Accounting

Sage 50cloud Accounting is a scalable, on-premise accounting software program that helps you automate administrative tasks, such as invoicing, payments, and inventory management. Its features include a cash flow manager, bank reconciliation, job costing, payroll, and reporting. Prices start at $56.08 per month for a single user. Sign up for its 30-day test drive program and get access to a cloud-hosted version with free sample data. You don’t need to provide your credit card information when signing up. Sage 50cloud Accounting Deciding Factors Sage 50cloud Accounting New Feature for 2023 For an additional $150 per year, you can integrate Microsoft 365 with Sage 50cloud. There are automatic backups of accounting data through Cloud Backup. This process runs in the background, and all Sage data is backed up in Microsoft OneDrive. All customer and vendor information are also forwarded to Outlook for convenience. Sage 50cloud Accounting Alternatives Fit Small Business Case Study We developed a case study to help us evaluate accounting software services across 11 key areas. We believe that testing the software is the only way to assess its capabilities and suitability for your small business. In our case study, Sage 50cloud ranked fairly well compared to its direct competitors, QuickBooks Online Plus and QuickBooks Desktop Premier. Sage 50cloud’s strengths lie in project accounting and reporting, while it scored low in banking and inventory management when compared to its competitors. While its features are comparable to QuickBooks, we found it more difficult to use. Sage 50cloud Accounting has three plans available at either a monthly or annual billing option. As of this writing, it offers new customers 40% off on all plans for one year’s subscription. Other add-ons include AutoEntry integration, Sage Invoice Payments, and Microsoft 365. You can visit the provider’s website to learn more about its add-ons. Sage 50cloud Accounting Features Sage 50cloud Accounting offers a wide range of features designed to help users automate, streamline, and manage their accounting duties. Its features are scalable for individual users, and its most expensive plan is an ideal fit for managing multiple companies. It can handle bank reconciliations, invoicing, banking and payments, and inventory management. Let’s take a closer look at some of its top features. You can input basic company information and other useful information like entity type and fiscal year-end. You can also import or modify the chart of accounts and create user restrictions. Sage 50cloud’s interface reminds us of QuickBooks Desktop. We think that first-time users will have a hard time understanding the flow of the software. Sage 50cloud Accounting General Features Video The A/P module of Sage 50cloud is full of great features, but it can be overwhelming. It lets you create vendors, expenses, purchase orders (POs), billings, and service items. You can also set costs of service items if you have standard costs for services. Sage 50cloud deserves recognition, if only for its A/P features. However, its ease of use isn’t what we would hope for in a small business accounting application. The interface is crowded, and navigation flows use too many popup windows. We see Sage 50cloud as a software product for accounting professionals and not for small business managers or owners as it can be difficult for those with little to no knowledge of accounting software and accounting principles. The A/R module of Sage 50cloud features certain elements found in competitors’ software, but they’re not as dazzling and modern. Sage 50cloud’s invoice management lets you generate PDF invoices from records, issue receipts and credit memos, and view customer accounts. The only missing feature is the ability to issue checks for customers with credit balances. However, using all of these features isn’t as convenient as what we’ve experienced while reviewing Sage 50cloud’s competitors. The interface and overall layout design are old and quite similar to the Windows 97 menu bars, drop-down menus, and popup windows. We find it a bit flustering that almost every click gives birth to more windows. But feature-wise, Sage 50cloud won’t disappoint. Sage 50cloud’s banking features are convenient because you can connect them to your bank accounts, which is useful for reconciliation purposes. However, if you prefer to not give Sage access to your bank account, you can import your banking activity by uploading a bank statement. We also like that bank connection isn’t a prerequisite for performing bank reconciliations. When reconciling book and bank balances, we’re satisfied with how it shows the balances for outstanding checks, deposits in transit, adjusted balance, and any unreconciled differences. However, we can’t seem to combine checks and cash into a single deposit, which makes it difficult to match deposits in your check register to deposits on your bank statement. Overall, Sage 50cloud’s reconciliation is what we want to see. Sage 50cloud is a great program for project accounting. Although its interface isn’t pleasant as with other accounting software, the project accounting features cover everything from creating projects to assigning project costs and setting project estimates. We’d like to emphasize that Sage 50cloud can compare actual to estimated project costs, something QuickBooks Online cannot do. We’re happy to see this feature because it’s vital for project management and monitoring. Tax tracking on Sage 50cloud is basic and straightforward. It has the same limitations as QuickBooks, such as the inability to file and pay sales tax liability directly through the software. However, they share good features, such as tracking sales taxes through the sales tax liability account and setting up tax rates. There’s no walkthrough video for this section since this part is already integrated within A/R, A/P, and general features. Sage 50cloud falls behind QuickBooks in terms of inventory. However, it doesn’t miss on the most important features, like automatic accounting for the cost of goods sold (COGS) and the computation of the cost of ending inventories. We think that Sage 50cloud is still a worthy choice even if recording the partial receipt of inventory on POs is problematic and viewing the total cost of inventory on hand has limited functionality. Our evaluation of inventory is also part of A/R and A/P, so there’s no video for this. You can generate many different kinds of reports on Sage 50cloud. However, our case study covers only the necessary reports for small business accounting. Here are the reports we look for in small business accounting software that Sage 50cloud can generate: Comparative balance sheet Comparative profit and loss (P&L) statement Statement of cash flows A/R aging A/P aging Income/loss by month Income/loss by customer Income/loss