Best Small Business Accounting Software 2023

We chose QuickBooks Online as one of the best accounting software for small businesses because it’s one of the most popular, feature-rich, integration-friendly, and comprehensive accounting software solutions on the market.

QuickBooks Online is undoubtedly a fully-featured accounting software program, but its 750+ integrations, strong mobile apps, and tax support make it a standout among its competitors.

QuickBooks Online is best for small businesses looking for a full-featured, affordable accounting solution and is ideal for businesses with five users or fewer (though you can add up to 25 users for an additional cost).

However, it may be a bit daunting for any businesses that are new to accounting software, as the interface can be unintuitive at times. We’ve found that simpler accounting software, such as Zoho Books or Zip Books may be easier to use for accounting newbies.

QuickBooks Online offers four pricing plans ranging from $30/month to $200/month. The larger the plan, the more features you can access, and the more users you can have.

Payroll services cost an additional $45-$125/month (plus $6+/month per employee). Read our QuickBooks Online pricing post to learn more, and don’t forget to check if Intuit is running any sales promotions.

QuickBooks offers business accounting essential features, but the platform also offers some advanced accounting features that come in handy when automating your business’s accounting processes.

Top QuickBooks features include:

• Supports both double and single-entry bookkeeping (cash and accrual-basis accounting)
• Extensive invoicing features with real-time bill tracking, customizable invoices, billable hour tracking, and recurring invoicing
• Inventory management with real-time updates, low stock notifications, and robust inventory reports
• Reporting, including balance sheets, job costing, and profit and loss reports
• Contact management with the ability to add notes, attachments, tax rates, languages, preferred payment methods, and more
• Client portal to simplify the payment process for your customers
• Tax support, including creating 1099s for contractors
• Create and manage multiple budgets and run budget reports

We chose FreshBooks as one of the best accounting software for small businesses because it offers simplicity, strong invoicing, proposals, and good customer support. Not only will businesses using FreshBooks be able to handle basic accounting features, but they’ll also be able to save time on sending invoices, tracking expenses, and creating proposals.

Additionally, FreshBooks is impressively easy to use as the software is free of accounting jargon and boasts an easy to navigate interface. Even business owners that don’t have much experience with accounting should be able to get a handle on it quickly, as FreshBooks’ convenient customer support means help is only ever a phone call away.

FreshBooks offers three pricing plans ranging from $17/month to $55/month.

However, FreshBooks’ lowest Lite pricing tier doesn’t support double-entry accounting and functions more similarly to basic invoicing and bookkeeping software. If you need double-entry accounting support, you’ll need to subscribe to FreshBooks’ Plus plan or a higher tier, which starts at $30/month.

FreshBooks only supports a single user (additional users cost an extra $11/month each). Additional features such as advanced payments and payroll through Gusto are offered as plan add-ons.

Comparatively, Wave offers a simpler feature set than FreshBooks, but may be ideal for businesses that only need basic accounting features for unlimited users and relatively cheap payroll options baked in.

FreshBooks boasts a straightforward user experience and has an attractive UI. The setup is simple, and the software takes very little time to learn. FreshBooks’s customer support sets it apart from the competition, but the software also hosts a ton of useful accounting features. Here’s a look at FreshBooks’s top features:

• Simple and easy-to-use UI with accessible customer support
• Project management with the ability to assign cost rates, billable rates, and hours to individuals and a comprehensive project dashboard
• Billing support with unlimited estimates, eSigning, recurring invoices, customizable invoices, deposit acceptance, project budgets, retainers, and proposals
• Time tracking via mobile or desktop timer tracker and Chrome web browser extension
• Accounts payable with bill tracking, profit and loss statements, and a simplified bill upload process
• Provide your accountant with easy access to your business’s accounting dashboard
• Bank sync and reconciliation with automatically imported transactions and categorization
• Reports, including tax-specific reports
• 80+ integrations
• Expense tracking and management

We chose Wave as one of the best accounting software options for small businesses because we believe it’s one of the best free accounting software options available. With all essential accounting features, positive customer reviews, and a well-organized UI, it’s no wonder this free accounting software is popular.

