Startup and small business owners wear many hats. If you’re just starting out, chances are you’re wearing them ALL. You’re the founder, sales rep, customer service agent, IT specialist, and oftentimes the business accountant. While you may be able to successfully tackle every challenge running a small business throws at you right now, you’re bound to drop a ball here and there. This is true especially when you get your business off the ground.
Choosing the best small business accounting software early on will help you get your accounting work done and save you a lot of headache down the road. However, with so many solutions out there, choosing the best small business accounting software can be a challenge. We put together a list of the best software on the market to help you pick the best option for you and your small business.
QuickBooks Desktop Pro
QuickBooks Desktop Pro is a simple, yet incredibly robust small business accounting solution that includes automated reports, bill tracker, smart search autocomplete, reporting templates, and it supports multiple users.
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
Another QuickBooks option is QuickBooks Desktop Premier. While it will cost you more, it might be a good option for you if you’re looking for sales and expense forecasting reports, want to determine job costing, create industry-specific reports, filter sales and purchase order reports based on availability, or create a reversing journal entry. If you decide to go with QuickBooks Pro instead, you won’t be able to see your available inventory and what has been committed to other customers.
FreshBooks
If a small business tax accountant sounds like a luxury, you’ll want to take a look at FreshBooks. FreshBooks is a cloud-based online solution that allows you to create invoices and job estimates, track and log business expenses, and import or export information from bank and credit card accounts. You can choose from multiple subscription plans, as well as use their mobile app. This will come in handy if you’re often on the go.
Xero
If by best accounting software for small business you mean full functionality of QuickBooks combined with simplicity and mobile-friendliness of Freshbooks, you’ll definitely love Xero. It supports invoicing, inventory tracking, automatic bank updates, mobile accessibility, and payroll software integration. Xero will get your small business accounting done but doesn’t come with a steep price tag. The only major downside is that not all accountants use it. This might be a problem if you hire an outside accountant to handle your small business taxes.
Zoho Books
Zoho Books is a great small business accounting software if you have fewer than ten employees. While it doesn’t include some of the advanced features we mentioned earlier, it sure does cover the basics such as creating and sending invoices, syncing bank accounts, tracking expenses, managing inventory, and it supports integration with Google Apps, Dropbox, Google Drive, and more.
Wave
Wave offers what most other solutions fail to offer – a completely free online accounting software for small business owners. However, just because the most basic package is free, it doesn’t mean it’s not a great option for small business owners and sole proprietors. Automatic reports help you track income and expenses, and you can link your bank accounts, scan receipts, process credit card payments, and even manage payroll.
When it comes to choosing the best software, there are a few things you’ll need to take into consideration. Your choice will mostly depend on the type and size of business you’re running, but you’ll also want to pay attention to the price tag, especially if you’re struggling for cash. Keep in mind, though, that almost all small business accounting software come with a free trial, so you can test out a couple of options to see which one fits your needs.
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