Top 5 Accounting Software Solutions for Small Businesses

Discovering the ideal accounting software for your small business simplifies managing invoices, generating detailed income and expense reports, and streamlines tax preparation. However, determining the right software for your business can be challenging.

CNBC Select has compiled a list of the top accounting software for small businesses, taking into account affordability, additional features, comprehensive service, simplicity, and availability of free plans. Check out our methodology for more details.

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Best for affordability

What is Xero's most basic plan and how much does it cost?

Xero's Established plan includes features that help businesses forecast future cash flow, and it costs less than $100 per month, making it the most affordable option.

Best for customization

What are the features and pricing options for FreshBooks? FreshBooks offers four package options, but also allows you to add individual features to your plan. Additional features include granting team members access to the account for an extra $11 per user per month, payroll capabilities for $40 + $6/per person each month, and the ability to accept online and in-person payments for an additional $20 per month. This way, you can choose the features you need at a price point that's still affordable.

The FreshBooks website recommends the best pricing plan for your business based on your setup, such as selecting "freelancer" and recommending the Lite plan.

Best for comprehensive service

What are the features of QuickBooks' four pricing plans? The most basic plan includes tax help, banking, reporting, cash flow management, bill management, and mileage tracking. More advanced plans offer additional features such as the ability to add up to 25 users to the account, 24/7 support, financial planning, record transactions in multiple currencies, inventory management, and more. These plans may appeal to those who want more advanced features and are willing to pay a higher premium.

Premium pricing plans enable users to link all their sales channels to QuickBooks, rather than being restricted to one or a few channels.

Best for simplicity

What are the pricing plans offered by Wave? The platform provides two options: the Starter plan for $0 per month and the Pro plan for $16 per month. The Starter plan includes essential features such as unlimited estimates, invoices, and bookkeeping records, invoicing through the Wave app, cash flow management, and the ability to accept online payments. This plan is ideal for those who want to keep things simple and avoid being overwhelmed by numerous features.

The most basic Wave plan provides unlimited estimates and invoicing, while competitors' most basic plan usually limits estimates and invoices to approximately 20 per month.

Best free plan

What does Zoho Books offer for free? The free plan from Zoho Books provides a wealth of features, including multi-lingual invoicing, online payment acceptance, inventory management, and support for multiple credit cards and bank accounts.

Zoho Books offers six pricing options for customers to select from, including the Free, Standard, Professional, Premium, Elite, and Ultimate plans.

More on our picks for best account software for small businesses

Xero

Since its launch in 2006, Xero has been an online accounting platform that seamlessly integrates with over 1,000 third-party applications, such as Stripe, PayPal, and Square, to streamline your business operations.

Cost

Starts at $15 per month (without any discounts applied)

FreshBooks

FreshBooks provides three pricing plans: Lite, Plus, and Premium, as well as an additional tier for businesses with employees. The pricing for this tier is not disclosed, so contact a specialist for more information. This tier includes all features of the Premium plan, plus the option for add-ons.

Cost

Starts at $19 per month (without any discounts applied)

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks is a renowned software for business accounting, providing live support, a free mobile app, and seamless integration with other applications to streamline your business operations. With QuickBooks, you can link your account to over 750 apps, including PayPal, Square, Etsy, Shopify, Amazon, and S.O.S. Inventory, among others.

Cost

Starts at $35 per month (without any discounts applied)

Wave

Wave offers two pricing plans: Pro and Starter. The Pro plan includes additional features such as automatically imported bank transactions, expense tracking, and late payment reminders. Both plans charge a fee for online transactions, with the Starter plan starting at 2.9% + $0.60 per credit card transaction and the Pro plan starting at 2.9% + $0 per credit card transaction for the first 10 transactions per month.

Cost

Starts at $0/month (without any discounts applied)

Zoho Books

Despite offering more than just basic accounting features, Zoho Books provides affordable pricing for its comprehensive plans.

Cost

Starts at $0/month (without any discounts applied)

Why trust CNBC Select?

Our goal at CNBC Select is to deliver top-notch service journalism and in-depth consumer advice to our readers, enabling them to make informed decisions with their money. Each article is meticulously crafted by our team of expert writers and editors, who possess extensive knowledge of small business products. At CNBC Select, we maintain the highest journalistic standards and ethics, even though we earn a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links.

Our methodology

To identify the top accounting software for small businesses, CNBC Select evaluated various accounting service providers based on four key categories: basic features, additional/premium features, cost/investment, and customer reviews and ratings when available. Additionally, we examined 22 subcategories within each major category to provide a comprehensive analysis.

• Double entry support (must connect to a credit card and bank account)
• Income and expense tracking
• Organizing and filing 1099 contractor payments
• Connection to at least 1 sales channel
• Send and receive payments from invoices

Additional/premium features:

• Mobile app availability
• Multi-currency support
• Mileage tracking
• Receipt scanning
• Bill payment features
• Connection to more than one sales channel
• More robust payment features (i.e., payroll for 1099 and W-2 workers)
• Reporting
• Inventory management
• Automatic sales tax calculations
• Account sharing with accountants
• Customer support

Cost/investment:

• Availability of a completely free plan
• Starting monthly cost
• Free trial available and the duration of the free trial

Customer reviews and ratings:

• Consider feedback from Capterra and TrustPilot
• Consider feedback on ease of use, customer service, and perceived consumer value

We organized our recommendations based on affordability, add-ons, comprehensive service, simplicity, and best free plan after reviewing these features.

The fee structures are subject to change without notice.

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