It’s easy to jump straight in and start using Wave, even with little previous accounting experience. Wave is best for small businesses on a tight budget that still want strong accounting capabilities. This software is ideal for Etsy sellers and micro businesses.

Otherwise, like many free software solutions, Wave is a bit limited and definitely wouldn’t suit the needs of larger businesses with more complex accounting needs, or even those that want anything beyond basic accounting features. If you’re willing to pay, we think that Patriot Accounting offers a solid mix of generous features and scalability.

As we mentioned earlier, Wave accounting is free, with no gimmicks or strings attached. With a Wave account, you get access to all Wave features and unlimited users. The only extra costs to be aware of are payroll, payment processing, and professional bookkeeping services.

Wave is well-developed software that rivals even some paid programs in terms of features. The software covers all of the accounting basics, including invoicing, expense tracking, accounts payable, bank reconciliation, and more.

Wave also has several unique features. In Wave, users can separate personal and business expenses, which is ideal for freelancers or side hustlers who don’t have a separate business bank account.

Top Wave features include:

• Integrations (including Zapier)
• Unlimited users, including adding your accountant
• Accounting dashboard with chart of accounts and overdue payment notices
• Solid reports, including balance sheets, cash flow, and profit and lost statements
• Receipt management
• Contact management
• Unlimited bank and credit card connections

We believe that Zoho Books is one of the best accounting software for small businesses because it offers almost as many features as QuickBooks Online, great customer support, a good number of integrations, and international features. If your business offers field service, you’ll absolutely love the convenience of mobile invoice management.

Compared to QuickBooks, Zoho Books offers better customer service and a more user-friendly UI. Zoho Books is best for small businesses needing strong online accounting, great mobile apps, and good invoicing. The software is ideal for international businesses.

Zoho Books offers six pricing plans ranging from $0/month to $275/month. Each plan comes with basic features and offers more advanced features such as more contacts, users, and invoices, as you go up the pricing tiers.

With good customer support and a well-designed UI, Zoho Books is easy to learn and use. Zoho Books has all the features you’d expect from a fully-developed accounting solution, including invoicing, contact management, expense tracking, time tracking, inventory, project management, and even tax support.

The best part about Zoho Books is its invoicing offerings. Zoho Books offers 16 customizable invoice templates, a client portal where customers can pay invoices directly online, recurring invoices, and the unique ability to encrypt invoices. Here’s a look at some of Zoho Books’ other top features:

• Invoicing with customizable invoices and quotes, multi-currency support, eSigning, and automated payment reminders
• Billing support with recurring bills, landed cost tracking, transaction approval, vendor credits, and bill creation from purchase orders
• Inventory management with customizable product details and rates
• Tax support, including the ability to set default and custom tax rates, Alvara integration, contractor payment tracking, and robust reports
• Project tracking with time tracking, task creation, expense tracking, automatic retainer payments, and customizable role-based permissions
• Bank integration with transaction fetching, statement import, auto-categorization, reconciliation, and bulk editing
• Detailed reports, including essentials such as profit and loss reporting
• Payment acceptance with multiple payment gateway options, recurring payments, automated reminders, a customer payment portal, and payment tracking
• 30+ integrations

Although it’s not exactly accounting software, we chose QuickBooks Self-Employed offers easy bookkeeping and tax support for freelancers. One of QuickBooks Self-Employed’s standout features is its integration with TurboTax which exponentially simplifies the tax filing process for 1099 contractors.

QuickBooks Self-Employed is designed for freelancers, contractors, and other self-employed individuals and is ideal for managing estimated quarterly taxes and maximizing deductions. The software is easy to use, and the QuickBooks app allows for quick access to your data.

There are three pricing options for QuickBooks Self-Employed. There’s a $20/month plan that includes all of the software’s features. Going with the $30/month plan adds a TurboTax integration, so you can easily file your self-employment taxes. The $40/month plan includes live tax support from a CPA.

While QuickBooks Self-Employed is a great option for contractors that want to simplify their taxes, we think that Wave’s essential accounting features plus double-entry accounting make it a better choice for freelancers looking to keep costs down.