by class Income/loss by location Income/loss by project Unbilled charges Unbilled time Transaction list by customer Expenses by vendor General ledger Trial balance Sage 50cloud’s customer service is average compared to other accounting software services. We like that users can contact the team by email or live chat or chatbot. You can also submit support tickets. The company also has robust self-help information. If this concerns you, we recommend choosing because it’s one of the applications with the best customer service. Using Sage 50cloud won’t be an easy experience for DIY business owners or mom-and-pop shops. We can’t recommend it to you if you’re planning to do DIY bookkeeping as it’s hard to use for business owners without accounting software experience. In this area, we want to see a mobile app that can help users maintain their books even if not using the desktop version. We wish Sage 50cloud had more basic accounting features in its app, but it’s very limited. Sage 50cloud Capture can only capture receipts and cannot send invoices, categorize expenses, and other essential mobile app functions. We recommend choosing or Zoho Books for a great mobile app. Positive Sage 50cloud Accounting reviews revolve around the solution’s excellent accounting functions and controls. However, some find it expensive and difficult to use. Software Advice: 3.78 out of 5 stars based on about 280 reviews G2.com: 3.8 out of 5 stars based on about 125 reviews Assisted Bookkeeping Options We’re unaware of any online bookkeeping services that support Sage 50cloud. While Sage does certify accountants as Sage 50cloud experts, it can be very difficult to find a certified consultant in the United States. Your best option for support in the US will be to find an independent bookkeeper with some Sage 50cloud experience. Integrations Sage 50cloud integrates with 115 various third-party applications spread across categories, such as data entry, ecommerce, and time tracking, with the most famous integration being Microsoft 365. For an additional $150 per year, you get the premium features of Microsoft 365—including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook. You also get 1TB of online storage in OneDrive. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) What’s the difference between Sage Business Cloud Accounting and Sage 50cloud? Sage Business Cloud Accounting is purely cloud-based accounting software, while Sage 50cloud is a desktop application with cloud features, so you need to download and install Sage 50cloud. In terms of functionality, Sage 50cloud has more robust accounting features than Sage Business Cloud Accounting. Does Sage 50cloud need a server? No, it doesn’t, and you can share data without a server. With Sage 50cloud, remote sharing of data is included in the subscription. Bottom Line offers many great features for small businesses. However, it isn’t right for small business owners and managers because it can be difficult for users without experience in accounting and accounting software programs. What’s more, it can be difficult to find assistance in the US. However, a professional accountant can learn the platform and master it, so we recommend using Sage 50cloud if you have an experienced bookkeeper or accountant managing your books. Otherwise, go with our alternative above.

QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit is a special version of QuickBooks Desktop Premier designed to support the needs of small and midsize nonprofits and churches. It comes with a unified chart of accounts (UCOA) for nonprofit accounting and class tracking to help organizations keep track of revenue and expenses by program service. It has the same prices as the general business edition of QuickBooks Desktop Premier, which start at $799 per year for one user. Are you looking for something different? Find other comprehensive accounting platforms for business owners in our evaluation of the best small business accounting software. QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Deciding Factors QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit New Features for 2023 Cash Flow Hub: You can use the new Cash Flow Hub to track pledges and donations and run a financial forecast to predict your revenue and expenses in the future. Contactless payments: If you’re using QuickBooks Payments, then your donor can send donations through credit or debit card payments and mobile payment processors, like Google Pay and Apple Pay. QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Alternatives QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Pricing Prices of QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit are the same as the QuickBooks Desktop Premier general business edition, which are summarized below: $799 per year for one user $1,099 per year for two users $1,399 per year for three users $1,699 per year for four users $1,999 per year for five users All QuickBooks Desktop versions, including Premier and all its industry-specific editions, come with a 60-day money-back guarantee. We compare the QuickBooks Desktop products to help you decide which version of QuickBooks Desktop is right for you. Fit Small Business Case Study QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Edition has the same accounting features as the general business edition, which are evaluated using our internal case study. The results of the case study are thoroughly explained in our QuickBooks Premier review—but to give you a glimpse, here are the scores Premier earned across our preset rubric categories. QuickBooks Premier Nonprofit Features In addition to the general accounting features in our QuickBooks Premier review, Nonprofit Edition has industry-specific features that are useful for nonprofits and churches. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Why do nonprofit organizations need accounting software? Nonprofits are often financed by grants and donations, so they have strict accounting standards to follow. Accounting software can help nonprofits track grants, meet strict reporting requirements, and manage their revenue and expenses. What’s the best nonprofit accounting software for me? The nonprofit accounting software for your operation depends on your needs. Our evaluation of the best nonprofit accounting software can help you choose the right solution for your organization. What types of organizations does QuickBooks Desktop support? QuickBooks Desktop supports any type of nonprofit organization, including charities, clubs, societies, and churches. Bottom Line can’t handle fund accounting, but it’s useful for managing pledges, donations, and grants. Its class tracking feature comes in handy if you often conduct multiple programs to raise money for your organization. Plus, the customized chart of accounts helps you make nonprofit reporting as easy as possible.

