Best Accounting Software For Small Business| 2018 4.9 (98.95%) 19 votes A class of computer software, or program that helps accounting professionals mange accounts and perform accounting operations. How can the answer be improved? Top 10 Best Laptops for QuickBooks – Our Most Recommended Business Laptops for Accounting Oct 05, 2018 by Mike Johnson in Best of Best Whether you’re an owner of a small business or a huge enterprise, an accounting software is something that every business needs these days. QuickBooks for Mac is financial accounting solution from Intuit for small businesses and accounting professionals. The solution allows users to create professional invoices, track sales and expenses, and manage accounts payable.
Keep Your Books With an Online Accounting Service
More than 30 years after the first small business accounting applications were introduced for the PC, there's still no shortage of options available for small and midsize businesses. Today, all the new solutions are cloud-based, though you can still buy desktop accounting software, we'll explain below. In general, however, accounting services are mostly online, and they've benefited from the transition, thanks to their availability anywhere via the internet, and the drastic simplification and improvement in usability that most of them have made in the course of the move online.
This new set of reviews focuses on applications that microbusinesses could use, but which are more appropriate for businesses that are more complex, larger, and/or have employees. Note that we also include the best services suited to use by freelancers, as we'll explain below.
Newer solutions like ZipBooks are working quickly to add features, while much older websites like QuickBooks Online are concentrating on the usability factor. Double-entry accounting is a complicated system governed by many rules, so a simple, understandable user experience is critical here.
What Does an Online Accounting Service Do?![]()
Although each of these applications has its own distinct look and feature set, they have much in common, including:
The Competition
For this roundup, we've reviewed cloud-based financial applications. Some are better suited to freelancers (as noted in the chart, and described below) than to small and medium-size businesses, since they have strengths in just one or two areas, like invoicing or estimating quarterly taxes.
The larger group contains web-based solutions that would be suitable for more complex small businesses, companies that want an application compliant with double-entry accounting rules. Each offers a core set of features that includes a chart of accounts; customer, vendor, and item records; income and expense tracking; forms like quotes and invoices; and reports.
In addition, you can set up connections to accounts at financial institutions, download transactions, and reconcile those entries with matching ones entered in the application itself. A few of the solutions reviewed here offer true inventory tracking, and most can integrate with a payroll service.
Accounting for Freelancers
Even the very smallest businesses need to keep track of their money, from payroll to taxes. In fact, many operate so close to the bone that every dollar is critical. Very small businesses and freelancers need accounting software at least as much as their larger counterparts. The problem is, what they need and what a bigger business needs are not the same thing at all. If you're a freelancer, contractor, or sole proprietor and you've tried a cloud-based accounting solution aimed at larger businesses in the past, you may have found that you're paying more than you want to for features that you don't really need. And maybe you went back to the old tried-and-true methods of keeping your books in a spreadsheet, or even in actual, literal books—made out of paper! It's easy to understand how that could happen, but it's a shame in this day and age not to take advantage of best-of-breed accounting software, wizard-based simplicity, access from anywhere, and the safety of an offsite backup.
But don't despair, there's a whole breed of online accounting tools made just for freelancers and sole proprietors, and we've reviewed them. The best of them are extremely affordable and offer mobile versions, integration with major banks, quarterly estimated income tax calculations, reports that make sense for very small businesses, and more. They may not offer a ton of integration with other add-ons and corporate homepages for employee access—or a bunch of other things you don't need.
Invoicing and Billing ServicesBest Small Business Accounting Desktop Software For Mac 2018 Holiday
Unless you're a brick-and mortar retail operation that collects money due immediately, you probably need to create invoices for customers. There are still businesses that complete this task using a word processor, but they then must have a separate method for tracking invoices sent. There are more integrated, effective ways to do that if the only accounting chore you want to do on your computer is to send invoices to customers. Zoho Invoice is one such cloud-based application, as are Hiveage and Invoicera. All three provide tools for creating and sending invoices, but they also help you receive and track payments. Bill Payment Services
Paying bills isn't as much fun as sending out invoices, but it has to be done. You may already be managing this task through your bank's website, which may or may not excel at this service. There are few other options online for standalone bill-pay, and the ones that exist have restrictions. Bill.com rules when it comes to supporting both invoices and bills; you'll be charged $29 per user per month for payables automation only. If that's more than you want to pay, you could subscribe to Wave, which is free, and just use its bill-paying tools.
For more reviews and more information about this this space in general, you can read our roundup of billing and invoicing services.
What About Desktop Accounting Software?
No one has jumped into the desktop accounting software arena for over two decades. The survivors of what was once a crowded field have been around since the early 90s. They are QuickBooks (the desktop version), Sage 50c (which started its life as Peachtree Accounting), and AccountEdge Pro (formerly MYOB), the latter two of which are included in the table above.
