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Education: AA Liberal Studies, Limestone University
Erica has been writing about small business finance and technology since 2008. She joined Merchant Maverick in 2018 and specializes in researching and reviewing business software, financial products, and other topics to help small businesses manage and grow their operations. Her expertise has been cited in MSN, Reader’s Digest, Vox, U.S. News & World Report, and Real Simple. She is a Certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Payroll, a graduate of Limestone University, and currently resides in Greenville, South Carolina.
One form of relief offered to small businesses is the Employee Retention Tax Credit. First introduced in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, this tax credit could be claimed by eligible employers on quarterly tax returns. This program was expanded by the Consolidated Appropriations Act signed into law in December 2020, making the credit accessible to more employers.
The SBA offers a variety of loan programs that vary according to business needs. Its flagship program is the 7(a) loan program, which offers loans for most general business purposes. However, it also offers special programs such as microloans and disaster loans. Find out more about SBA loans, including who qualifies.
QuickBooks Online is cloud-based accounting software. It has the complex accounting capabilities that small business owners need and supports numerous integrations. Quickbooks Online has a lot to offer in terms of features, accounting, and usability.
Square Capital is a convenient and relatively inexpensive source of financing. This company has streamlined the lending process, so it’s almost completely hands-off.
Square’s merchant services are powerful and well priced — but they aren’t the same as having your own dedicated merchant account to accept credit card payments. See how Square’s credit card processing compares to top-tier merchant accounts in terms of pricing, support, overall value, and more.
QuickBooks Self-Employed is a tax software with a few accounting features thrown in. However, QuickBooks Self-Employed still has a way to go as the software has several gaps. It is suitable for freelancers.
It’s certainly possible to operate without one if you have a very simple establishment, but if you are expanding at all, whether it is to create an eCommerce presence, open a new location, or simply get a little more in-depth information about how your business is functioning, a POS system was literally designed to help you.
Can you buy a used Clover POS? Absolutely! Should you? No! While you can certainly find a used Clover POS system for sale on eBay or Amazon, it’s never a good idea to buy one. Used Clover POS are not reprogrammable and new systems are always sold with a merchant services contract — which you should never enter lightly.
Vend isn’t quite as robust as a handful of other retail systems out there. Still, for mid-sized businesses, which may not necessarily need to utilize extremely in-depth reports and inventory analysis, it would seem to be a perfect solution. If you don’t need too many add-ons, Vend’s cost will likely make it an appealing option to any retailer researching POS systems.
In a world where mobile apps are often pale shadows of their web software counterparts, Invoice2go stands out by offering invoicing apps for both iPhone and Android with the same — if not better — functionality than the desktop software.
Though it started with a simple focus on time tracking in 2006, Harvest has grown considerably over the last decade and now encompasses invoicing and project management. Even after expanding into the invoicing world, the software is still focused on time and team management and has over 50,000 users. However, the software has limited invoicing features and is unsuited for product-based businesses.
When it comes to invoicing, Zoho Invoice simply can’t be beaten. With 16 templates to choose from, a beautiful client portal, the option to autoschedule invoices, and the ability to send invoices in 14 languages, it’s easy to see why Zoho Invoice is our top-rated invoicing software.
Zoho Books is a cloud-based accounting program with advanced invoicing features as well as features such as auto-scheduling invoices, reporting tags, and inventory. Zoho Books offers a strong set of features that could be ideal for many small businesses. It is nearly on par with QuickBooks Online — and at half the cost.
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Get Started With A Top Pick! 🏆Square Capital gets our expert seal of approval.Our team of experts spends hours on every review so that we can find the best companies to recommend to our readers. Square Capital made the cut.Learn MoreSee what this company has to offer.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
Get Started With A Top Pick! 🏆Square Capital gets our expert seal of approval.Our team of experts spends hours on every review so that we can find the best companies to recommend to our readers. Square Capital made the cut.Learn MoreSee what this company has to offer.
