15 Best Accounting Software Tools For Small Businesses To Grow

Image source – Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash

Accounting can seem like a time-consuming chore for business owners who have their eyes set mostly on growing their business. Small businesses must keep track of their cash flows to gauge the short and medium-term profitability. Especially for those businesses who are looking for avenues to scale rapidly. Tax obligations are a crucial area which the businesses should consider to be ready for.

Thus accounting tools help these businesses manage their finances seamlessly and prepare them to face the tax season. Businesses should know the key elements they should look for in their accounting software. For example- A fashion e-commerce start-up might want to keep their dealings with their customers very professional and stylish. In that case, Custom made invoicing could be one of the main accounting needs. There are many kinds of software available with different utility and price points. The following parameters help decide which accounting software to opt for.

• Type of Industry
• Number of employees
• The scale of business and daily transactions
• Size of clientele

The key decision-making areas for business owners before purchasing software are as follows:-

• Identifying the actual needs of the business and what are the features that are necessary for business. The profitability and day to day expenses need to be monitored
• Planning budget – Allocate a certain percentage of the cost in getting the best tools possible so that the business monitoring is done seamlessly.
• Always consult the experts before deciding as they will help you weigh the pros and cons. There is always a remote chance that you might end up spending more than your business requires.
• Pick a sustainable option to avoid too many switches as your business grows.

Let us explore a list of popular accounting tools that will help you manage your accounting and financial needs seamlessly.

Let us explore a list of popular accounting tools that will help you manage your accounting and financial needs seamlessly.

1. Xero

This is a cloud-based tool that is excellent for micro-business owners. It Is simple to understand and use.

• It helps start-ups with useful tools like Online invoicing, Xero dashboard to get an up-to-date view of the cash flows and to understand the business better. Its mobile app makes it easy to monitor the financial health of your growing start-up on the go.
• If you run an e-commerce or an online retail site, this allows you to connect to third-party apps and integrate to the POS systems, control stock, manage inventory and streamline admin tasks.
• For global small businesses, it allows a global reach with a high degree of security.

Xero provides subscriptions for 3 months and the packages are designed according to the scale of use by the organization.

Find more about Xero – Here

2. FreshBooks

This is ideal for service-based businesses and acts as a key tool for invoicing. It helps to create professional invoices and helps businesses to manage expenses on the go. The best feature provided by FreshBooks is immense scope for customization compared to other apps. In addition to invoicing solutions, it also helps businesses manage their bookkeeping effectively. They provide a 30-day free trial. The following features help to keep track of important financial parameters.

• Building a pipeline for late payment of fees.
• Creation of Recurring profile for automatic disbursement of invoices.
• Setting up a billing schedule to manage Auto-Bills
• Late payment reminders to the clients to help you manage the scenarios with minimum conflict

Find more about FreshBooks – Here

3. QuickBooks

This is a top choice software for freelancers and contractors who work independently. This helps them figure out their income and expenditure and provides a good way to know about their tax returns. The best feature that the app provides is the differentiation between business and personal expenses. However limited invoicing functionality and customization make it ideal only for the aforementioned target groups who are willing to look beyond this functionality. Summarizing the benefits, the following are the key highlights.

• Instant payable invoices and helps you accept credit and debit cards online.
• Contactless, on-the-go, in-person payments made seamlessly.
• If you have an e-commerce set-up, it helps to process the payment and records transactions, calculates sales tax, and creates a receipt.
• Optimizes all kinds of app integrations crucial to run your business.

Find more about QuickBooks – Here

4. Zoho Books

It is a cloud-based accounting solution that is ideal for small to mid-sized organizations. It provides avenues for the following features.

• Multiple time sheets of different organizations.
• Organizations can connect bank and credit card accounts
• Automate recurring activities such as bill payments, reminders, and auto-debits.

Find more about QuickBooks – Here

5. Profiteer

It’s an app by Shopify which can help you track the cost of goods sold for your business. It does not integrate with your accounting app but it lets you import the database with relevant information with ease. The app shows you the cost of your inventory and even profits within a certain time frame. It keeps into account the currency fluctuations. Thus, the following features are helpful for businesses.

• Account for the unsold inventory and profits.
• Activate multiple reports for your perusal.
• Help to figure out discounts to boost sales.
• Easy to change the information and prices of the products.

Find more about Profiteer – Here

6. Simplycost

It allows business owners to add cost prices and profit tracking and needs to be used with their Shopify store. The reports are user-friendly to read and understand. The app provides filters to break the profitability reports as per days, months, vendors, and orders. It was ranked among the best Shopify apps The following are the main highlight of this accounting tool:-

• Automatic calculation of profit and report generation.
• Expense tracking and reporting.
• Helps you minimize the amount of time you spend on calculating the Cost of Goods Sold. Thus it helps you focus on more significant tasks.
• Helps you view profits and take business decisions accordingly.

