The best small business accounting software is easy to use and has essential bookkeeping features, including accounts payable (A/P) and accounts receivable (A/R) management, income and expense tracking, and financial reporting. Some businesses may do well with free software like Wave, while others may need premium options like QuickBooks Online or Zoho Books for advanced tasks, such as project accounting and inventory management.
That said, here are the six best accounting software for small businesses:
- QuickBooks Online: Overall best accounting software for small businesses with class and location tracking and a huge network of QuickBooks Online ProAdvisors
- Wave: Best free solution for sending invoices and tracking income and expenses
- FreshBooks: Best for small service-based businesses seeking strong project accounting features
- Zoho Books: Best for mobile accounting
- QuickBooks Desktop: Best desktop accounting software for managing multiple companies
- Bench: Best online bookkeeping service as an alternative to do-it-yourself (DIY) accounting software
Quickbooks Online: Get invoicing, bill pay, and inventory tracking. Now 50% off for Three Months. |
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We are committed to providing you with an unbiased, thorough, and comprehensive evaluation to help you find the right accounting software for your business. We meticulously and objectively assess each software based on a fixed set of criteria—including pricing, features, ease of use, and customer support—in our internal case study.
To delve deeper into our best small business accounting software, we tested and used each platform to evaluate how the features perform against our metrics. This hands-on approach helps us strengthen our accounting software expertise and deliver on the Fit Small Business mission of providing the best answers to your small business questions.
Best Small Business Accounting Software: Quick Comparison
QuickBooks Online: Best Overall Small Business Accounting Software
Pros
- Is an industry-leading and popular accounting software; widely used by many businesses and accountants
- Generally has more features than most similar software
- Has a vast network of QuickBooks ProAdvisors; easy to find help if needed
- Offers excellent inventory tracking with automatic calculation of cost of goods sold (COGS)
- Provides free meeting with a QuickBooks ProAdvisor to get set up
Cons
- Is a bit expensive compared to similar software
- Requires at least Plus subscription to track inventory and project profitability
- Doesn’t allow you to enter bills or record time worked from the mobile app
- Requires one subscription per organization
You can try QuickBooks Online for 30 days or get 50% off for three months if you subscribe immediately.
- Simple Start: $30 per month for one user
- Essentials: $60 per month for up to three users
- Plus: $90 per month for up to five users
- Advanced: $200 per month for up to 25 users
Add-ons:
- QuickBooks Payroll: Starts at $45 plus $5 monthly per employee (read our QuickBooks Payroll review)
- QuickBooks Live: $500 for the first month, then starting at $200 monthly (read our QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping review)
- QuickBooks Time: $20 base fee + $8 monthly per employee (read our QuickBooks Time review)
QuickBooks Online is our best small business accounting software because it is widely used by business owners and accountants, making it extremely easy to find help. It has a strong feature set, including the ability to create classes and locations for tracking income and expenses. This is particularly beneficial for businesses that operate in multiple departments or physical locations.
The program is versatile, so you can customize to specific industries, such as churches, restaurants, and nonprofits. It is also easy to use and allows you to share data and files effortlessly with employees, certified public accountants (CPAs), and tax professionals.
Another notable benefit of QuickBooks Online is that it has a vast network of QuickBooks ProAdvisors, making it easy for you to find professional bookkeeping support if needed. ProAdvisors can help you with various accounting workflows, such as setting up specific reports, customizing invoices, and optimizing the chart of accounts. If you need expert help, read our guide on how to find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
On the downside, QuickBooks Online is a bit costly, especially for very small businesses with only basic accounting needs. If you are starting out or are on a tight budget, you might find the free Wave accounting software sufficient.
Wave: Best Free Solution for Sending Invoices & Tracking Income & Expenses
Pros
- Offers free basic accounting features, including income and expense tracking and invoicing
- Allows you to track expenses with bank feeds
- Lets you create and send an unlimited number of invoices
- Is our best inexpensive receipt scanner
- Supports unlimited users with different roles
Cons
- Has no advanced features like inventory tracking and project management
- Lacks scalable options
- Can’t reconcile bank statements when timing differences exist
Wave is completely free for accounting and invoicing.
