Best Accounting Software for Small Businesses
Best Accounting Software for Small Businesses in 2024
As a small business owner, you’re likely juggling countless responsibilities, and managing your finances can be daunting. The sheer number of accounting software options available can be overwhelming, leaving you unsure which suits your needs and budget. Fear not! This comprehensive guide will help you make an informed decision on the best accounting software for your unique needs.
We’ve done the heavy lifting for you, analyzing user reviews and real buyer research data to build a list of the top accounting software solutions for small businesses. Whether you’re a solopreneur just starting or a growing company with complex financial needs, we’re here to help you find the perfect fit!
Here’s a preview of our most researched small business accounting software:
- Scalable Solution with Industry Features: QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
- Comprehensive Reporting and Local Control: QuickBooks Desktop Pro
- Customizable Cloud Accounting Insights: QuickBooks Online Advanced
- User-Friendly Real-Time Tracking: QuickBooks Online
- AI-Powered Expense Management: Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
- Strong Payroll and Tax Compliance: MYOB
- Best for Time Savings: Odoo Accounting
- Comprehensive Multi-Currency Management: Sage 300
- Free Solution for Small Businesses: Wave Accounting
- User-Friendly with Extensive Integrations: Xero
- Affordable Invoicing and Expense Tracking: Zoho Books
- All-in-One Financial Suite: Zoho Finance Plus
Top Accounting Software for Small Businesses
1. Scalable Solution with Industry Features: QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise
Don’t be fooled by the name, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is a powerhouse accounting solution tailored for small to mid-sized businesses seeking robust functionality and scalability. Its industry-specific versions cater to construction, manufacturing, retail, nonprofit, and professional services sectors, offering unparalleled customization.
With advanced inventory management, job costing, and pricing controls, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise stands out for its ability to handle complex financial operations. The software’s capacity to support up to 40 users and integrate with over 200 third-party apps makes it an ideal choice for growing businesses that require comprehensive financial management tools.
2. Comprehensive Reporting and Local Control: QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Desktop Pro offers a solid foundation for small businesses needing local control over their accounting processes. This desktop-based solution excels in creating detailed financial reports, managing invoices, and tracking sales and expenses. Its user-friendly interface, coupled with the ability to export reports to Excel, provides businesses with flexibility in financial analysis.
“Quickbook allows a multiplicity of reports, such as last fiscal year, or last fiscal quarter etc. It is possible to see it as details or as broad categories such as travel, or subscription and dues which allows at a glance where funds are being spent”
Read this Verified User’s full review here.
QuickBooks Desktop Pro is particularly appealing to companies that prefer to pay a flat fee for an on-premise installation and don’t require cloud-based access. QuickBooks generally offers support for a few years after the initial purchase, making it a cost-effective choice for small businesses with limited locations, and straightforward accounting needs.
3. Customizable Cloud Accounting Insights: QuickBooks Online Advanced
QuickBooks Online Advanced is a cloud-based accounting powerhouse designed for growing businesses. It stands out with its customizable business analytics, visual cash flow dashboards, and the ability to support up to 25 users with custom roles.
The software’s automated workflows and batch invoicing capabilities significantly enhance efficiency. With its mobile app and real-time data access across multiple locations, QuickBooks Online Advanced is ideal for businesses that prioritize flexibility and scalability in their accounting solutions.
4. User-Friendly Real-Time Tracking: QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online offers a user-friendly, cloud-based accounting solution perfect for small businesses seeking real-time financial tracking and mobility. Its strengths lie in its intuitive interface, comprehensive expense tracking, and customizable invoicing features.
“We use QuickBooks Online for our company accounts at our agency, Doublesided. In my sales role, I use it to create estimates for prospects, record my expenses, and review the profit and loss reports. We used to send out estimates using Word, making a PDF, and emailing, so it’s a big time saver to just login, fill in some details and send it out. For people in the UK it handles VAT calculations and making tax digital, so this also saves us time each quarter.”
Read John’s full review here.
The mobile-friendly design allows business owners to manage finances on-the-go, while real-time insights help in making informed decisions quickly. QuickBooks Online’s scalability and reduced reliance on professional accounting services make it an attractive option for startups and small businesses looking for a cost-effective, yet powerful accounting tool.
5. AI-Powered Expense Management: Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare, powered by Receipt Bank, is designed to boost productivity and profitability for accounting firms and their clients by automating data capture and categorization. It allows users to prepare, sort, and publish financial paperwork automatically, pulling cost data from over 1,400 suppliers.
With bank connections for transaction matching, Dext simplifies reconciliation and saves hours on manual data entry. It also provides real-time insights on tax, payment timing, and cash flow, helping businesses and their accountants make timely, data-driven financial decisions.
