The best farm accounting software can be a general-use bookkeeping solution like QuickBooks Online or specialized farm accounting software, such as FarmBooks and EasyFarm. While some farmers require farm-specific features like crop and livestock tracking and cost allocation, others may find that general accounting functions like invoicing and expense tracking are sufficient for their needs.
Here are the six best accounting software for farmers:
- QuickBooks Online Plus: Best overall accounting software for farmers and ranchers, including those with employees
- FarmBooks: Most affordable farm-specific software
- Wave: Best free accounting software for part-time and hobby farmers
- EasyFarm: Best for self-employed farmers
- The Farmer’s Office: Best for detailed cost accounting by large farms and ranches
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QuickBooks Online: Our top choice for small business accounting. Get invoicing, bill pay, and inventory tracking. Now 50% off for Three Months. |
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Best Farm Accounting Software: Quick Comparison
While QuickBooks Online lacks farm-specific features, we still recommend it as the best option for most farmers because of its strong accounting features, ease of use, and vast network of QuickBooks ProAdvisors to help you. Read our step-by-step guide on how to find a QuickBooks ProAdvisor.
Farm Accounting Software Quiz
Which farm accounting software is best for you?
QuickBooks Online Plus: Best Overall Accounting Software for Farmers and Ranchers, Including Those With Employees
Pros
- Is easy to use and accessible online; ideal for farmers who manage their own books
- Allows you to customize the chart of accounts based on your unique farm’s operations
- Lets you create cost centers to track profitability
- Has a mobile app that lets you track farm expenses and send invoices on the go
Cons
- Is a bit expensive for small-scale and part-time farmers
- Has no farm management features like pesticide application reporting
- Requires a separate subscription to keep separate books for multiple businesses
- Can’t be used to track personal income and expenses
QuickBooks Online is available in four plans, but we recommend Plus for farmers, as it includes class and location tracking. Below is a detailed breakdown of the four subscription options:
- Simple Start: $30 per month for a single user
- Essentials: $60 per month for three users
- Plus: $90 per month for five users
- Advanced: $200 per month for 25 users
You can either get 50% off for the first three months or sign up for a 30-day free trial with no credit card required. QuickBooks provides free setup assistance with live ProAdvisors and 50% off for three months for new subscribers.
To help you decide whether the Plus plan is right for you, read our QuickBooks Online plans comparison.
QuickBooks Online Plus is our overall best farm accounting software because it is customizable to nearly any business type. Its biggest advantage is that it’s widely used by businesses and accountants, and it has a large network of QuickBooks ProAdvisors. This makes it easy for you to seek help if you need professional bookkeeping support and guidance.
While it is not specifically designed as farm software, it offers an advanced feature called class and location tracking, allowing farmers to categorize transactions based on different classes and locations within their business. This makes QuickBooks Online ideal for farmers managing diversified farms with multiple revenue streams, including crops, livestock, and a farm stand.
Additionally, QuickBooks Online has a direct integration with QuickBooks Payroll, making it ideal for farmers and ranchers with employees. QuickBooks Payroll helps with paying employees, managing tax deductions and withholdings, completing W-2s and 1099s forms, and more. Learn more in our comprehensive review of QuickBooks Payroll.
FarmBooks: Most Affordable Farm-specific Software
Pros
- Is the most affordable farm-specific accounting solution on our list
- Enables you to track both personal and farm income and expenses
- Lets you generate customized chart of accounts and reports based on your farm operations
- Includes real-time inventory for crops and livestock
- Has a free do-it-yourself (DIY) payroll processing
Cons
- Supports only a single farm in a single license
- Doesn’t allow you to connect your bank accounts
- Uses Unique codes, which can be difficult to master, especially for farmers with no accounting experience
- Doesn’t have a mobile app for basic accounting, such as tracking income and expenses
FarmBooks charges a one-time fee of $495 for a single farm, plus a $95 annual maintenance fee to receive program updates and fixes. Additionally, you can back up your farm data for as little as $5 per month.