Though every new small business accounting solution launches online these days, there's still a case to be made for using desktop products. They're more feature-rich than even the top-of-the-line cloud-based applications. They're faster. They're also local, so you can still work if your internet connection goes offline. Over the years, they've all come to depend on the internet for some of their functionality (online banking, integrated and mobile apps, and so on), but you can still access their core accounting tools even if your web connection is down.
What's Not Here?
Though you can still read reviews of them here, three of the small business accounting applications we covered do not appear in the features matrix because they're not quite as mature as the ones that are posted here. Sage One Accounting was developed by Sage, a global software company that sells a diverse family of accounting solutions, both desktop and cloud-based. WorkingPoint is still missing some functionality offered by its competitors, such as mobile access and integration with related apps. ZipBooks is the newest; it had the thinnest feature set when we reviewed it, but it's growing rapidly.
The Right Blend
How do you determine which web-based solution is best for your small business? You probably won't find one whose feature set exactly matches what you need. Besides, what you need right now may not be what you need a year from now.
Best Small Business Accounting Desktop Software For Mac 2018 Model
The right apps for you will likely be based on a number of factors, including:
Small business accounting is an area where there's still a lot of competition, which is healthy, but it makes your decision-making process harder. Consider the chart above and click through to the full reviews, take a look at the screenshots, and take advantage of the free trials offered. What you choose now may or may not be what you need in five years, but the landscape will look different by then. So pick the best match for your current circumstances and dive in!
While you're thinking about your money, you might also like to consider our reviews of online payroll services and tax software.
At NerdWallet, we strive to help you make financial decisions with confidence. To do this, many or all of the products featured here are from our partners. However, this doesn’t influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own.
Problem solver. Communicator. Financial whiz. Running a small business involves wearing a lot of hats. If you’re looking to increase productivity and organization — or just make your life as an entrepreneur a little easier — a good business app might be just what you need.
To help you navigate the seemingly endless sea of business apps, we’ve compiled a list of our favorite 25 apps and broken them down by category. Check with the individual companies for current pricing information.
JUMP TO BUSINESS APPS BY CATEGORYBest business apps for finance and accounting
These apps can streamline your business’s financial tasks, including payroll and taxes, and give you a better picture of your company’s financial health.
Gusto
This app makes your company’s payroll, tax and benefits processes more efficient.
In addition to managing online employee onboarding, Gusto handles new-hire reporting and all local, state and federal tax filings; automates deductions for benefits and workers’ comp payments; and emails digital pay stubs to employees.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks’ accounting software helps you run your business and provides a sense of your company’s overall financial health.
You can use QuickBooks to track your business’ sales and expenses; view financial statements, such as profit and loss reports; pay your employees and vendors; track unpaid invoices; maximize your tax deductions; and more.
QuickBooks connects to thousands of accounts — including your business bank account, credit cards, PayPal and Square — and uploads data from these sources seamlessly. It also simplifies doing your business taxes, as it tracks expenses and lets you upload photos of receipts from your phone. With QuickBooks Online, you can access QuickBooks on your iPhone, iPad, Android phone or Android tablet.
Desktop Wallpaper SoftwareFreshBooks
This app gives small-business owners and freelance workers a simple way to manage and track invoices.
FreshBooks lets you create personalized, professional-looking invoices to match your business; automatically bill your clients for recurring invoices; and accept credit cards on your mobile device. Other useful features include the ability to track and organize expenses from anywhere and create customizable business reports, such as profit and loss statements. FreshBooks works on PCs, iOS and Android devices.
Wave
Wave is an accounting software platform designed for small businesses, independent contractors and sole proprietors with nine or fewer employees.
Wave lets you track sales and expenses, manage invoices and customer payments, pay employees, scan receipts and generate accounting reports. The company also offers free personal finance software to help small-business owners manage their finances in one place.
Wave is compatible with Mac and PCs, and its mobile invoicing and receipt scanning app is available on iOS and Android devices.
[Back to top] Best business apps for communication
Communicating effectively is critical for the daily operations of small businesses. Here are some of the best communication apps to improve productivity within your company.
Addappt
Addappt makes it easier to manage your contacts. When your business contacts, friends and family update their contact information, the changes automatically extend to your phone, provided your contacts also use Addappt. You can also organize contacts into groups and send messages via the app.
Fuze
Fuze is a videoconferencing app that hosts online meetings for all devices and operating systems, including iPads and tablets. It offers high-definition video and crisp audio, and it’s easy to set up and download.
Pushover
Pushoversends push messages to any smartphone and organizes messages and notifications from your devices in one common space. You can send 7,500 messages each month for free and receive an unlimited amount of notifications on Android and iOS devices and desktops.
Slack
With Slack’s instant messaging platform, you can organize your team’s conversations into separate private or public channels or send a direct message. The app also makes it easy to drag, drop and share images, PDFs and other files right in the chat. It automatically indexes and archives any message, notification or file, and there’s no limit to how many users your business can add.
Skype
Competitors have tried to knock Skype off its videoconferencing throne, but the app remains effective and popular, with more than 10 million reviews on Google Play.