QuickBooks Contractor, a special edition of QuickBooks Desktop Premier software, is tailored to businesses in the construction industry. It includes special features and reports to help you budget and account for the costs of large jobs. QuickBooks Contractor, like the general business edition, has prices that start at $799 per year for one user. Are you looking for something different? For other comprehensive accounting solutions, check out our guide to the best small business accounting software. QuickBooks Contractor Edition Deciding Factors QuickBooks Contractor Edition New Features for 2023 Cash Flow Hub: This provides a one-stop shop for tracking cash position, bank and credit card accounts and loans, and all money-in and money-out transactions. Automatic mileage tracking: QuickBooks Contractor helps track drives between all job sites with its new automatic mileage tracker. Simply enter your place of origin and destination, and the app will automatically calculate the mileage instead of manually recording the odometer readings. This feature is available only for iOS users. QuickBooks Contractor Edition Alternatives QuickBooks Contractor Edition Pricing QuickBooks Contractor Edition has the same prices as the standard business edition, which are as follows: $799 per year for one user $1,099 per year for two users $1,399 per year for three users $1,699 per year for four users $1,999 per year for five users A QuickBooks Premier, or any QuickBooks Desktop product, subscription comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee. Fit Small Business Case Study To get a full picture of using QuickBooks Premier, we devised an internal case study that rates the software based on a set of criteria. As QuickBooks Premier and QuickBooks Contractor essentially have the same standard accounting features, they have the same rubric scores, as presented in the table below. We walk you through the results of the case study in our QuickBooks Desktop Premier review. QuickBooks Contractor Edition Features QuickBooks Contractor offers all the standard features of the general business edition, as discussed in our QuickBooks Desktop Premier review. In addition, it has extra features that contractors will find useful. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Who should use QuickBooks Premier Contractor? Small and medium-sized construction businesses, such as electrical, trade, design, and freelance contractors needing to track all costs associated with their projects should use QuickBooks Desktop Premier Contractor. Larger companies may consider upgrading to QuickBooks Enterprise. How hard is it to learn QuickBooks Premier Contractor? QuickBooks Premier has a steep learning curve for beginners, so you might need some time to get yourself acquainted with the software. To get the most out of it, it’s best that you have an experienced bookkeeper managing your books. Is QuickBooks Premier Contractor ideal for construction management? While QuickBooks Contractor is great for construction accounting, it has no built-in construction management features. If you want a full-featured construction management solution, check out our guide to the best construction accounting software. Bottom Line While lacks ERP and construction management features compared to its competitors, it still offers excellent accounting features. We recommend it if you want to focus on construction accounting and tracking the profitability of jobs. If you want construction management and ERP alongside accounting features, then we recommend with  as a full accounting and construction management solution combined.

