. Make it easy for your clients to pay you, straight from your invoice.

Accounting made easy.

These can include charges for customization options, installation or setup services, integrations, and maintenance or support services. Our favorite features in our test of Xero included its tools for bill pay management, its customizable dashboard and its bookkeeping features. The best accounting software makes managing your books easy, with precision accuracy and efficient automation. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence.

QuickBooks Live: Best for Assistance With QuickBooks Online

Transaction forms like invoices and expenses are identical to or nearly as detailed as they are on the desktop. The mobile apps are attractive and easy to navigate, giving you a better user experience than even the browser-based version. It offers outstanding invoicing, bill management, reporting, and inventory features. It can be customized to suit the needs of just about any business. It can even be used to manage the books of multiple companies with the Premium and Quantum plans. FreshBooks aced our evaluation of project accounting, justifying its position as our top recommendation for service-based businesses.

TrulySmall Accounting: Truly lacking some important features

• Advanced Payments lets your small business accept credit cards online and accept payments like bank transfers, payments over the phone, and invoice-free payments with Checkout Links.
• When I opted to add my bank account, I was walked step-by-step through the process.
• With accurate business accounting, you know that your business is “in the black” at simply a glance.
• You should outsource your bookkeeping tasks to a virtual bookkeeper if you don’t have the time for and knowledge of DIY bookkeeping.
• Xero is a full-featured accounting software with advanced features such as project tracking, file storage, customizable invoices, a full-featured mobile app and much more.

The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, first-person testing, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content to guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey. FreshBooks offers coupon codes through certain partners, such as a 50 percent discount for four months of service that we found during our review.

• For this reason, many small business owners hire bookkeepers or accountants to maintain or review their books.
• We include the average user review score for each software collected from large third-party websites dedicated to the collection of user reviews, such as Software Advice, SourceForge, and G2.
• This accounting software has a unique feature of data line itemization, which allows users to dissect receipts in detail, ensuring every transaction is categorized and accounted for.
• Small business accounting software can generate them, but you may need an accounting professional to analyze them and tell you in concrete terms what they mean for your company.
• These criteria were disregarded for providers where no reviews were found.

These experiences enriched her understanding of small business management and marketing strategies. Today, she channels this first-hand knowledge into her articles for Forbes Advisor. Use Xero to work with your employees, bookkeeper, or accountant online, even if you’re on opposite sides of the world. We provide different levels of support, depending on the plan and/or the add-on features you choose. Any connections between you, your bank accounts, and Wave are protected by 256-bit SSL encryption.

Who is cloud accounting software best for?

For example, a home-based business will be less expensive to start than a brick-and-mortar store. Additionally, the cost of starting a business will increase if you need to rent or buy commercial space, hire employees or purchase inventory. You could potentially get started for free by dropshipping or selling digital goods.

• Getting your accountant on board and working with you in FreshBooks can be done in just a few clicks.
• It also offers catch-up bookkeeping services, which is $140 for each month you’re behind.
• For example, let’s say you’re starting a small business that sells miniature birdhouses for fairy gardens.
• When I clicked on it, I was presented with a simple form to toggle on and off the widgets I wanted on the dashboard.
• Still, another button labeled “column” gave me the option to add or remove columns from the list of documents, such as document notes, categories, descriptions or date added.
• I could also invite team members to join the project and assign and invite a client with just a couple of clicks.
• While we set up your account, please remember to verify your account by clicking on the link we sent to your registered email address.

• Next, the software compares them to your income using totals and colorful charts.
• Signing up for the free trial required I simply provide my name and email, then retrieve a code from my email address to verify my identity.
• Bookkeeper.com is one of the most expensive online bookkeeping services on this list, which is why it received a low score for its pricing.
• The ability to connect your accounting software to other business programs you use saves you valuable time because you don’t have to manually transfer data from one system to another.

Whether you’re an independent contractor or work with a team, it is easy to look like the professional you with FreshBooks. The all-new Accounting Software from FreshBooks empowers small businesses to spend less time on bookkeeping, without the stress. FreshBooks makes it easy to keep a close eye on the bottom line with Profit business accounting & Loss Reports you can whip up in mere seconds. Plus, each account has a spiffy dashboard that neatly displays how much your business has spent vs. earned over your selected period of time. From Profit & Loss to the Sales Tax Summary, FreshBooks gives you standard business reports to help you understand your business’ health.