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Last Updated: Mar 2024

Best Bookkeeping Software of 2024
Streamline your business's bookkeeping

Simplify your bookkeeping and employee payments with the right software. Read expert reviews to find the best bookkeeping service for you.

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We find the 10 best options, so you can make informed decisions on tons of products and services.

What is Accounting Software?

Accounting software is software that automates accounting and bookkeeping tasks like invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, income, and expenses. Small business accounting software puts all your financial information in one place, making it easier to share data across teams or externally and saving your employees from double entries or having to type things in manually.

The best accounting software for small business comes in 2 forms: desktop accounting software or online accounting software. Desktop accounting software is an application you install on your company’s computers. Online accounting software, also known as software-as-a-service or SaaS, has the same functions but runs on the cloud.

What Features Should You Look for in Your Accounting Software?

At a minimum, your accounting software is an online bookkeeping program that carries out the core accounting processes we mentioned earlier–such as invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, income, and expenses. But that’s not all it should do. Below are some of the advanced features included in the best accounting software for small business.

Tax integration. Your accounting software should provide balance sheets, profit and loss reports, and any other customized reports you or your accountant require in order to file taxes. The top bookkeeping software even lets you photograph and save receipts using a mobile device so you have it all stored securely for tax time.

Payroll management. Payroll usually isn’t built into accounting software but is offered through integrations with third-party payroll and HR software. Once everything is set up, your software will be able to calculate and file your payroll, pay payroll taxes, pay with same-day direct deposit, and manage employee benefits.

Business insights. Online accounting software programs gather a lot of data about your business, so why not use all that data to your advantage? The best programs offer business insights and intelligence through user-friendly reports and dashboards.

Custom invoices and receipts. Remember, every interaction with customers and service providers is an opportunity to promote your brand. Some accounting programs let you create custom invoices and receipts, helping to make your brand more memorable.

Multi-user access. Depending on the size of your business, you may want to grant access to more than one person. The best accounting software programs offer plans for multiple users, including access for your accountant.

Support for mobile. You never know when you might need to capture or access data from a mobile device. Most of the big names in accounting software offer free iOS and Android apps.

Unlimited cloud storage. One of the benefits of using online accounting software is that all your data gets stored in the cloud, where capacity is virtually unlimited. 

Free support. If something goes wrong, then you want to know your software provider has your back. Premium subscriptions usually include a dedicated account team.

Scalability. Accounting software is perfect for the rapidly-expanding business that finds that manual entries no longer cut it. The sky’s the limit for your business–and so you need software that offers small business accounting services that scale with you.

User-friendly. Last, but not least, is user-friendliness. Your accounting and invoicing software should be easy enough for anyone on your team to learn how to use it within a couple of hours.

How Much Does Accounting Software Cost?

Like most software-as-a-service, the cost of online accounting software really depends on how many features you need and how many users need access. Pricing models can really vary when it comes to accounting software. Some providers charge a fixed per-month price with all or most of the features included, while others offer tiered pricing that gradually gets more expensive as more features are integrated.

Based on our research of the top providers, accounting software could cost anywhere from $12 to $300 per month. The cheapest subscriptions automate basic accounting functions such as tracking income and expenses, invoicing and accepting payments, managing cash flow, tracking sales and sales tax, and sending estimates. Integrating payroll costs extra—it’s built into some of the more expensive plans or costs another $4 - $10 per employee per month as an add-on. Advanced features like income tax return preparation almost always cost extra.

Conclusion

If you can afford to automate administrative business tasks, then you probably should. Carrying out accounting tasks manually may be cheaper in the short-term, but you’ll quickly find it takes away time from growing your business and exposes you to the risk of potentially costly errors. The best accounting software grows with you, so you can start by automating just the core accounting tasks and then add on more complex tasks like payroll and tax reporting as you go. Once you begin using small business accounting software, you’ll quickly find yourself wondering why you ever did things manually.

Our Top 3 Picks

  • 1
    QuickBooks

    QuickBooks

    • Best ForCloud-centric accounting
    • Price rangeFrom $12.50 / month
    • Free trial or free versionFree 30-day trial

    Quickbooks is a comprehensive accounting system designed for small businesses through to organizations at the advanced scales of staging. 

    The tool includes OCR-backed expense receipt tracking, invoice issuing, and for an add-on users can add the payroll functionality. Not all features are available on the mobile apps, but users can even use these, in conjunction with hardware, to process payments. 

    Pros
    • Apps for iOS and Android
    • Project profitability tracking
    • Easy hour billing with integrations
    Cons
    • No free tier
    • Not all features available on mobile
  • 2
    FreshBooks

    FreshBooks

    • Best ForUser-friendly invoicing and accounting
    • Price rangeFrom $19 per month
    • Free trial or free versionFree 30-day trial

    If you’re a business owner looking for a quick and easy way to bill your clients, then Freshbooks could be the user-friendly option you have been looking for.

    Creating invoices and expenses with Freshbooks is as easy as clicking and typing into fillable document fields. The system can also scale to support more than 500 clients. 

    Pros
    • Scalable to bill more than 500 clients
    • Clickable document editing
    • Payroll via integration
    Cons
    • No built-in payroll functionality
    • Mobile mileage tracking only on higher tiers
  • 3
    Sage

    Sage

    • Best ForScaling businesses
    • Price rangeOn request
    • Free trial or free versionNo

    Sage Intacct is a highly customizable cloud accounting software solution ideal for growing businesses. With detailed reporting, extensive integrations, and robust training resources, Sage Intacct can help you scale your accounting as your business expands—without needing to invest in expert staff. 

    The platform includes the core accounting functionalities you need to run your business financials, including Accounts Payable and Receivable and your General Ledger. Plus, you can set up detailed reporting and dashboards to understand what’s really going on at your business.

    Why we chose Sage Intacct: We chose Sage Intacct for its customization options, huge integration marketplace, and user-friendly interface.

    Our experience with Sage Intacct: We found the website easy to navigate and appreciated the support available. Sage Intacct truly makes an effort to help you navigate the learning curve. 

    Pros
    • Highly customizable platform
    • Extensive training resources
    • Detailed reporting and dashboards
    Cons
    • Pricing only on request
    • Learning curve on implementation
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