Add-ons:
- Wave Receipts: $8 per month for unlimited receipt scans via the mobile app
- Wave Payroll: $40 monthly for tax service states or $20 for self-service states, plus $6 per month per active employee or independent contractor.
- Wave Advisor: $149 per month for bookkeeping support
- Accounting and payroll coaching: $379 per coaching session and email support
Wave is our recommended free solution for small business accounting and our overall best free accounting software. It includes free bookkeeping, invoicing, and expense tracking features, making it a great fit for freelancers and small businesses with simple accounting needs.
One of its advantages is that it supports unlimited users, which can be useful for small businesses or freelancers working with a team. Additionally, it offers some paid features that can be added as needed, such as payroll processing, credit card processing, and bookkeeping services.
However, it has some limitations, such as the lack of inventory management and project accounting. We recommend choosing QuickBooks Online or Zoho Books if you have inventory or projects or plans to upgrade in the future.
FreshBooks: Best for Small Service-based Businesses Seeking Strong Project Accounting Features
Pros
- Is focused on service-based businesses due to its strong project management features
- Allows you to compare estimated costs against actual costs
- Lets you track time and expenses and easily add them to customer invoices
- Enables you to send unlimited invoices in all plans
- Has a mobile app for invoicing and accounting
Cons
- Requires an additional fee for each extra user
- Can’t track checking or credit card balance in the software without a live bank feed
- Is unable to track activity by class
- Doesn’t track inventory and COGS
- Lite: $19 per month; up to five billable clients
- Plus: $33 per month; up to 50 billable clients
- Premium: $60 per month; unlimited billable clients
- Select: Custom pricing for unlimited billable clients and specialized features
FreshBooks is now available at 60% off for six months. Or, you can try Lite, Plus, and Premium plans for free for 30 days.
Add-ons:
- Additional team members: $11 per person, per month, in all plans
- Gusto Payroll (billed separately by Gusto) (read our full review of Gusto)
- Advanced payments at $20 per month (for Plus, Premium, and Select plans only)
FreshBooks, one of our best accounting software for small businesses, is our top choice for project-based companies because of its robust project management and time-tracking features. We recommend it for small service-based businesses, including consulting firms and marketing agencies, that bill clients based on the time worked by their employees.
Another useful feature is its ability to compare estimated and actual project costs, which isn’t possible with QuickBooks Online Plus and the other lower plans. This helps you determine whether you are over or under budget, which allows you to make the necessary adjustments to your project plan or budget if needed.
Unfortunately, FreshBooks isn’t a great fit for product-based businesses as it has no inventory and COGS tracking features. If you have inventory to manage, we recommend QuickBooks Online or Zoho Books.
Zoho Books: Best Accounting Software for Mobile Accounting
Pros
- Has powerful mobile accounting app that offers more features than other similar software
- Offers a free plan for businesses with revenue of $50,000 or less a year
- Has excellent inventory and COGS accounting features
- Integrates with other Zoho apps easily
Cons
- Limits the number of invoices you can send in the Free and Standard plans
- Can’t track unpaid bills in the Free and Standard plans
- May be difficult to find third-party bookkeeping assistance using Zoho Books in the United States
Zoho Books offers six subscription options:
- Free: For businesses making $50,000 or less in annual revenues—includes one user plus one accountant and up to 1,000 invoices per year
- Standard: $20 per month—limited to three users and 5,000 invoices
- Professional: $50 per month—limited to five users with unlimited invoices
- Premium: $70 per month—limited to 10 users
- Elite: $150 per month—limited to 10 users—includes advanced inventory
- Ultimate: $275 per month—limited to 15 users
You can try any paid plan for 14 days with no credit card requirement:
Add-ons:
- Additional users: $3 per user, per month
- Receipt scanning: $10 for 50 scans per month
- Snail mail credits for sending invoices: $2 per credit
Zoho Books stands out from the other accounting software with its powerful mobile app. It tops our list of the leading mobile accounting apps because users can perform advanced accounting tasks on the app, including sending invoices, accepting online payments, entering bills, and viewing reports. You can also create recurring invoices and track time worked, making Zoho Books our overall best accounting software for freelancers.
