The Best Accounting Software for Small Businesses 2024

• Invoicing – Create professional-looking invoices in seconds, add your company’s logo and colors, personalize the email with the invoice link, and send it to your clients in seconds. During my testing, I found FreshBooks to be the best for invoicing, thanks to the intuitive, user-friendly features that make billing and payment tracking simple.
• Expense Tracking – I like the simplicity of FreshBooks expense tracking. This accounting software allows you to take receipt images, forward email receipts to your business accounts, and import expenses directly from your business bank account, eliminating the need for manual entry.
• Collaboration with Accountants – FreshBooks makes it easy for SMEs to share their business finance information with their accountants without transferring data from one platform to another. Right on the platform, you can collaborate with an accountant and up to ten others.

FreshBooks offers four subscription plans catering to different business sizes and needs. See the price plans as highlighted below.

The Lite plan is designed for startups and small businesses that manage up to five clients and only need basic accounting features. Its features include sending unlimited invoices to five billable clients, unlimited expense tracking, unlimited estimates, the ability to run tax reports, and payment with credit cards and bank transfers (ACH).

FreshBooks Premium plan is suitable for medium-sized businesses with unlimited capacity for client management but with a few employees.

FreshBooks saves you 10% on any price plan whenever you choose the yearly option. You also get 60% off for 4 months for any purchased subscription. Similarly to Xero and QuickBooks, FreshBooks also offers a 30-day free trial.

Add-ons like team members, advanced payments, and payroll are available at $11, $20, and $40 + $6/per person each month, respectively.

• Advanced Reporting – Aggregate data from many places on the platform and use visuals to understand your business performance better. I like that you can additionally design custom report fields specific to your company.
• Sales Tax – I found handling taxes to be stress-free. Zoho Books automatically calculates your sales tax returns while you continue managing other business activities.
• Automation – Zoho Books offers various automation to give you more time for business growth. For instance, automated reminders, managed recurring payments, and direct transactions are all streamlined in one place, which lets you spend less time on redundant tasks.

Zoho offers free and five flexible paid plans loaded with features, giving you more wiggle room for your budget and scalability as your business grows.

Zoho Books’ free plan is suitable for businesses just starting up and generating an annual revenue of less than USD 50K. With this plan, you can access mileage tracking, invoice creation, online payment, bank reconciliation, tax summary reports, tax management, and automatic payment reminders. The only limitation of this free plan is that you can’t use Zoho Books’ add-on with it. This is one of the most comprehensive free plans I’ve come across, and it will be suitable for most small businesses that need basic accounting.

Zoho offers a 14-day free trial to allow you to explore the features available in its paid plans before making any financial commitment.

Add-ons like Additional users are available for $3/user per month, and Advanced auto scans cost $10 for 50 scans each month across all plans. However, this is only available to premium users.

Zoho Books is the best option for very small businesses needing cost-effective accounting software with advanced features, customizations, and automation.

Of course, businesses already using other Zoho products can benefit more from its seamless integration with other Zoho apps.

• Bank Reconciliation – Bank reconciliation simplifies keeping account balances and bank statements up to date and ensures that each business activity is documented and accounted for.
• Multiple Currency – Do business in multiple currencies with Xero’s support for over 160 currencies. Xero converts international business transactions for you, records them, and reports them on your dashboard.
• Unlimited User Support – Unlike many accounting software like FreshBooks and QuickBooks, Xero supports unlimited users across all its plans at no extra cost. This special feature fosters easy collaboration without restrictions.

Xero’s small business accounting software price plan is feature-based and not user-based. Its price plans are available in three tiers to support different business needs. Each plan is only accessible monthly, not annually.

The Starter plan is designed for businesses with limited invoice needs. The plan allows users to send quotes and 20 invoices, reconcile bank transactions, and capture bills and receipts with Hubdoc, short-term cash flow, and business snapshots. Users needing unlimited invoices and quotes may choose the Growing plan, while those needing multiple currencies can choose its Established package.

You can explore Xero’s features during the 30-day free trial or sign up for a priced plan and receive 75% off for your first 3 months.