Find more about SimplyCost – Here

7. Accounting Seed

Accounting Seed is a cloud-based accounting system that provides secure APIs necessary for your business. It works with your business to integrate all the crucial platforms like bank accounts, vendor marketplace, etc. The following are the key highlights of the usage of this accounting tool.

• This helps you customize your workflows.
• Automates the menial day-to-day tasks.
• Provides end-to-end visibility on your data and eliminates the silos thus enabling you to see the full picture.
• They provide automated general ledgers, accounts payable, financial reporting, etc.
• They provide enhanced dashboards for better representation of data.

Find out more about Accounting seed – Here.

8. ZipBooks

The biggest USP of GoDaddy Bookkeeping is that it provides a cost-effective solution and helps to integrate and import data from high authority sites like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay. If you specifically buy from these sites mentioned, this is a very cheap option. It helps you to calculate the tax estimates quarterly. However, it doesn’t delve much into program management, extensive reporting, or international billing capabilities. The following are the key highlights:-

• It eliminates the need to follow up with its invoicing features.
• Automates sales and expense tracking.
• Provides customized and professional-looking invoices.

Find more on ZipBooks – Here

9. GoDaddy Bookkeeping

The biggest USP of GoDaddy Bookkeeping is that it provides a cost-effective solution and helps to integrate and import data from high authority sites like Amazon, Etsy, and eBay. If you specifically buy from these sites mentioned, this is a very cheap option. It helps you to calculate the tax estimates quarterly. However, it doesn’t delve much into program management, extensive reporting, or international billing capabilities. The following are the key highlights:-

• It eliminates the need to follow up with its invoicing features.
• Automates sales and expense tracking.
• Provides customized and professional-looking invoices.

Find out more about GoDaddy Bookkeeping – Here

10. Kashoo

Kashoo helps to manage your data and systematically arranges it into categories for you to read and analyze easily. Some key insights are as follows:

• OCR technology helps to scan and create a digital copy of the receipt.
• Smart notifications let you know when your client sends you a payment.
• The invoice creator lets the user create customized invoices.
• Real-time information about clients and which are the top-performing clients in terms of clearing the dues.

Find out more about Kashoo – Here

11. OnPay

This is a complete payroll solution which not only helps in accounting but also in managing complete employee information. The reports can be easily modified and displayed which is customizable as well. The following are the key takeaway:-

• Automated tax filings and payments with high accuracy.
• Pays workers through various modes of payments.
• Integrates easily with other accounting software.
• Account migration and set-up

Find out more about Accounting seed – Here.

12. Wave

With this accounting tool, you can connect to various bank accounts, categorize your business expenses, and balance book transactions. It is ideal for service-based small businesses and freelancers. Anyone who is looking for a free solution and doesn’t want to compromise on the features can opt for this tool.

• It is simple and reliable.
• Easily manages cash flows.
• Intuitive suggestions.

Find out more about GoDaddy Wave – Here.

13. Sunrise

It has self-service plans. It lets users connect their banks, perform double-entry accounting and accept payments seamlessly. It has smart insights to help you take better business decisions. It also prepares you for the tax season. It is ideal for the following.

• Small business owners focused only on accounting and invoicing.
• Entrepreneurs who need assistance with bookkeeping.
• Intuitive tax estimator.
• Integration with payroll application along with easy tracking

Find out more about Sunrise – Here.

14. Tsheets

Tsheets are presented by Quickbooks. This is a tool that will complement the existing accounting tool used primarily to handle expenses and profitability. It is a time-tracking accounting tool that is essential for small businesses. With this tool, business owners can track the timesheets of the employees very easily. It easily integrates with exclusive accounting applications like Quickbooks and Xero. Thus your timesheet can be easily sent to the accounting software. The key highlights are as follows:-

• The app is intuitive and if employees change their shift, they receive notifications.
• Easy to track and manage.
• Specific tasks, projects, and jobs can be assigned minimizing confusion and improving employee accountability.
• Helps to maximize productivity.

Find more about  Tsheets – Here

15. Expensify

Recording expenses can be tedious and repetitive for business owners. This tool helps you to take a picture of the crucial receipts and categorize expenses into important buckets. It codes and presents the final report for you to just approve. The following are the key highlights:-

• Helps to reimburse employee’s expenses.
• Business owners get an intuitive convenient tool that speeds up the process of tracking expenses.
• Helps to import Business card transactions.
• Create approval of workflows to fit your business structure.
• Helps in advance tax tracking, auditing, and compliance

Find out more about Expensify – Here.

Source – Unsplash

You must pick the right tool and the right plan to invest wisely. You must carefully gauge your needs and make sure you are not taking in more features than you will use in your business. With time your accounting needs will change. This means that you might need to either upgrade your subscription to bring in more features or switch to another tool that provides enhanced features. It is also advised to invest in a tool that is adaptable to your business growth and the associated needs. This will save time. Besides your familiarity with the tool will help you avoid a brief hiatus in getting your tools in place before you start your accounting activities. The decision should be made after meticulous analysis of the business needs, and assessment of the due diligence. Bottom line is that as a business owner you must know what you are paying for.