Welcome to the Fit Small Business free QuickBooks Online tutorials. Whether you are new to QuickBooks Online or could use a better understanding of the program, these tutorials are designed for you. Each QuickBooks tutorial provides an in-depth lesson complete with text, examples, and a comprehensive video demonstration. While there are many good accounting software options for businesses, we rated QuickBooks Online as the best. These free QuickBooks tutorials will help you harness the power of QuickBooks Online while saving you time and frustration. If you’re ready to purchase the product, Quickbooks Online is offering new customers 50% off for three months or a 30-day free trial. Our free QuickBooks course consists of eight lessons. Setting Up QuickBooks In this lesson, you will learn how to set up key areas of QuickBooks like bank and credit card accounts, invoice templates, products and services, and the chart of accounts. By the time you complete this QuickBooks online tutorial, you will be ready to start using QuickBooks to manage all of your income and expenses. The features and settings that you choose in this lesson will affect every area of QuickBooks. For example, you will set the default payment terms for customer invoices and vendor bills. You will also choose whether to turn on inventory quantity and cost tracking. The Setting Up QuickBooks lesson includes the following tutorials: Managing Sales and Income This lesson covers how to record your sales and track your income in QuickBooks Online. There are two types of sales in QuickBooks: credit sales and cash sales. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to keep track of your credit sales by creating and emailing invoices to your customers as well as recording cash sales where no invoice is needed. You will also learn how to apply payments received to outstanding invoices so that your accounts receivable (A/R) is up to date and income is not counted twice. After this lesson, learn about A/R aging reports, which will help you manage unpaid invoices. The Managing Sales and Income in QuickBooks lesson includes the following tutorials: Managing Bills and Expenses This lesson covers how to manage your bills and record expenses in QuickBooks. As a small business owner or manager, you know that managing expenses is as important as generating sales. By the end of this QuickBooks lesson, you will be able to keep track of expenses in a couple of ways. First, you can write and print checks directly from QuickBooks to pay for expenses that require immediate payment. Second, you will be able to manage what you owe to vendors by entering and tracking bills. You will learn to enter the payment of these bills correctly so that the expense is not recorded twice. The Managing Bills and Expenses in QuickBooks lesson includes the following tutorials: Managing Banking Transactions You will be able to manage all of your downloaded banking transactions by the end of this lesson. You will also understand how to enter basic banking transactions manually. Finally, you can use the reconcile tool to ensure the transactions on your bank statement match what has been entered into QuickBooks, resulting in up-to-date financial statements. If you need a refresher, we walked through how to import your banking transactions into QuickBooks in Lesson 1, Tutorial 9. The Managing Banking Transactions in QuickBooks lesson includes the following tutorials: Managing Business Credit Card Transactions Bookkeeping is much easier when cash transactions are kept to a minimum. One way to limit cash transactions is to use a credit card. This lesson will teach you to download and track your credit card purchases in QuickBooks and reconcile them with your credit card statement to ensure that they match. The Managing Business Credit Card Transactions in QuickBooks lesson includes the following tutorials: Managing Credit Card Sales By the end of this lesson, you will be able to manage credit card sales with either a account integrated with QuickBooks or a third-party credit card processor. You should consider accepting credit card payments as a convenience for your customers and to increase the speed that you collect outstanding invoices. The Managing Credit Card Sales in QuickBooks lesson includes the following tutorials: Set Up and Manage Payroll By using , all your wages, salaries, and payroll taxes will be included automatically in your financial statements. After this lesson, you’ll be able to set up employees in QuickBooks, enter and run payroll, pay employees by direct deposit or check, and reconcile your payroll taxes. The Set Up and Manage Payroll lesson includes the following seven tutorials: Reporting in QuickBooks Online QuickBooks will generate important reports that will provide you, your accountant, and your banker important insights into the financial health of your business. This QuickBooks tutorial will teach you the importance of and how to print the profit and loss report, balance sheet report, statement of cash flows, and A/R and accounts payable (A/P) aging reports. One of the primary purposes of using bookkeeping software like QuickBooks Online is to determine the health of your business at any given point in time. Having the ability to produce solid, accurate financial statements can benefit you in the following ways: You might gain potential investors You might secure a business loan or line of credit You can make better business decisions, such as whether you should sell a new product or service or drop one that is not doing so well The Reporting in QuickBooks lesson includes the following tutorials: Bottom Line Our QuickBooks Online tutorial will teach you the basics you need to know to start keeping the books for your small company or employer. Don’t be intimidated by the size of the tutorial―take one lesson or tutorial at a time. Get started today. First Tutorial

Nonprofit organizations require dedicated accounting software that takes into account their stringent requirements for financial planning, budgeting, auditing, and reporting. To help you choose a solution that fits your organization’s needs, we’ve picked the six best nonprofit accounting software: : Best overall accounting software for nonprofits with a website and donation form builder : Best accounting software for nonprofits seeking bookkeeping assistance : Best for desktop accounting software for nonprofits : Best free nonprofit accounting software for treasurers of very small nonprofits : Best for nonprofits relying on numerous small donations for support : Best for nonprofits relying on large grants for support Best Nonprofit Accounting Software Compared See fullscreen table × Aplos: Best Overall Accounting Software for Nonprofits With a Website & Donation Form Builder QuickBooks Online: Best Accounting Software for Nonprofits Seeking Bookkeeping Assistance QuickBooks Premier Plus Nonprofit Edition: Best Desktop Accounting Software for Nonprofits Wave: Best Free Nonprofit Accounting Software for Treasurers of Very Small Nonprofits NonProfit+: Best for Nonprofits Relying on Numerous Small Donations for Support Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT: Best for Nonprofits Relying on Large Grants for Support How We Evaluated Nonprofit Accounting Software In evaluating the nonprofit accounting software on this list, we developed five criteria to determine the applicability of the accounting software to nonprofit accounting. Each criterion has an assigned weight and subcriteria to further break down the software’s capability to handle the specific accounting and nonprofit features that we like to see. Bottom Line is our pick for overall best nonprofit accounting software because of its versatility and flexibility in offering nonprofit-specific and accounting-specific features. is our best Aplos alternative if you want a web-based accounting software that’s easy to share with an external bookkeeper. However, is our recommendation if you prefer desktop-based software with nonprofit accounting features. For small nonprofits that don’t need detailed accounting, we recommended , which is free and the best choice for simple invoicing and accounting. If you’re looking for more nonprofit-focused software, go with or .