• Sales Channel Integration: QuickBooks has a unique advantage over all other tools I’ve reviewed in that it allows you to connect your sales channels to the platform. Every sale on Amazon, Shopify, or eBay stores is automatically synced with the accounting software, and all payouts are matched to bank deposits. This way, you’ll be able to see your cash flow, expenses, and profitability trends at a glance.
• Ecommerce Management: Automatically import data from your connected ecommerce store to ensure that your financial transactions are tracked and reported. This streamlines your accounting process and will save you valuable time.
• Inventory Management: The easy-to-use, comprehensive inventory management tool allows you to track products and receive notifications when inventory is low. I find this to be especially beneficial for retail and ecommerce businesses that rely on accurate inventory levels to fulfill orders in a timely manner.

QuickBooks offers monthly pay-as-you-go pricing options in four tiers, each offering loads of features, free mobile apps, customer support, and app integrations. See the table below for the full price list.

QuickBooks’ Simple Start plan supports only one user and one sales channel connection, allowing you to manage invoices and payments, general reports, receipt capture, bills, tax deductions, and mileage tracking. It’s suitable for retailers that are just starting out.

QuickBooks doesn’t offer a free plan but a 30-day free trial. It currently offers a discount of 70% off for the first 3 months to new users. It also offers add-ons like tax assistance and assisted bookkeeping at an extra fee.

• Unlimited Bookkeeping Records – Manually enter your bank transactions or link your bank account to Wave to streamline your bookkeeping procedure and ensure all information is available in one place.
• Mobile Receipts – Import invoices anywhere you are so you won’t lose track of expenses, irrespective of your location. In my opinion, Wave has one of the best mobile apps and mobile receipts ensures your expense tracking is always up-to-date.
• Smart Dashboard – The smart dashboard lets you organize your invoices, expenses, income, and payments, as well as view credit card and bank transactions. It’s simple to view profit and loss reports, balance sheets, and cash flow — ideal for gaining insights into your finances and data-driven decision-making.

Wave offers a free accounting and invoicing feature and a paid plan that supports more.

The Starter plan is suitable for startups that only need basic accounting solutions. The plan features unlimited invoicing, bookkeeping, bills, on-the-go invoicing via the Wave app, and cash flow management. Growing businesses that need more accounting features, such as unlimited receipts, tracking expenses, and automation of late payment reminders, can choose the paid plan.

For both the free and paid plan, accepting online payment incurs charges starting at 2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction.

Wave offers add-ons such as Payroll at $20 per month, unlimited mobile receipts at $8/month OR $72/year, and hiring bookkeepers starting from $149/month.

Wave’s accounting app is excellent for small businesses looking for free and basic accounting features like invoice management, bookkeeping, expense tracking, and high-level reporting.

• Advanced Inventory – Sage offers an advanced automated way of calculating your inventory’s quantity and true value after every sale, helping you save time and reduce errors often caused by manual data entry.
• Advanced Reporting & Intelligence – Gain accurate and meaningful insights about your business to make informed decisions. Also, Sage’s intelligence for accounting makes it easy for you to customize financial reports even without any advanced accounting knowledge.
• Sage Accountants Network – This is extremely useful for solo entrepreneurs and startups that cannot afford to engage a full-time accountant but need to ensure that all financial aspects of their firm are handled.

Sage price plans are flexible, allowing you to choose the right accounting subscription for your business.

Sage’s Accounting Start plan is suitable for solopreneurs who manage their business themselves, as this plan only allows one user access. The plan features the ability to work anywhere, quick invoice creation, and finance tracking.

You can test the software free for 30 days.

• Tax Management – Bonsai helps you stay tax compliant to avoid penalty pitfalls and legal complications so you can spare yourself any hassles and focus on growing your business. It also offers an array of tax templates, making tax season a stress-free experience.
• Project Management – Fully integrated project management allows you to invite collaborators to your projects, assign tasks, and communicate seamlessly. It also simplifies client management by organizing customer information, tracking contact history, and scheduling follow-up reminders, resulting in simple client interactions using the client portal.
• Numerous Templates – Besides email templates, Bonsai offers a template for virtually every aspect of your business, including proposals, quotes, contracts, invoices, briefs, and tax forms.

Bonsai provides three pricing levels to meet various business demands. Its pricing model is based on feature differences.

Many freelancers and contractors with basic accounting needs may find Bonsai’s starter plan useful. Its features include multiple templates, unlimited clients and projects, invoicing and payments, proposals and contracts, scheduling, tasks and time tracking, client CRM, forms and questionnaires, and expense tracking.

