Bookkeeping services can also help small business owners save more through tax preparation and tax filing. We like that QuickBooks’ basic plan packs more features at a lower price point than its competitors, including the ability to accept payments, bookkeeping solutions send invoices, track expenses and manage your business’s cash flow. Higher-priced plans include batch invoices, business analytics, a dedicated support team, on-demand online training and integrations with BILL, Salesforce and HubSpot.
However, that’s not the only thing Zoho Books can offer as it’s also remarkable in other aspects, such as inventory and project accounting. It has features similar to QuickBooks Online—but at a more affordable price. This makes Zoho Books our top-recommended QuickBooks Online alternative. Unfortunately, FreshBooks isn’t a great fit for product-based businesses as it has no inventory and COGS tracking features.
Also, as mentioned, some features do cost money, so if you want access to more advanced features you may need to budget for that. Still, basic users who don’t want to pay for accounting software should be able to get much of what they need from the free version of the software. Scrambling at the last second to gather documents for tax season is stressful, and rushing bookkeeping-related tasks can make you vulnerable to compliance issues and missed growth opportunities. Thankfully, online bookkeeping services have lowered the financial barrier to getting bookkeeping and tax-related help. You should outsource your bookkeeping tasks to a virtual bookkeeper if you don’t have the time for and knowledge of DIY bookkeeping. As your business grows and your financial transactions increase, you will need a virtual bookkeeper to do routine tasks, like classifying transactions and reconciling bank accounts.
For analytical AI, respondents most often report seeing cost benefits in service operations—in line with what we found last year—as well as meaningful revenue increases from AI use in marketing and sales. You might also consider partnering with other businesses in your industry. For example, if you’re a wedding planner, you could partner with a florist, photographer, catering company or venue. This way, you can offer your customers a one-stop shop for all their wedding needs.Another example is an e-commerce store that partners with a fulfillment center.
That’s why we scoured all the top contenders, dissecting features, pricing, fees, and reputations to bring you the best accounting software picks for business owners. A bookkeeping service can manage your accounting software for you, which takes a lot of administrative work off your to-do list. Many bookkeepers also offer filing services, but their jobs are made easier and more accurate when a client uses accounting software.
These robust capabilities make Striven our best pick for international businesses. Business.com’s editorial team employed a thorough approach to determine the best accounting software. We evaluated numerous options by testing the software, attending vendor demos, and dedicating dozens of hours to independent research.
QuickBooks Online has some of the best reporting and bookkeeping features money can buy. Xero, Sage Business Accounting, and Zoho Books have stellar reports at a lower starting price than QuickBooks. And if you want straightforward finance tracking without in-depth analytics, Wave Accounting can help you with the basics. If you’re searching for accounting software that’s user-friendly, full of smart features, and scales with your business, Quickbooks is a great option.