Lendio Accounting (formerly Sunrise) is a free cloud-based accounting software program that helps you create quotes and estimates, track expenses, and simplify tax filing. It has invoicing, billing, financial reporting, and payroll integration with Gusto. It offers a free Basic plan for a single user and a paid plan that costs $19.99 per month for unlimited users. Lendio Accounting Deciding Factors Lendio Accounting New Features for 2023 Create tax rules: You can create a specific set of rules that will help Lendio determine which sales tax should be applied to a customer invoice. For instance, you could create a rule that any invoices sent to customers with New York addresses should include New York sales tax. Set lock date: Prior period data can now be protected by setting a lock date within the tax settings to avoid accidental changes to prior period data. Record partial payments: Lendio lets you make partial payments on vendor invoices and keep track of prior partial payments so that you always know the amount left to pay the bill in full. Lendio Accounting Alternatives Free: Lendio Accounting has a free plan that includes most of the features in the paid plan, even an unlimited number of bank and credit card connections. Its major drawback is that it can only be used to keep the books of one company by one user. Plus: This costs $19.99 per month for unlimited companies and unlimited users. Other upgrades from the free plan include: Cash flow insights and alerts Ability to auto-categorize expenses coming through bank feeds Payment integrations from Stripe, Square, and PayPal Discount on payments processed by Lendio In addition to the payment integrations available to Plus subscribers, all Lendio users can collect payments from customers through Lendio’s own payment processing system. Lendio Accounting Case Study To see how Lendio Accounting stacks up against similar software, we compare it to Wave and QuickBooks Online across 11 categories based on our internally developed, in-depth case study. Lendio Accounting beats Wave in most categories and excels with its customer service and mobile app. While Wave users only have self-service information when they have questions, Lendio Accounting allows users to chat with a live person to receive immediate help. The major shortcomings of Lendio Accounting are inventory accounting and project accounting. If you need either of these features, you should invest in . We also recommend QuickBooks Online if you want to print checks from your computer. We provide more information about how Lendio Accounting performed within each category in our features section below. Lendio Accounting Features Its free Basic plan is packed with good features for many users, but there are some missing features, as noted below. For a more in-depth Lendio Accounting review, watch our accounting expert’s evaluation in the videos within each section. Lendio Accounting is easy to get set up. You can either modify its default chart of accounts or import your own chart of accounts. Beginning balances for each account can be recorded directly into the chart of accounts rather than having to make a journal entry. At the end of your accounting period, you can make adjusting journal entries and share access with your external bookkeeper or tax preparer. Like most cloud-based accounting software, it’s straightforward to connect your bank accounts to Lendio Accounting to transfer transactions automatically into the program. Once transferred, you’ll need to assign the transactions to your chart of accounts and accept them. With the Plus version, Lendio Accounting will make account suggestions that you can accept or edit automatically. However, it’s missing a couple of banking features: Check printing: You can’t print checks directly from Lendio Accounting. You’ll need to enter the checks as expenses after you write them by hand. Bank reconciliation: Lendio Accounting doesn’t allow users to reconcile their bank and credit card accounts when there are timing differences, such as checks recorded that haven’t yet cleared the bank. As bank recs are the cornerstone of good bookkeeping, you’ll need to do these by hand or with this Excel template. Lendio Accounting does a good job of managing your unpaid bills, making it one of our best accounts payable software. From the Expenses screen, you can record new bills and view all unpaid bills or past due bills. A. Record Expenses: Click here to navigate to the Expenses screen to enter new bills or view and pay previously entered bills B. Expenses: View both paid and unpaid bills C. Past Due: View all unpaid bills that are past due D. Unpaid: View all unpaid bills, including overdue bills E. Paid: View all bills that have been paid You can record the payment of a bill by clicking on the unpaid bill on the screen shown above. You can also attach a receipt to any expense. Lendio Accounting has a capable bill management system. However, it doesn’t allow you to apply vendor credits to unpaid bills and create a recurring bill. Managing customer invoices is Lendio Accounting’s strongest feature. You can do the basics of issuing invoices and collecting payments