We believe that conducting business with clients on the go is easier when you have a powerful mobile app. However, that’s not the only thing Zoho Books can offer as it’s also remarkable in other aspects, such as inventory and project accounting. It has features similar to QuickBooks Online—but at a more affordable price. This makes Zoho Books our top-recommended alternative to QuickBooks Online.
One of its drawbacks is that it doesn’t allow you to set up and manage multiple companies under a single account. For this, we recommend QuickBooks Desktop—which is our leading multicompany accounting software.
QuickBooks Desktop: Best Desktop Accounting Software for Managing Multiple Companies
Pros
- Doesn’t require an internet connection after the initial setup
- Allows you to manage the books for multiple companies without additional fees
- Offers industry-specific editions in the Premier and Enterprise versions
- Eliminates security issues associated with cloud access
Cons
- Is a desktop software; requires installation and setup
- Is not as easy to use as a cloud-based accounting software
- Requires an additional fee for each extra user
- Is difficult to share books with an external accountant
- QuickBooks Pro Plus: From $549.99 per year for one user (3 users maximum)
- QuickBooks Premier Plus: From $799 per year for one user (5 users maximum)
- QuickBooks Enterprise: From $1,410 per year for one user (40 users maximum)
- QuickBooks Accountant: Included with $799 annual QuickBooks’ ProAdvisor membership
QuickBooks Pro, Premier, and Enterprise offer discounted prices for each additional user. This means that as you add more users to your QuickBooks Desktop account, the cost per user is reduced. For instance, QuickBooks Pro Plus costs $549.99 per year for one year, $749.99 per year for two users, and $949.99 per year for three users.
There is no free trial, but all QuickBooks Desktop products come with a 60-day money-back guarantee.
To help you determine which version of QuickBooks Desktop is right for you, read our:
- QuickBooks Pro vs Premier comparison
- QuickBooks Premier vs Enterprise comparison
- QuickBooks Desktop Premier vs Accountant Edition comparison
Note that QuickBooks Premier and Enterprise are the most popular desktop versions of QuickBooks for Windows. For Mac users, check out our list of the best accounting software for Mac.
We recommend this program if you don’t want cloud-based software like QuickBooks Online. As our best multicompany accounting software, you can manage the books of an unlimited number of companies for a single subscription price. With all the other paid software in this guide, you can set up and manage multiple companies, but each company requires its own subscription.
For businesses with complex accounting needs, including those with multiple locations and inventory management, QuickBooks Desktop is a great fit. However, it has some drawbacks. For instance, you can only access your data from the computer it is installed on. Also, it may be more challenging to collaborate with your team or accountant since you need to share the actual data file. It’s more convenient to share files in QuickBooks Online, as you only need to send an email invitation to your accountant.
Bench: Best Online Bookkeeping Service as an Alternative to DIY Accounting Software
Pros
- Provides you access to a team of trained in-house bookkeepers
- Offers catch-up bookkeeping for those behind on their books
- Include tax-ready financial statements in all its plans
- Makes tax filing simple through its Premium plan
Cons
- Doesn’t handle invoicing and bill management
- Uses proprietary software; can make it hard to switch to another provider
- Doesn’t sync with QuickBooks for invoicing
Monthly contract:
- Essential: $299 per month
- Premium: $499 per month; includes income tax advice and return filing
Add-ons:
- Catch-up bookkeeping: Catch up on prior bookkeeping periods for as low as $299 per month
- Specialized bookkeeping: Track A/R, A/P, or segments starting at $100 per month
Fit Small Business readers receive free bookkeeping service for two months without commitment.
When you outsource your bookkeeping to Bench, which leads our roundup of the best online bookkeeping services, you can free up time to focus on more important aspects of your business rather than getting bogged down in administrative tasks.
