10 Best accounting software for small businesses in 2024

Like large corporations, small businesses can also benefit a lot from accounting software. They help in tracking your transactions and preparing you for tax season, among other benefits.

Sure, you could always use a spreadsheet to keep track of things. But current accounting software apps come with so many features, it would be a pity not to use them.

You get customized invoicing, transaction tracking and reports, transaction automation, inventory tracking, tax-handling features and so much more.

Moreover, accounting software has also become very affordable, even free. So, if you are a small business owner looking to streamline operations, then the following list might be of great help.

Top 10 Small Business Accounting Software (Free and paid)

Name	Bets for	Price	Website
Quickbooks	Best overall	$16/month	quickbooks.intuit.com
Freshbooks	Service-based	$6/month	freshbooks.com
Sage	Teams	$10/month	sage.com
Xero	Simplicity	$11/month	xero.com
Wave	Free Plan	Free	waveapps.com
Zoho Books	Automation	$9/month	zoho.com/books
Brightbook	Simple & free	Free	mybrightbook.com
Zip Books	Freemium	Free, $15/month	zipbooks.com
Sunrise	Bookkeeper	Free, $149/month	sunriseapp.com
Kashoo	Automation	$16.65/month	kashoo.com

1. Quickbooks

Quickbooks is an accounting package from Intuit Limited, a company with a track record in financial software. This offer is a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS), so you can practically use it from anywhere.

The system keeps your business organized and efficient by providing a detailed overview, syncing with your bank accounts, and helping you to optimize your tax deductions.

It includes a customizable invoice, photo records of all your expense receipts for the tax man, and other standard features such as sales, profits, and expenses tracking, sales-tax handling, and so on. This is part of the Simple Start plan for $16 per month, limited to 1 user.

For $25 per month, you get 3-user and accountant access, multi-currency support, sales quotes, and bill management.

Then for $34 per month, there is access for 5 plus an accountant, with inventory management, purchase orders, and profitability tracking.

All offers come with a 30-day free trial, so you can check Quickbooks out and see if you will like it.

Pros: Cloud-based, scalable, extensive features

Cons: Basic plan is for a single user

Website: https://quickbooks.intuit.com

2. Freshbooks

Offering a high level of flexibility and extensive features, Freshbooks works well for a selection range of businesses. This ranges from self-employed professionals to freelancers and other service-based small businesses.

It offers invoicing with time-tracking, so you can easily log the hours you spend on a project and bill your client.

It also comes with expenses management, online credit-card acceptance, easy-to-understand reports, and automatic checks and balances for accurate accounting.

Freshbooks also integrates with over 100 online services to make your life easier. You can easily connect your account to your Shopify, Squarespace, Zoom, Hubspot, Dropbox, and many more APIs to import client data, track expenses, and so on.

Its only issue is the Lite plan for $6 per month has a maximum of 5 clients. But for $10 per month, you can upgrade to 50 clients or 500 clients for $20 per month.

Pros: Flexible, extensive features, integrations

Cons: Limited clients

Website: https://www.freshbooks.com

3. Sage

If you have a large team that needs to access your accounting platform then you may want to consider this Sage Cloud Accounting offer for small businesses.

Coming from a company with lots of enterprise-grade software for businesses of all sizes, Sage Accounting comes with everything you need to keep your books in order.

There are just two accounts: Sage Accounting Start for $10 per month and Sage Accounting for $25 per month.

The Start plan is for individuals and sole proprietors, while the second plan supports unlimited users. Both plans offer impressive features though, ranging from invoicing to accounts payable and automatic bank reconciliation.

Pros: Unlimited users, extensive features, AI-powered

Cons: Learning curve

Website: https://www.sage.com

4. Xero

Business owners who want a simple system can try out Xero. Its simple layout and easy-to-understand interface makes it one of the most popular packages out there.

The smallest plan costs $11 per month, and you can send up to 20 invoices and enter up to 5 bills with it.

At $32 per month, the Growing plan includes unlimited invoicing and billing, while the Established plan costs $62 per month and includes multi-currency support, project tracking, and expense claims.

All plans are available with a 30-day free trial and you can add the Gusto payroll integration for employees. But it cost $39 extra per month.