easily. A. Invoices: Click here to view the Invoices screen B. All invoices: View both paid and unpaid invoices C. Draft: View drafts of invoices not yet finalized and sent D. Unpaid: View all unpaid invoices E. Paid: View all paid invoices From the Action column on the left side of the screen, you can initiate transactions such as receiving payment on an unpaid invoice or sending a reminder to your customer. Beyond the basics, Lendio Accounting has some surprising invoicing features for a free software program, including: Creating recurring invoices Collecting and tracking sales tax by jurisdiction Creating a customized invoice with your logo, colors, and a personal message Accepting short payments from customers Issuing credit memos to customers The biggest invoicing feature missing is the ability to designate expenses as billable and then add them to a customer invoice. If you deal with inventory regularly, you should look elsewhere for a bookkeeping program. At the very least, your bookkeeping program needs to help you allocate the cost of your inventory purchases to ending inventory and COGS—and Lendio Accounting cannot make this calculation. Both and have good inventory accounting features. Our assessment of Inventory doesn’t have its own video as it was assessed along with A/R and A/P. You can watch those videos for details regarding inventory capabilities. Aside from allowing you to create and send estimates to potential customers, Lendio Accounting doesn’t offer much for companies whose business consists of projects, such as contractors. Good project management requires a business to track expenses by project and then compare those actual expenses to estimated costs. You can check out our picks for the best contractor accounting software for a list of accounting solutions with strong project management features. As one of our best recurring billing software, Lendio Accounting allows you to create multiple sales tax items that can be added to invoices depending on the jurisdiction of the customer. The tax will be accumulated by item so that you can pay the correct amount when your sales tax return is due. However, the program won’t help you pay your sales tax or file your return. Lendio will also allow you to track amounts paid to independent contractors so that you have the information needed to file the required 1099, but it won’t help you prepare Form 1099. Its sales and income tax features were assessed throughout our case study, so no separate video is available. Lendio Accounting has a good reporting capability. You can generate fundamental reports like cash flow statements, profit and loss (P&L) statements, balance sheets, trial balance, A/R, A/P, and sales tax reports. Custom reports, like transaction lists by customer and expenses by vendor, are also available. If you want more flexibility in your financial reports, we strongly recommend QuickBooks Online. Lendio Accounting has better customer service for free users than many paid accounting programs. You can call customer service by phone—or they’ll call you in case you need help. Alternatively, you start a chat session with a bot for quick solutions but can request to chat with a representative if the bot can’t provide relevant resources to your problem. We’ve done this several times, and it generally takes less than a minute for the representative to respond. You may also submit your questions via email. When we tested the email feature, we received a response in four minutes from an actual person who answered our questions directly. However, Lendio Accounting falls short in providing a support network of accountants who can assist you with your bookkeeping. It lacks advisor programs similar to QuickBooks ProAdvisor or Xero Advisor where you can access support from experts. You’ll also find it difficult to find a local bookkeeper with any Lendio Accounting experience or expertise. What’s more, there’s no community support to provide a channel for users to raise questions and concerns to the software community. Lendio Accounting has a capable mobile app included in the free subscription. It can perform many tasks, from sending invoices to entering bill payments and categorizing bank feed transactions. On the downside, it lacks important features, such as time tracking, reporting, project management, and mobile reporting. There are very few Lendio Accounting reviews online. However, with the recent change in branding, it’s possible that some users might still be unaware of the software and only those who have been using Lendio are aware of the rebranding: GetApp: 4.5 out of 5 stars based on more than 210 reviews G2.com: 4.0 out of 5 stars based on more than 160 reviews Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Bottom Line is an ideal accounting software for budget-conscious small businesses that are willing to give up extra features like inventory tracking and project management. If you’re a solopreneur needing to track income and expenses and send invoices for free, then its free Basic plan is a great option. If you’re a small business owner wanting to add more users or companies, upgrading to the Plus plan is highly recommended.