Whether you are short on time or don’t have the bandwidth or resources to manage your books, Bench’s team of bookkeeping professionals can help you manage your accounting tasks, such as expense categorization, reconciliations, and financial reporting. For as little as $299 monthly, Bench costs far less than you would pay a local independent bookkeeper, and you can even add on tax filing and advisory services.
However, the service doesn’t eliminate all of your bookkeeping tasks. You’ll still need to issue invoices to your customers, collect payments, and pay your bills. These tasks are closely tied to businesses, and we believe most business owners like maintaining control over these activities. While Bench is doing the rest of your bookkeeping, you can consider using free invoicing software like Zoho Invoice, one of our best free invoice generators.
How We Evaluated Small Business Accounting Software
We evaluated the best small business accounting software using our internal case study. During our evaluation, we focused on the following key categories:
5% of Overall Score
Software is rated based on its price for various levels of users, including one, three, and five users. It is also awarded points if it offers a free trial or discount for new users and if monthly vs annual plans are available.
53% of Overall Score
10% of Overall Score
5% of Overall Score
A good mobile app should be able to perform all the same functions as the computer interface.
20% of Overall Score
7% of Overall Score
We include the average user review score for each software collected from large third-party websites dedicated to the collection of user reviews, such as Software Advice, SourceForge, and G2.
You may need industry-specific accounting software for small businesses if you have unique bookkeeping needs that are specific to your niche. For instance, law firms require trust accounting features, which are often not offered in general-purpose bookkeeping solutions, such as the best small business accounting software presented above.
To help you select the right solution for your niche, check out our following guides to the best accounting software across various industries:
- Best law firm accounting software
- Best farm accounting software
- Best church accounting software
- Best restaurant accounting software
- Best ecommerce accounting software
- Best nonprofit accounting software
- Best trucking accounting software
- Best real estate accounting software
- Best construction accounting software
- Best accounting practice management software
- Best retail accounting software
- Best hotel accounting software
- Best startup accounting software
- Best accounting software for manufacturing businesses
- Best cryptocurrency accounting software
- Best accounting software for handyman business
- Best accounting software for consultants
There’s no one-size-fits-all small business accounting software; each program has its own benefits and drawbacks, especially in terms of features. That said, if there’s a specific accounting aspect or task you want to automate or achieve within your company, select a platform that is excellent in that area.
Below are our helpful guides to finding the right bookkeeping software tailored to specific features or areas of accounting:
- Best bank reconciliation software
- Best invoicing software
- Best A/P software
- Best project accounting software
- Best cloud-based accounting software
- Best fixed asset management software
- Best small business budgeting software
- Best mobile accounting apps
- Best multicompany accounting software
- Best spend management software
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
QuickBooks is by far the most popular and best small business accounting software in the U.S. However, there are some less expensive alternatives to QuickBooks you may consider, such as Wave and FreshBooks.
Some key factors you need to consider when selecting the best business accounting software include cost, ease of use, deployment method, scalability, features, and customer support.
Prices may range from $0 to $200 per month for cloud-based software. Desktop accounting software can go as high as more than $1,000 per month, depending on the number of users included in the plan.
Among the software we’ve reviewed, Wave is the simplest and most user-friendly solution for businesses with basic accounting tasks. It lets you easily create and send unlimited invoices, track income and expenses, and create financial reports.
Cloud-based software like QuickBooks Online allows you to access your books from any internet-enabled device. Meanwhile, on-premise programs like QuickBooks Desktop can be accessed only on the computer where it’s installed.
If you only need basic accounting features like income and expense tracking, then you may benefit from free accounting software like Wave. We don’t recommend free software if you sell inventory.
No, you don’t. There are some easy-to-use accounting software that don’t require prior bookkeeping experience. Examples are QuickBooks Online, Wave, and FreshBooks. However, to get the most out of accounting software, we recommend that you work closely with your accountant.
Bottom Line
There are many terrific small business accounting software applications available but none of them are as versatile and comprehensive as QuickBooks Online. However, it isn’t always the best solution, especially if you only have very basic needs and wish to save money. If your priority is mobile accounting, Zoho Books is optimal. If your business needs special industry features, you can choose one of QuickBooks Desktop Premier’s five industry-specific editions.