6. Strong Payroll and Tax Compliance: MYOB
MYOB offers a suite of cloud-enabled, subscription-based accounting products tailored for small businesses based in Australia and New Zealand. Competing with Xero and QuickBooks, MYOB is a flexible, scalable solution that meets diverse financial needs, making it a top choice for businesses looking for a robust, affordable accounting tool.
“MYOB makes my life easier. I use MYOB to monitor our daily cash flow, running expenses and monthly reporting makes life easy to run our BAS, Generate Invoices, and process staff payroll. I run two businesses and use Essentials for a small business I run and Account Right for our main business. Banks feeds are the best time-saving invention ever!!”
Read Julia’s full review here.
Myob offers multiple pricing tiers to offer flexibility for small and growing businesses. Their Lite plan starts at $31/month and is meant for solopreneurs or business owners with 1-2 employees. Their more advanced Pro, Plus, and Premier tiers offer more advanced features for larger businesses, including additional reporting and inventory features.
Since Myob offers free trials for the Lite and Pro tiers and discounts on the first 3-6 months (depending on the tier selected), It may be a good fit for small business owners who want to try before they buy.
7. Best for Time SavingsTracking: Odoo Accounting
Odoo Accounting offers a streamlined accounting solution that simplifies daily financial management for small businesses. Users can access a variety of automation features intended to save them time and focus on growing their business.
Odoo integrates with 28,000 banks globally, which means fewer manual imports. Odoo’s Smart AI matching automates the reconciliation process, matching up to 95% of transactions. Further, Odoo was built to work worldwide, meaning taxes are likely pre-configured without any additional, manual work.
Odoo offers a range of software, from accounting to CRM to ERP. With Odoo, your first application is always free, and you’ll only need to pay if you choose to implement another Odoo product. Odoo is likely a good option for growing businesses, as they can start with Odoo Accounting for free.
8. Comprehensive Multi-Currency Management: Sage 300
Sage 300, formerly known as Sage 300 ERP, is a robust business management solution with powerful accounting, financial tracking, and reporting features. Known for its multi-currency and multi-language capabilities, Sage 300 is well-suited for small businesses with international transactions.
Built on strong accounting best practices, it enables users to monitor financial health, manage cash flow, and streamline operations. Sage 300’s flexibility in tracking and control functions makes it a top choice for businesses that need detailed financial insights and reliable planning tools to manage growth and expansion.
9. Free Solution for Small Businesses: Wave Accounting
Wave Accounting is a free, cloud-based accounting platform designed specifically for small businesses with fewer than nine employees. It supports double-entry bookkeeping and offers unlimited invoicing and expense tracking, making it ideal for startups and freelancers. Wave’s integration with Shoeboxed streamlines expense tracking, and additional tools for invoicing, receipt scanning, and payment processing enhance functionality.
“It’s nice that Wave Accounting imports all my financial statements from my banks allows me to categorize transactions and view my transactions and a recolcile my books as well. its easy enolugh for me to use as well and I have no finance background. The reports are helpful from P&L and balance sheets and more.”
Read Allen’s full review here.
Although basic services are free, users can opt for paid features like payroll (billed per employee) and payment processing (transaction-based). The free version of the platform is supported by partner advertisements, but its accessibility and ease of use make it a popular choice.
10. User-Friendly with Extensive Integrations: Xero
Xero is a leading cloud-based accounting platform tailored for small businesses and financial advisors. Known for its strong integration capabilities, Xero connects with over 800 third-party applications, extending its functionality into areas like inventory, cash flow, and customer relationship management. Key features include:
- Invoicing
- Bank reconciliation
- Purchase orders
- Tax management
With tiered subscription plans starting at $9 per month, Xero provides scalable pricing that appeals to small businesses at various growth stages. Its mobile accessibility and double-entry bookkeeping further reinforce Xero’s reputation as a top choice.
11. Affordable Invoicing and Expense Tracking: Zoho Books
Zoho Books is an affordable, feature-rich accounting solution built to simplify financial management for small businesses. With an intuitive dashboard and customizable reports, users can easily track cash flow, expenses, and tax obligations. Automation is a central feature, allowing business owners to set up custom workflows, reducing manual processes and boosting efficiency.
“Zoho Books is perfect for a small business like me, or for my customers (I work with small businesses 1-10 employees). It is flexible enough and quite inexpensive compared to other products on the market. It has a few flaws but nothing that cannot be worked around quite easily. It integrates pretty well with other Zoho products, which allow a small business to build an integrated infrastructure at a reasonable budget, by mixing Books, CRM, survey, etc. It is definitively my platform of choice when I give recommendations to customers.”