If you wish to see how it works before buying, you can request a free fully functional demo version that allows you to enter up to 30 transactions.
For a one-time payment of $495, you get all the must-have features you need to manage both farm and nonfarm transactions. Despite its low price tag, it doesn’t fall short of the functions we look for in farm accounting software.
For instance, it includes real-time inventory for crops and livestock and tracks both farm and personal income and expenses. Its main drawback is that each farm requires an additional fee, so it might not be the best choice for multiple farm settings. We recommend QuickBooks Desktop for farmers managing multiple farms.
Another reason we love FarmBooks is that it allows you to create enterprise codes that you can use to track both farm-related and personal expenses. This feature provides detailed tracking of your farm expenses as it allows you to know how your resources are allocated. For instance, it enables you to record and track the actual usage of a fertilizer in a specific crop field.
Wave: Best Free Accounting Software for Part-time or Hobby Farmers
Pros
- Has a free accounting and invoicing solution; great for part-time or family farming operations
- Is easy to set up and use
- Lets you create recurring invoices; ideal for small farmers with regular livestock sales
- Has an excellent receipt scanner with optical character recognition (OCR) capabilities and unlimited cloud storage for receipts
Cons
- Only allows one user in the free plan
- Lacks farm-specific features, such as Ag inventory management
- Doesn’t allow you to set up classes to separate income and expenses by activity
- Doesn’t provide customized farm management reports
- Has no live customer support in the free plan
Wave offers two subscription options:
- Starter: Free for a single user; includes accounting and invoicing features
- Pro: $16 per month or $170 per year for unlimited users; includes additional features, including bank feed connections, unlimited receipt capture, live chat and email support, and discounted credit card processing fees
Add-ons:
- Bookkeeping support: $149 per month (Starter and Pro)
- Assisted payroll: $40 per month for tax service states and $20 per month for self-service states plus $6 monthly per employee
- Receipt scanning: $11 monthly or $96 annually (Starter only; included in Pro)
Farmers who can’t afford paid farm accounting software should try Wave’s free plan—Starter. Its accounting and invoicing features are free, and you only pay if you scan receipts, process payments, and manage payroll.
Despite being free, Wave Starter offers some advanced features that you’ll often find in premium software, such as the ability to create and send recurring invoices and set up automated reminders to alert your clients of overdue payments.
Unfortunately, neither Wave Starter nor the paid plan, Pro, allows you to separate personal and farm funds and create and manage cost centers. This makes it unsuitable for those with diversified farm activities, such as livestock rearing and crop production. QuickBooks Desktop is a great alternative if you want to keep your farm and personal expenses separate and require detailed expense tracking through cost centers.
EasyFarm: Best for Self-employed Farmers
Pros
- Is focused mostly on the needs of self-employed farmers as the payroll module doesn’t meet IRS requirements
- Uses a unique “single-entry input” approach for entering transactions; ideal for farmers without an accounting background
- Includes farm-specific management features, like Ag inventory tracking
- Supports crop and livestock management
- Allows you to manage both farm and personal funds
Cons
- Is a bit expensive compared to similar programs
- Needs the A/R add-on to send invoices
- Doesn’t allow you to connect to bank accounts
- Has no fixed asset accounting features
EasyFarm is available in seven different editions with one-time fees.
- EasyFarm Lite: $650
- EasyFarm Plus: $750
- EasyFarm Pro Crops: $950
- EasyFarm Pro Livestock: $950
- EasyFarm Premier: $1,250
- EasyFarm Premier Plus: $1,400
- EasyFarm Platinum: $1,450
Add-ons:
- Accounts Receivable: $299
- Co-op Inventory Management Software: $159
- Oil Sales & Royalty: $250
- EasyFarm Hand Mobile App: Price available upon request
EasyFarm is a unique software that we believe farmers will find easier to use than standard bookkeeping software. It has a unique user interface that uses farm-specific jargon and preset calculations and reports, making it a great option for unincorporated farmers.