is an industry-specific version of QuickBooks Desktop Premier. It’s designed specifically for manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors needing a single platform to manage their inventory, sales order accomplishment, and manufacturing process. Pricing starts at $799 per year for one user. Use Cases Are you looking for something different? Explore other comprehensive accounting software for business owners in our guide to the best small business accounting software. QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Deciding Factors QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale New Features for 2023 Inventory categorization: QuickBooks Premier 2023 lets you classify your inventory by groups or categories, which can help you find the products you need easily. Cash Flow Hub: This allows you to generate cash flow forecasts, track working capital key performance indicators (KPIs), and monitor the cash conversion cycle. It uses your bank accounts and relevant bank activity to help you predict your cash flow, helping you make detailed action plans. Contactless payments: This lets you accept digital payments from a single card reader, and the payments will be entered into QuickBooks automatically. You can use Apple Pay, Google Pay, EMV chips, and credit and debit card payments. Batch payment reminders: You can send multiple reminders in one go to customers who are behind on their payments. QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Edition Pricing The price of the QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Edition is the same as the general edition of QuickBooks Premier, which starts at $799 per year for one user. It increases with each additional user. $799 per year for one user $1,099 per year for two users $1,399 per year for three users $1,699 per year for four users $1,999 per year for five users If you need over five users, then you’ll need to upgrade to , which accommodates up to 40 users. Read our QuickBooks Desktop comparison guide to learn more about the QuickBooks Desktop products. Fit Small Business Case Study Our case study aims to evaluate the accounting software we review on a deeper level, allowing us to create a more detailed analysis. Each software is analyzed and rated based on a set of parameters relevant to accounting—including bank reconciliation, accounts payable and accounts receivable, and inventory accounting. QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Edition has the same basic accounting features as the general edition of QuickBooks Premier. For a detailed analysis of our QuickBooks Premier case study, please read our QuickBooks Desktop Premier review. The scores are summarized in the table below. QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale Edition Features Customer Service & Ease of Use Since it’s desktop-based software, it isn’t as easy to use as cloud-based programs. However, after you learn where features are located, you’ll find the platform easy to navigate. For instance, from the Manufacturing and Wholesale menu, you can access a wide range of functions to help you complete transactions easily, such as receiving payments, making deposits, and creating sales orders, estimates, and invoices. QuickBooks Premier is a very comprehensive and powerful program, so you need to devote time to fully learn how to use its features. You can seek help through its in-software help center, live chat, knowledge base of guides, and getting started information, blogs, and community forum. You can talk to a live agent over the phone after you submit a call request. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Is QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale right for me? If you’re a manufacturing company needing to track the cost of parts and combine these costs into an assembled product, then it’s right for you. Can I use QuickBooks Premier Manufacturing and Wholesale to track inventory by location and bin? No, you can’t. If you need location and bin tracking, you’ll need to upgrade to QuickBooks Enterprise. Bottom Line is a powerful industry-specific version of QuickBooks Premier. In addition to all the bookkeeping features of Premier, it allows you to better control inventory and provides more flexibility to customize pricing. While it’s great desktop software, it’s complicated and will require a dedicated and experienced bookkeeper to harness its power.

QuickBooks Premier Retail Edition, an industry-specific version of QuickBooks Premier desktop accounting software, is designed to support the needs of retailers. It helps retail businesses manage accounting functions, such as sales, inventory, and invoicing. It includes all the features of QuickBooks Premier, plus additional inventory tools and industry-specific reports. Pricing starts at $799 per year for one user. Use Cases Are you looking for something different? If you want to explore other comprehensive accounting platforms for business owners, check out our guide to the best small business accounting software. QuickBooks Retail Edition Deciding Factors QuickBooks Retail Edition New Features for 2023 Inventory categorization: You can now group item lists by categories so that you can manage your stock better and access them easily. Contactless payments: If you’re using QuickBooks Payments (payment gateway), you can now accept contactless payments, with the data being recorded in QuickBooks Premier automatically. Cash Flow Hub: Just like the standard business edition, QuickBooks Premier Retail now has a Cash Flow Hub that you can use to track incoming and paid invoices, payments, sales receipts, and credit memos. QuickBooks Retail Edition Alternatives QuickBooks Retail Edition Pricing QuickBooks Retail charges on a per-user basis, with a limitation of five users. $799 per year for one user $1,099 per year for two users $1,399 per year for three users $1,699 per year for four users $1,999 per year for five users All QuickBooks Desktop versions, including the Retail Edition of Premier, come with a 60-day money-back guarantee. Pricing: QuickBooks Retail Edition vs QuickBooks Online QuickBooks Retail Edition is affordable for a sole user—you get industry-specific bookkeeping software for $799 a year. You can even use the software for the bookkeeping of an unlimited number of companies. In contrast, QuickBooks Online Plus, which doesn’t have a