Pros: Simple, easy to understand

Cons: Payroll feature costs extra

Website: https://www.xero.com

5. Wave

The Wave accounting package is designed for small businesses with about 1 to 9 employees. It came to life as Wave Accounting in 2009 and is free.

Yes, there is only one type of Wave account: Free.

You can run multiple businesses with this one account, with unlimited income tracking, expense tracking, receipt scanning, sales-tax tracking, unlimited users, accountants, bank connections, and so on.

Everything is free, including automated payments and invoicing. Wave also lets you accept online credit card payments with transaction costs of as little as 1%.

So, if you are just starting and could save some money. Plus, if you are not the type that needs customer service for everything, then you can try Wave accounting.

Pros: Free plan, limitless invoicing, templates, automation

Cons: Customer service

Website: https://www.waveapps.com

6. Zoho Books

Zoho is another impressive software maker with SaaS offers for the business owner. And as with many other Zoho products, this one also includes automation features.

First, there are 3 account types. The Basic for $9 per month, with up to 50 contacts, 2 users, and 5 automated workflows. You also get custom invoices, bank reconciliation, tracking, and most of the other standard features.

If your business handles more than 50 customers then you will need a bigger plan like the Standard. It allows up to 500 contacts, 3 users, and up to 10 automated workflows per module.

There is also a larger plan that allows over 500 contacts, and up to 10 users for $29 per month. All these bigger plans also come with more features such as purchase orders, custom domain, bills management, stock tracking, and so on.

Pros: Feature-rich, automation, Zoho integration, accountant solutions

Cons: Limited contacts, only 14-day trial

Website: https://www.zoho.com/books/

7. Brightbook

Simplicity at a zero cost. That is what sets Brightbook apart from the rest. If you want a free accounting system without bells and whistles, then here is something to look at.

It comes with all the major features you can expect from accounting software. This includes customized invoices with multi-currency support, reports, bank-transactions upload, and bank-grade data security.

You are also free to add as many users as you want, including team access, client, and accountant access. Plus, you can manage as many companies as you want, as well.

Pros: Free, simple, multi-user, multi-currency, multi companies

Cons: No automation

Website: https://mybrightbook.com

8. Zip Books

Sometimes, free isn’t enough. Because you may lack certain features on a free app, with no hope of ever getting it. Zip Books changes all that with its freemium approach.

You get a totally-free Starter account with unlimited invoicing, customers, and vendors. As well as basic reports, 1 bank account, and online digital payments.

But for $15 per month, you can have up to 5 team members, with automated tasks, recurring billing, multiple bank accounts, and custom invoices.

Then for $35 per month, you get even more administration features with the Sophisticated plan. As well as unlimited users, detailed reports, and many more features. There is an Accountant plan with custom pricing as well.

Pros: Freemium, lots of features, customizable

Cons: No automation on the free plan

Website: https://zipbooks.com/

9. Sunrise

The Sunrise accounting app comes in two plans. The first plan comes with extensive features, including automation, and it is free. The second plan comes with the same features but includes a professional bookkeeper.

So if you are worried about the accuracy of your accounting details or your taxes, then including the bookkeeping service might be worth it.

It starts at $149 for up to 120 transactions per month and goes up to 200 transactions for $299 and 500 for $499 per month.

For the free software, there is easy management of income and expenses. There is also manual and automatic transactions import, customizable invoices with full tracking, online payments, and many more features.

Pros: Free version, dedicated bookkeeper, automation

Cons: The dedicated plan is costly

Website: https://sunriseapp.com

10. Kashoo

Kashoo’s mission is simple: Make accounting as accurate and effortless as possible. This includes the use of automation to remove redundant tasks and make everything else one-click away.

There is only one account plan and it costs $16.65 per month with unlimited users. This account also includes all the automation features you can only get from high-ticket plans. So, this makes it more attractive.

Bank feeds are included, so there is automatic updating of transactions. There is also OCR technology to create digital receipt copies for you and categorize them automatically. Plus tax deductions, tax maximization, and overall very little manual data entry.

Pros: User-friendly, automated, easy to use

Cons: Free trial is only 14 days

Website: https://kashoo.com/