You can use Skype to video or voice call anyone in the world; get up to 25 people together on a call; transmit video, photos and files of any size; share your computer screen; and send text or voice messages. Skype can also be used on Amazon Alexa devices.
[Back to top] Best business apps for time management
Time is your most valuable asset. Here are some of the best time-management apps to help you organize your schedule and stay focused on the most important tasks at hand.
RESCUETIME
RescueTime automatically tracks time you’ve spent on applications and websites and sends you detailed reports based on your activity, giving you an accurate picture of how you spent your day. You can set alerts to notify you when you’ve spent a certain amount of time on an activity, like social networking or reading the news, and block distracting websites. It works for Mac, PC, Android and Linux.
My Minutes
If you find you can’t stay focused on your most important tasks — or you’re wasting too much time on Facebook — My Minutes can help you stay grounded by setting goals, such as “Spend only one hour checking email” or “Work out for 30 minutes.” The app is available for iPhones only.
OmniFocus
OmniFocus is a personal task manager that lets you create projects and tasks and organize them into to-do lists. OmniFocus syncs between your devices and works with iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple Watch.
TripIt
TripItconsolidates your travel plans into a single, master itinerary that you can access at any time and on any device, regardless of the website you use to buy your ticket. Users forward all their travel emails to TripIt, and the app takes it from there. You can also check departure times and delays, find directions to the airport and view weather reports.
[Back to top] Best business apps for mobile payment
Mobile payment apps allow your business to accept payments from customers on the go, and they can track business expenses. Here are our top options.
PayPal HERE
PayPal reacted to the emergence of Square — more on that product below — by creating an app that lets businesses attach PayPal’s card reader to a tablet or other device and use it as a portable register. The PayPal Here app is ideal for businesses that need to get paid on the go.
Square
This payment app is a good fit for businesses such as food trucks, beauty salons and retail shops. Its users get a small, portable card reader that attaches to a phone or another mobile device to take fast, convenient payments.
Square also offers a point-of-sale system called Square Register for businesses with a brick-and-mortar store. Square’s point-of-sale app is compatible with iOS and Android devices.
[Back to top] Best business apps for organization
Stay on top of all of your errands and work tasks with these top organization apps.
Asana
If your business is looking to improve its communication and collaboration, look no further than Asana. The web-based and mobile app lets you view all tasks and projects and follow progress on the Asana board, and you can share notes, upload files and communicate without having to rely on email. Asana also integrates with Google Drive and Dropbox to attach files, and with Slack for communication to post updates to a Slack messaging channel.
PROVEN
Proven helps you organize your hiring, letting you post job listings to multiple job boards with one click on your smartphone. You can also sort through dozens of application responses in minutes; categorize applicants into “yes,” “no” and “maybe” buckets; and note when you follow up with a candidate.
It’s a good fit for companies that have sporadic hiring needs, such as restaurants and retail, or for an entrepreneur who juggles multiple business tasks and needs to save time on hiring.
BoxmeupWindows Desktop Software
The Android appBoxmeuporganizes and tracks your packages, containers and other bulk storage items. It allows you to print the proper QR labels, which you can scan with your phone to access a list of items in each container at any time. There’s no iPhone app, but you can access Boxmeup’s mobile website using an iPhone.
EvernoteDesktop Software Definition
Evernote is the app for keeping your notes organized. You can store and share your personal and business to-do lists, reminders and notes across mobile and desktop devices. Evernote is available on Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices.
Trello
Trellois an easy-to-use project management app that tracks your team’s workflow. Each card you create on a Trello board represents an assignment or task. You can add members, comments, attachments, checklists, due dates, and labels and stickers to make the cards as descriptive as possible. Whenever you change a card, Trello notifies each member via email and on mobile devices.
KanbanFlow
Managers can use KanbanFlowto assign tasks, upload documents and file attachments, schedule due dates and visualize overall workflow. The Kanban board is divided into columns to give you an overview of your current work situation. You can also divide tasks into subtasks to track progress more easily, and filter tasks to view only the ones that are assigned to you or someone on your team.
[Back to top] Other favorites
Here are some of the most popular and effective apps on the market.
Expensify
Expensify makes keeping track of business trip expenses less painful. You can link your credit or debit card to your Expensify account so the app will place charges directly on an expense report. Or, if you prefer, you can take pictures of your receipts with your phone, and Expensify will automatically extract the relevant information. You can then make an expense report yourself, which takes only a few minutes.
DROPBOX
Boasting 500 million users and 200,000 businesses, Dropbox is the most popular platform on which to store and share files in the cloud. It’s especially useful for companies that need a reliable way to share information with telecommuters.
MailChimp
MailChimp helps you build and manage your mailing lists and easily create and send newsletters. You can also build and customize email templates and view performance reports about your emails. This information can help you send your customers more relevant emails.
Polaris Office
Polaris Officeis a reliable alternative to Apple’s iWork that lets you edit, create and sync files from your phone or device. The app is available to download on Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.
What's next?
NerdWallet staff writer Tony Armstrong contributed to this article.
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