Accounting is not the most fun aspect of the business, but it’s surely one of the most important. That’s why, no matter whether what kind of products or services you sell, you’ll need a reliable accounting software as the backbone of your business’ finances. But if you’re a small or growing company, you probably don’t need the huge-scale feature—or price tag!—of the accounting programs that are targeted for much larger companies.
So which ones are the most affordable and intuitive to use? Are there any programs that create automated invoicing, expense reports, and bill payments? What about cloud-based software for convenience and security? If you’ve been wondering about the answers to these kinds of questions, the good news is that we’ve done all the research so that you won’t have to. After all, you’ve got a business to run.
QuickBooks Online
If a convenient and simple-to-use accounting program is what you’re looking for, Quickbooks Onlineis a smart choice. With an intuitive interface and cleanly designed dashboard, you have an at-a-glance look at your overall financial health, from outstanding or paid invoices, expenses, sales, and profits and losses. With built-in report templates and automated features like recurring invoices, bill payments and reminders, QuickBooks Online does away with the tedious and time-wasting nature of manual transactions to free up your time for actually running your business.
QuickBooks is compatible with a ton of external applications so that you can automatically import and export data with no hassle. Plus, your data is automatically backed up, so you never need to worry about losing important transactions or reports. With a $10-$30 monthly subscription fee, as well as a free trial, the price for making your small business more efficient couldn’t be better.
Wave Accounting
When something seems too good to be true, it usually is. But Wave Accounting is a completely free accounting software, with no catch or tricks up its sleeves. Even better, it’s one of the best financial software programs out there for small business owners who don’t plan to scale (past 10 or so employees). Keep in mind that it is a step down in complexity from some of the more robust accounting programs since it doesn’t track billable hours or automatically attach tracked expense to invoices. And because it’s not capable of tracking inventory or creating purchase orders, this one isn’t for you if your business provides more than a handful of products. Still, reviewers swoon over its ease of use for a small company with simple needs.
And with basic features like automated recurring billing and payment reminders, automatically synced data with your other financial services like your bank, credit card, or PayPal, as well as cloud-based data backup, you can rest easy. If what you’re looking for is simple and frills-free, you can’t beat with Wave Accounting.
FreshBooks
Looking for a program that’s simple to use and offers reliable, top-notch customer service, as well as various integrations? FreshBooks makes it easy for you to invoice customers and track both billable hours and expenses. You can send payment reminders and see when a client has viewed your invoice.
One downside is that FreshBooks is meant for single-entry accounting only, so if you require more complex features, this may not be the best choice for you. But with an easy-to-use intuitive design, mobile apps, and solid invoicing and billing capabilities, it gets the job done for a small business that doesn’t need all the fancy bells and whistles. Keep in mind that pricing is set upon your number of customers, as well as features and additional users.
Xero
If you’re looking for a platform that provides real-time updates from your bank and credit cards, and you’re the type who wants to know what’s going on with your finances on a moment to moment basis, a subscription with Xero will be your best bet.
Xero features a subscription model with tools for bookkeeping, invoicing, expense management, taxes and more. When you upgrade from the starter subscription (which allows you to send invoices to send five invoices and quotes, and reconcile 20 bank transactions per month), you get unlimited access to these features plus payroll, so you can adjust as your business expands.
Guest post: About the Author
Lauren Pezzullo is an east-coast-raised Austinite and musicophile who writes about the latest software and B2B trends for TrustRadius. She’s currently at work on her debut novel.