QuickBooks Self-Employed is well-organized and easy to use. The features help simplify estimated quarterly taxes and allow freelancers to manage their expenses and track deductions. This software also makes it easy to separate personal and business expenses, which is ideal for freelancers who don’t have a designated business bank account.

Additionally, QuickBooks Self-Employed offers:

• Expense management, including receipt photos and automatically matched expenses
• Tax support, including automatically calculated quarterly estimated taxes, Schedule C deductions, and a tax checklist
• Invoicing with flat-rate, hourly, or by-item pricing options
• Automatic mileage tracking using your phone’s GPS system and trip categorizations
• Turbo Tax integration with one federal and one state filing included in Self-Employed’s Tax Bundle plan
• Lending through QuickBooks Capital

We chose ZipBooks as one of the best accounting software for small businesses because its exceptionally easy to use, with a beautiful interface, and a solid feature set — even though it’s a relative newcomer to the accounting software market.

With a free plan, unlimited users, and ample automations, it’s not hard to see why this software gets a good rating. ZipBooks is best for small businesses owners with little previous accounting experience in need of an affordable, strong accounting solution.

We believe that ZipBooks’ design, reports, bank sync, and ease of use makes it one of the best accounting software solutions on the market. However, ZipBooks’ built-in intelligence features set it apart from the competition by providing small business owners with easily digestible financial insights to inform decision-making.

ZipBooks offers three pricing plans ranging from $0/month to $35/month. Each plan comes with unlimited invoicing. ZipBooks’s Accounting pricing tier offers more advanced accounting features for you and your clients at a custom price rate. Each pricing level adds more features and users, with the most expensive plan supporting unlimited users.

ZipBooks offers a good number of features that are easy to use and has one of the most attractive interfaces out there. The software’s design is simple and intuitive, using automations to save you time. The UI is even color-coded to make navigation a breeze. ZipBooks offers the basics you’d expect from accounting software, including invoicing, contact management, and expense tracking.

Additionally, ZipBooks offers:

• Project management with expense and time tracking
• Chart of accounts with the ability to set custom accounts
• Built-in auto-categorization that learns from your updates
• Tracking via automatic bank sync, statement import, and bank reconciliation
• Accounts receivable with payment tracking and specialized account age reports
• Add your accountant as a team member for direct access to your business’s accounts
• Business health score and recommendations
• Strong, customizable reports features

We chose Sage Accounting as one of the best accounting software options because it’s in a class all on its own when it comes to accounting automations and support for international businesses, especially those in the UK needing VAT support. Sage can handle all the essential accounting tasks one would expect from accounting software, but puts an emphasis on automating accounting processes as much as possible.

Sage Accounting is affordable, easy to use, and offers unlimited users, making it a great choice for small businesses that want to keep accounting simple. The UK version of the software is especially well-developed, but the US version could also work for small businesses looking for affordable, simple software that isn’t cluttered.

Larger UK businesses may consider Xero as a comparable accounting software option. Though Xero costs more than Sage, it’s much stronger as a scalable accounting solution with a wealth of features to support UK businesses, such as VAT returns and CIS returns support.

Sage Accounting offers two pricing plans ranging from $10-$25/month. The main difference between the two plans is that the latter gives you access to more features, such as cash flow analysis and accounts payable, and allows you to have unlimited users.

Sage Accounting is incredibly easy to use, partially because the software sticks to the basics in terms of features. This makes Sage Accounting easy for any business owner to learn, no matter how much or little experience you have with accounting. Sage offers basic accounting features, such as expense tracking, accounts payable, a chart of accounts, and reports (e.g., Profit & Loss and Balance sheets). The software also offers:

• Automated accounts receivable tasks, including creating and sending invoices, creating reports, and marking invoices as paid
• Bank connections with automatic transaction categorization and reconciliation
• Invoicing and billing with support with Stripe integration’s “Pay Now” button and the ability to convert quotes to invoices
• Accounts payable with debt age reports, account grouping, credit limits, and purchase invoice auto-signing
• Create estimates and quotes
• Inventory management with stock level alerts, re-order levels, stocking pricing, and simple categorization
• Customizable billing services for customers
• Robust reporting with automations, customization, and cash flow reporting
• 60+ integrations

We chose Xero as one of the best accounting software solutions because it boasts all the essential accounting features a business may need, plus a host of advanced accounting features.