Read Philippe’s full review here.
Zoho Books offers a 14-day free trial, giving users a hands-on preview of its capabilities. For businesses seeking an affordable, user-friendly platform with a strong reporting focus, Zoho Books is a highly rated option.
12: All-in-One Financial Suite: Zoho Finance Plus
Zoho Finance Plus is a comprehensive back-office management suite designed to unify essential business functions that includes all of the features of Zoho Books and more. From invoicing and order management to recurring billing and expense approvals, the platform integrates seamlessly, keeping all financial information connected and updated in real time.
This unified approach means quotes, invoices, and payments sync effortlessly across applications, streamlining operations for business owners. Ideal for businesses with subscription models, Zoho Finance Plus automates billing cycles and enhances productivity by consolidating financial management into a single platform.
What is Accounting Software?
Accounting software is a digital tool that helps businesses track, manage, and report their financial data with accuracy and ease. Long gone are the days of manually entering numbers into spreadsheets and sifting through endless stacks of receipts. Today, accounting software automates key financial tasks such as tracking income, expenses, invoicing, payroll, and tax calculations, saving businesses time and reducing the risk of errors.
For small businesses, these tools make a real difference in daily operations. For instance, a small bakery owner may use accounting software to track sales in real time, while a freelance graphic designer can generate invoices automatically and set reminders for clients with overdue payments. Most platforms also come with cloud storage, so users can access their data securely from anywhere, anytime.
Features for accounting software typically include:
- Invoicing and Billing: Easily create and send invoices, track payments, and follow up on outstanding accounts.
- Expense Tracking: Automatically record and categorize expenses, minimizing the need for manual data entry.
- Cash Flow Management: Track money flowing in and out to keep a clear view of business health.
- Reporting and Analytics: Generate financial reports and data visualizations that provide insight into business performance.
- Tax Preparation: Organize financial records in compliance with tax laws and simplify tax filing.
With these, small businesses can gain a solid foundation for better financial decisions, streamline bookkeeping, and free up time to focus on growth.
Benefits of Accounting Software for Small Businesses
For small businesses, accounting software offers a range of valuable benefits tailored to the unique needs. Some of the top advantages include:
- Time Savings: Automates routine tasks like invoicing, data entry, and expense tracking, giving business owners more time to focus on core operations.
- Enhanced Accuracy: Minimizes errors by reducing manual data entry and providing checks for double-entry accounting, improving financial accuracy.
- Real-Time Financial Insights: Offers instant access to updated financial information, allowing business owners to make data-driven decisions.
- Better Cash Flow Management: Tracks money in and out, helping manage cash flow and forecast financial stability.
- Improved Tax Compliance: Simplifies tax preparation by organizing records and tracking deductible expenses.
- Easy Collaboration: Cloud-based options let business owners, accountants, and team members access financial data from anywhere.
- Scalability: Many platforms provide add-ons and integrations, allowing the software to grow with the business.
How to Choose the Best Accounting Software for Small Businesses
Selecting the ideal accounting software for your small business is a crucial decision that can significantly impact your financial management and overall business efficiency. To make the best choice, consider the following factors:
First and foremost, assess your business’s specific needs. Are you a freelancer who primarily needs invoicing and expense tracking, or do you run a retail store that requires robust inventory management? Understanding your requirements will help you narrow down the options and avoid paying for features you don’t need.
Consider the scalability of the software. While your business may be small now, choosing a solution that can grow with you is essential. Look for software that offers tiered plans or the ability to add features as your business expands. This foresight can save you the headache of migrating to a new system down the road.
Additionally, evaluate the software’s user-friendliness and the quality level of customer support offered. Even the most feature-rich software can be a burden if it’s too complex to use or if you can’t get help when you need it. Look for solutions with intuitive interfaces and comprehensive support options, including tutorials, knowledge bases, and responsive customer service.
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The products in this article were chosen utilizing TrustRadius downstream intent data reflecting in-market buyers researching and comparing technology products. The products featured in this article ranked highest in research frequency among small business buyers (companies with 1-50 employees) searching for accounting software within the past year.
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Next Steps in Small Business Accounting
The accounting software solutions listed above each deliver core accounting tools alongside unique features that set them apart. From scalable platforms like QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise to user-friendly options like Wave Accounting, these products address a wide range of small business needs. Their strong marketplace presence and high ratings on TrustRadius make each a reliable choice. Many of these solutions offer free trials or basic versions, so you can explore and find the best fit for your business before committing.
If your business has specialized requirements that aren’t met by these options, check out other Top Rated Accounting Software on TrustRadius. You can also explore detailed, verified reviews on TrustRadius to help find the ideal software to streamline your business’s financial management.
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