Generally speaking, bookkeeping means tracking finances to create solid records while accounting means analyzing those records to draw conclusions about your business’s financial health. Sage also offers a lot of support to first-time business owners with minimal bookkeeping experience. Its live Q&A chat lets you ask an expert financial questions during business hours, and you can always schedule an appointment with a Sage Accounting expert.
It’s exactly as user-friendly as the cloud-based QuickBooks software and offers the same bookkeeping and accounting as the browser interface. First of all, it has a higher starting price than nearly any other online accounting software solution. $30 a month for a basic plan (the non-sales price) is much higher than the average for accounting software. And for another thing, you won’t get inventory features until you scale up to QuickBooks Online Plus ($85/month). To get the max amount of accounting tools and business reports (like accounts receivable), you need QuickBooks Online Advanced ($200/month).
- In other words, instead of making non-bookkeepers work to understand their financial data, Zoho Books’s straightforward reporting and simple organization reduces work for non-accountant business owners.
- It’s simple and easy to use, available online, and provides several attractive features at no cost.
- For accountant access, more accurate bookkeeping, and detailed business health reports, you’ll need the $30-a-month Plus plan (non-promotional price).
- One area where Brightbook struggles is its lack of mobile support.
Top 6 Best Accounting Apps
Most bookkeepers and accountants use the same popular software small-business owners do, especially QuickBooks Online, Xero, and Sage. Oracle NetSuite and FreshBooks are two other popular bookkeeper software options. QuickBooks Online has some of the best reporting and bookkeeping features money can buy. Xero, Sage Business Accounting, and Zoho Books have stellar reports at a lower starting price than QuickBooks. And if you want straightforward finance tracking without in-depth analytics, Wave Accounting can help you with the basics. Keep reading to learn more about QuickBooks Online, Xero, and five additional bookkeeping solutions tailor-made for small-business owners like you.
Organized and stress-free small business accounting
Intuit developed this cloud-based software specifically for non-accountant small-business owners, and everything from the interface to the initial setup is as simple as possible. QuickBooks’ ease of use obviously extends to its mobile app—one of the most widely used mobile accounting apps for US-based small businesses—which is at least as user-friendly as the online software. Small businesses keep track of expenses by using single-entry or double-entry bookkeeping.
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Zoho Books takes accounting automation into the next century, and Sage Business Cloud Accounting is a super affordable, user-friendly pick for budget-conscious business owners. Sage business cloud accounting makes creating invoices, managing expenses, monitoring payments and receivables, and automating bank reconciliation easy. A user-friendly interface allows you to upload your products and track inventory levels remotely, manage expenses, and perform accurate financial reporting. Zoho Books accounting app for small businesses allows for invoicing, online payments, expense tracking, inventory management, project management, generation of business reports, and more. However, you can accountant forums share most accounting solutions with an accountant or bookkeeper, including accounting software that otherwise limits its users by plan.
To make searching for the best app for small business accounting easier, we have compiled a list of the top options, their best uses, and their starting prices. Some reported drawbacks to the Sage accounting app include unreliable bank feed links, poor telephone user assistance, and difficulties editing entries, whether bond in accounting or not they’ve been reconciled. Sometimes glitches with the app interfere with the user experience, and some users have found that customer service may be lacking. One of the main drawbacks mentioned in reviews is the pricing packages. Some customers have found that the QuickBooks online app crashes while they’re using it, and many users have had difficulty getting direct professional support when they run into an issue.
If you need to shift from one accounting application to another, your existing data will have to shift too. Some free accounting solutions make that process more convoluted and frustrating than others — bear that in mind when you pick your preferred platform. Yes, switching from other accounting apps or products to Wave is easy! See our step-by-step guide on how to import bookkeeping data into Wave here.
And while Zoho Books does a great job of tackling all things invoice, you’ll get an even better deal by adding Zoho Invoice to your Zoho how to improve your customer acquisition cost and grow roi Books plan. Zoho Invoice is completely free for life, so whether you end up trying Zoho Books or not, we definitely recommend giving Zoho Invoice a look. To keep your books in order, Business.org recommends QuickBooks Online. Its detailed reports and straightforward interface make it a good software option for non-bookkeepers. Or, if QuickBooks’ high starting price keeps it out of your budget, Xero is our preferred runner-up. As one of the best bookkeeping software for businesses, Xero is highly affordable and comes with dozens of freelance-friendly features.
Zoho Books: Best invoices
Popular business cloud platforms like Microsoft Office 365 or Google Apps for Work offer collaboration tools and are tailored for mobile employees. Since many small businesses have been using Microsoft and Google programs for years, their cloud interfaces are familiar and make for an easy transition. While you can do bookkeeping without accounting, you can’t do accounting without bookkeeping. If you’re nervous about setting up accounting software for the first time, Kashoo’s experts can talk you through it.
Wave’s accounting software is built for small business owners. Be your own accountant, thanks to Wave’s automated features, low cost, and simple interface. When you manage your account from the web you’ll also get additional features. For example, you can match your receipts to incoming bank transactions on the web. When you use your mobile app, you can only snap photos of your receipts. Through the cloud, you and your team have access to your business software tools from any place at any time.