Xero is a great match for those growing businesses or startups whose accounting needs have outstripped their current system’s capabilities or eCommerce businesses that would benefit from the software’s integrations.

If you’ve got the budget for it, Xero would make a great asset to your growing business. Smaller businesses may be able to get away with using Xero’s lowest pricing plan, but it’s relatively limited, with only 20 invoices and five bills.

Sage is a slightly cheaper option with comparable accounting features and is more tailored to smaller businesses.

Xero offers three price plans ranging from $13/month to $70/month. As you move up through the pricing tiers, you get more features, invoices, and accounting management tools. Xero supports unlimited users at every price plan, whereas many other accounting software solutions don’t. You can also add on Payroll with Gusto for $40/month + $6/person paid.

Xero is a full-bodied accounting software solution with a host of features that range from the basics, such as invoicing, accounts payable, reports, and more, to the advanced, such as multiple currency support, email templates, tax forms and support, and more. The sheer volume of Xero’s app integrations means it will likely complement any system you are currently using or be compatible with any new solutions you add in the future.

Here’s a look at Xero’s top features:

• Bill pay support, with due date overviews, payment scheduling, and secure online bill storage
• Expense management, including receipt photos, reimbursements, expense reports, and mileage tracking
• Business bank account connections with automatic bank feeds, transaction tracking categories, and bank reconciliation
• Invoicing with payment acceptance, fraud protection, support for multiple payment methods and currencies, and automated payment reminders
• Create quotes, estimates, and purchase orders
• Strong analytics and reporting features, including customizable reports, formula applications, and cash flow charts
• Secure document storage and file sharing
• Contact management with transaction records
• Project tracking via time and location-based tracking and project cost tracking

We chose Patriot accounting as one of the best small business accounting software options because we think that it offers the best (and most affordable) combination of full-service accounting and payroll software for businesses with simple needs. Additionally, may Patriot users rave about the quality of its customer support, the ease of setup, and the overall ease of use.

Patriot offers everything you’d expect from accounting and payroll software, including expense tracking, invoicing, unlimited payroll runs, and free direct deposit. However, Patriot isn’t a great fit for every business, specifically those that need inventory tracking, job costing, or project management. However, for smaller businesses, freelancers, and contractors with less advanced accounting and payroll needs, Patriot is a top contender.

In total, Patriot features four different types of software to best fit the needs of any small business: accounting, payroll, time and attendance tracking, and HR management. You can sign up for any combination of these programs, which all seamlessly integrate.

While other accounting software link feature payroll integrations, such as QuickBooks, we think Patriot’s software is more affordable and is a better fit for businesses with les complex accounting needs.

Patriot Accounting is priced at $20 – $30/month, with the higher priced tier adding in features like recurring invoices, payment reminders, estimates, and account reconciliation.

Adding on Patriot Payroll costs $17 – $37/month + $4/employee or contractor. The more expensive payroll plan is full-service, automatically filing and paying payroll taxes for your business. Time tracking and attendance can be added to your plan, each at a cost of $6/month + $2/employee.

Compared to other services that offer both accounting and payroll services, Patriot tends to be on the lower end of the pricing spectrum.

Patriot software offers a nice set of features in its software that’s clean, modern, and easy to navigate, making it simple for even beginners to track their income and expenses. Although Patriot isn’t loaded with tons of automations, such as Xero, you’ll still speed up your accounting processes while using the software, since it’s so easy to use and streamlines tedious accounting tasks.

Notable features include:

• Create unlimited invoice and estimates with custom invoice templates
• Track payments to unlimited customers
• Document management with receipt handling
• Account reconciliation
• 1099 e-Filing and printing
• Automatic payroll tax filings & deposits
• Chart of accounts
• Expense management with department breakdowns
• Filing accuracy guarantee
• Unlimited vendor payments
• Unlimited users with the ability to add your accountant
• Support for both cash-basis and accrual accounting