It also has integrated farm management and accounting features, which allow farmers and ranch managers to handle bookkeeping and crop and livestock management tasks. Many self-employed farmers also use EasyFarm to report their farm income and expenses on Form 1040, Schedule F.
On the flip side, EasyFarm has no fixed asset manager—and we recommend that you look into FarmBooks or The Farmer’s Office if you need it.
The Farmer’s Office: Best for Detailed Cost Accounting for Large Farm & Ranches
Pros
- Provides detailed cost accounting features to track profitability
- Includes an A/R module for sending and tracking invoices
- Allows you to track income and expenses by cost centers
- Comes with a chemical inventory management and a pesticide application reporting system
- Has a built-in payroll for agriculture
Cons
- Can’t be used to track personal income and expenses
- Lacks upfront pricing; can be an issue for farmers with serious budget considerations
- Requires bookkeeping knowledge; not ideal for farmers who manage their own books
- Has no mobile accounting app
Prices aren’t publicly disclosed, but The Farmer’s Office is offered in three editions: Small Farm, Standard, and Enterprise. Each license is designed to be used on a single computer. If you wish to install it on another computer in the same office, a secondary site license fee applies, which is 25% of the price of the product.
You can sign up for a 30-day free trial before buying.
The Farmer’s Office by Datatech is next-level farm-specific software compared to EasyFarm and FarmBooks and is best used by professional bookkeepers at larger farms and ranches. It has enhanced cost accounting features that give you deeper insights into your income, expenses, and yields. For instance, you can group expenses by crop year, set up equipment cost centers, and track a different commodity for each crop year, which is helpful if you have open-ground fields.
It even includes chemical inventory and pesticide application reporting systems, which help farmers avoid the overapplication of pesticides and chemicals. Farm managers can also use the customized payroll features to manage their farm employees’ salaries and deductions better.
However, since The Farmer’s Office is primarily designed to handle farm operations at large incorporated farms and ranches, it doesn’t allow you to track personal income and expenses. For this, you can consider FarmBooks or EasyFarm.
How We Evaluated Farm Accounting Software
Using an internal scoring rubric, we examined our six best farm accounting software for farmers based on their affordability, ease of use, available support, and ability to manage general accounting and farm-related accounting tasks.
10% of Overall Score
Each application is evaluated based on its upfront cost and the number of users included. Software providers that don’t disclose pricing information received the lowest scores.
30% of Overall Score
General accounting features like bill tracking, invoicing, and bank account reconciliation are essential to farm operations.
20% of Overall Score
The main farm features we like to see include the ability to track personal income and expenses, track and manage fixed assets, create cost centers or enterprises, and manage farm inventory.
20% of Overall Score
Most farmers have no bookkeeping experience, so the best farm accounting software should be easy to use and provide reliable customer service for first-time users.
20% of Overall Score
Our experts conducted a subjective evaluation of each software program across several factors, such as ease of use, features, and popularity.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
In addition to general bookkeeping features, accounting software for farmers has special features, such as the ability to track inventory depending on the type of crop you’re selling, manage livestock, and create cost centers for tracking farm-related expenses.
Yes, you can—as long as you require only general accounting features. As an example, you can use QuickBooks to track unpaid bills, send invoices, track expenses, and reconcile bank accounts.
No, as some software has a user-friendly interface that’s easy to learn and navigate. For instance, EasyFarm uses farm-specific language and preset calculations and reports, making it easy to use even for farmers with no accounting background.
Bottom Line
The best software for farm accounting depends on your budget and farm business needs. If you need locally installed accounting software with powerful accounting features, choose QuickBooks Desktop. If you’re working with a remote bookkeeper, you might prefer QuickBooks Online. If you’re looking for features specific to farm management, such as the ability to track farm inventory items, The Farmer’s Office may be a good choice.