You can try Bonsai for free for 7 days. Like Zoho Books, Bonsai offers add-ons like additional team seats and tax management, which are available at $10 monthly.

• 100% Accuracy – TurboTax ensures your business taxes are done accurately with no error with the guidance of its tax prep provider. However, if you pay an IRS penalty because of an error made by a TurboTax Live expert, TurboTax takes the responsibility and pays you the penalty plus interest.
• Expert Guidance – When you choose Full Service, you will be given a local tax expert who will provide you with unique insight tailored to your specific case. This expert will work with you to get every dollar you deserve and complete your taxes correctly.
• Unlimited, Year-round Advice and Answers – TurboTax offers you direct access to its small business tax experts, who are always available at no extra cost.

TurboTax plans for small businesses are available in three tiers. You can choose any of the three options depending on your business needs. You may also try out its interface and in-app features before committing to a membership because you only pay when you file.

The Do Your Own Taxes plan is a good option for individuals or solo businesses that can handle their taxes by themselves without external assistance from Turbotax. With this plan, you get 100% accurate calculations with the help of Intuit AI assistance, a minimum refund guarantee, and easy scan and upload. On the other hand, businesses with tax complexities may choose the Full Service plan, allowing TurboTax experts to manage their tax calculations and filing.

Turbotax pricing is not tied to a monthly subscription but is based on a pay-as-you-file process.

TurboTax is ideal for small businesses and sole proprietors needing assistance filing their taxes correctly. 

• Payment Flexibility & Security – You or your clients can use any of the payment methods Melio accepts to make your preferred payment. Melio makes payments more manageable for your clients and provides payment protection. It can help avoid bounced checks, chargebacks, forgeries, and ACH returns.
• Mobile App – With the Melio app, you can easily make payments from anywhere and check payment status from your mobile phone.
• Integration – Synchronizes with accounting software such as QuickBooks and Xero to avoid double data entry and manual input. You can also easily integrate your Amazon Businesses to pay invoices in a few clicks.

Melio is free to use and offers transparent transaction fees. However, Melio charges you for each transaction, depending on the transaction option.

See the list below for Melio’s transaction charges:

• Mail check — $1.50 (first two are free)
• Pay by card — $2.9%
• Instant transfer — 1.5% (up to $50)
• Fast ACH bank transfer — $1% (up to $30)
• Fast check — $20
• International payments — $20 (flat fee)

Melio is an excellent small business accounting alternative for small businesses looking for an easy and simple way to manage online payments.

• Automated Tax Management – NetSuite’s indirect tax management solution, SuiteTax, is an advanced tool that delivers end-to-end global tax management. This tool streamlines tax calculation, saves time, reduces error, and eliminates manual data entry.
• Customizable Reports & Analytics – SuiteAnalytics is the in-built analytics that gives you a real-time overview of your business’s operational and financial performance across all business functions. You can use the prebuilt template or customize it to suit your preferences.
• High Scalability – You can integrate a wide range of built-in tools with its online accounting software to monitor other business processes. Also, these tools are comprehensive enough to scale with your growing business.

Oracle NetSuite charges its services based on your business-specific needs. As a result, it doesn’t offer public pricing plans. Your total annual subscription includes the main platform, optional modules, and the number of users.

In addition, you will need to start with a one-time implementation, which comes with a fee. You can contact Oracle NetSuite’s sales team to understand the cost of maintaining your business and start enjoying its feature-rich services. However, I recommend taking NetSuite’s free demo to understand its functionality.

• Manages outgoing payments to vendors and incoming payments from customers.
• Automates invoice creation, sending, and tracking.
• Tracks outstanding receivables and payables, aiding in cash flow management.
• Offers payment reminders and aging reports to ensure timely collections and payments.

• Automates calculation of employee wages, including deductions and benefits.
• Ensures compliance with tax regulations and labor laws.
• Generates pay stubs, tax forms, and direct deposit files.
• Tracks employee hours, overtime, and leave balances.

• Produces essential financial statements such as income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.
• Provides customizable reports for detailed financial analysis.
• Offers real-time insights into financial health and performance.
• Supports audit trails and compliance reporting, aiding in regulatory adherence.