retail-specific edition, costs $85 per month. You must get a separate QuickBooks Online subscription for each company that you prepare books for. Fit Small Business Case Study We formulated an internal case study to create a more comprehensive review of the top accounting software on the market. Each is evaluated using a rubric and then earns a score based on how it performs against several metrics. Since the Retail Edition and the standard business edition have the same general accounting features, both are rated similarly. You can see the details of how we derived the following case study scores in our QuickBooks Premier review. QuickBooks Retail Edition Features In addition to the general functionality of QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Retail Edition has some industry-specific features and reporting capabilities that are particularly useful for operating retail businesses. Dashboard The dashboard in QuickBooks Premier Retail is similar to the standard business edition, only that you’ll see a Retail menu on the top of the homepage. This is where you access features useful for retailers, such as Enter Daily Sales, Pay Bills, and Vendor Returns. Enter Daily Sales QuickBooks Premier Retail Edition lets you record daily sales summaries by using sales receipts. If you have an immediate sale, you can quickly create a sales receipt by using the Enter Daily Sales feature under the Retail menu on your QuickBooks Desktop homepage. The information is recorded in QuickBooks, which is useful when creating financial reports. Inventory Management QuickBooks Retail Edition has strong inventory management features, such as the ability to: Set up inventory by item: You can set up each of your products as a separate inventory item. You can indicate a standard cost and sales price per item that will populate purchase orders (POs) and invoices automatically, but you can still make changes on those forms if the price varies. Specify price levels: You can set special price levels for individual inventory items or set a special price level rule that will be applied to all inventory items. For instance, you might enter a special Family and Friends price level that reduces the sales price of all inventory items by 10%. After you create a custom price level, you can choose to apply the standard price or custom price level when creating invoices and sales receipts: Create purchase orders when ordering inventory: The units on POs will show in the inventory item screen so you know there are more units on the way. To create a PO, go to the Vendors menu and click on Create Purchase Orders. Complete the Create Purchase Orders form, and click the Save & Close or Save & New button. Adjust inventory shrinkage: Shrinkage is an inevitable part of retail sales. You can record shrinkage by entering either the amount of the adjustment―for instance when you know an item was broken―or actual units of inventory on hand. QuickBooks will make an adjustment to record the shrinkage expense based on the average cost per unit. Create sales orders: Creating sales orders will help QuickBooks ensure you have sufficient inventory. Inventory needed to fulfill open sales orders is subtracted from units on hand in determining the units available. When available units drop below the minimum you specify, QuickBooks will notify you that it’s time to reorder. Invoicing You can create an invoice from scratch, a sales order, or an estimate. When creating an invoice, you need to enter important information, such as the customer name, date, item descriptions, and amount. QuickBooks Retail Edition lets you choose from different invoice templates, with the ability to change colors and add a logo of your brand. However, invoices in QuickBooks Retail Edition aren’t as good-looking as those in QuickBooks Online. Below is a sample invoice created in Retail. Reports In addition to all the usual accounting reports and financial statements like the balance sheet and statement of profit and loss (P&L), retailers will find these QuickBooks Retail reports useful: Gross Margin by Inventory Item: This breaks down the sales of inventory by inventory item and reports the quantity sold, average sales price, COGS, gross margin (or profit), and gross profit percentage. It’s very helpful in determining which of your products are the most profitable and deserving of prime floor space (or website placement for online stores): Inventory Valuation Summary: This not only shows you the quantity of inventory you have on hand but also the total cost and total retail value: Inventory Stock Status by Item: This is very helpful for determining when to reorder inventory. It provides, by inventory item, not only the units on hand, on sales orders, and on POs, but also the average weekly units sold. Mobile App QuickBooks Premier has a mobile accounting app, but it’s limited to capturing expense receipts. If mobile accounting is important to you, then you might stick with QuickBooks but switch to QuickBooks Online. You might also want to consider Zoho Books, our overall best mobile accounting app. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Is QuickBooks Retail Edition right for my business? If you’re a small or medium-sized brick-and-mortar retailer needing specialized tools for inventory, pricing management, and industry-specific reporting, then QuickBooks Retail Edition is right for you. Is QuickBooks Retail Edition easy to use? QuickBooks Retail Edition is a bit difficult to use, compared to cloud-based software like QuickBooks Online. If you’re familiar with a QuickBooks Desktop product, then you should be able to use Retail easily as its interface is essentially the same. What are the other editions of QuickBooks Premier? QuickBooks Premier is available in five industry-specific editions: Retail, Manufacturing and Distribution, Professional, Contractor, and Nonprofit. Bottom Line QuickBooks Retail Edition is a powerful, industry-specific version of QuickBooks Premier. It can help you manage your inventory better and adjust product prices and price levels easily, allowing you to leverage promotional pricing for your business. Although it’s a powerful desktop application, it’s best if it’s used by an experienced in-house bookkeeper. Once you purchase , be sure to download the QuickBooks Retail Edition at no additional cost and start using its industry-specific features.