5 Best Accounting Softwares for Small Businesses

It’s 2020. There’s more than a wide variety of choices available for businesses looking to automate and simplify their account processes. Simultaneously, businesses are almost as lost as they used to be on this front. Why is that? With such a plethora of options available, it’s easy to either end up with substandard accounting software for your business or pick one that you don’t fully understand. Both of these scenarios are, of course, less than ideal, and cost your business real money. In the long term, you’re likely to regret not evaluating other options to pick the best account software for yourself.

Quality accounting software not only simplifies processes, but it also liberates you to focus on other important aspects of your business. Not all business owners (especially small businesses) have an in-depth understanding of accounts and may need the intuitive features present in some accounting software suites which may not be available in the others. In fact, according to the Small Business Report on Accounting, a surprising 60% of small business owners feel like they may not have adequate knowledge of finance and accounting. To avoid overwhelming you with accounting and financial decisions, we had previously shared a list of things that you need to set up, check it out! Without any further ado, let’s check the top 5 best accounting software which may be the perfect fit for your business. Please note, this list is not in any particular order.

#1 Intuit’s Quickbooks

Quickbooks is one of the most popular accounting software available for your business. It offers a wide variety of tools that your business can benefit from.

• The user interface is intuitive, and easy to use and supports hundreds of extensions and integrations.
• This is quite alluring to use for many small and mid-sized enterprises, however, it is essential to keep in mind that there have been complaints about frequent crashes/instabilities.
• Some users have found the support a bit lax, and file size limitations may be a deal-breaker for some organisations.
  
• Pricing: Quickbooks starts at USD 15 a month for its starter plan, which lacks essential features such as insights & reports. Those features are made available in its Plus plan at 31 USD 31 a month. Pricing is often discounted and may be lower at the time of reading.
  

#2 Zoho Books

Zoho is known for the depth it offers in tracking and maintaining financial records. Though Zoho is not an organisation that specialises in finance, as some of the other entries on this list, it remains a good choice as accounting software for your enterprise.

• It can provide almost anything that an SME may ask for, with a pleasing interface, automated workflows, reporting tags, and good room for customizability.
• The lack of Payroll integration had been the primary drawback that stood out when using Zoho Books, though this seems to have been remedied by the launch of Zoho Payroll.

Pricing: Zoho Books starts at USD 9 a month per organisation for its basic plan that accommodates two users and 50 contacts. Higher tier plans are available for USD 9 and UDS 19 per month, featuring more contacts, user accounts, and additional features. Prices are significantly cheaper for users in Zoho’s home country - India.

#3 Xero

Xero is arguably a household name in the field of accounting software. With easy to use dashboards and tools, Xero seems to have been designed with convenience in mind.

• It features some quality reconciliation tools, making it one of the best accounting software available in the market for your small business.
• Like Deskera (more on it, below), Xero is also intended for usage specifically by small businesses, understanding exactly what these businesses require.
• However, the chat and phone support for customers have been found lacking by the users, and the mobile app leaves much to be desired.

Pricing: Xero starts at USD 20 a month, but only allows up to 5 invoices in its basic plan. For unlimited invoices, bills, quotes and a generally unrestricted subscription, plans are available for USD 30 a month and USD 40 a month.

#4 Deskera

The Deskera accounting product Deskera Books is built specifically for small and micro enterprises, making this the best bet available in the market if you’re looking for accounting software. Deskera Books offer everything from tools for compliance to reporting/analysis tools which is essential for your business.

• It’s extremely easy to use and takes pride in its efficient 24/7 live support offered to all of its customers.
• On top of the easy-to-use interface, Deskera offers in-depth training on a variety of tools, ensuring that you truly get everything you possibly can from this software.

Pricing is the best part - the basic plan is absolutely free of cost. And you can try any of the upgraded plans free to truly verify that Deskera is the right choice for your business.

#5 Sage

Sage offers some fairly sophisticated tools to stand out in this market. It also offers one the best inventory management systems, making it a choice worthy of consideration if your business’ prime pain point is inventory management.

• However, the trade-off comes in the form of a clunky interface and a difficult user experience.
• There is no centralised dashboard, which may be a deal-breaker for most SMEs.
• Simple tasks like duplication of invoices are difficult to perform, making this one of the less-than-ideal software if you’re looking for anything other than inventory management

Pricing: Sage starts at USD 10 a month, with higher tier plans available for USD 25 a month, featuring real-time reports, estimates, cash flow statements and more.

So What Do You Think?

These are our top picks for the best accounting software that your business can make use of to ensure that your enterprise runs into no trouble when it comes to accounting and compliance. Did you find the tool which you were looking for? Which was your preference, and which didn’t suit your needs? What’s your experience? We’d love to know your thoughts, your valuable feedback and suggestions through our socials! Do make sure to subscribe to our email list for more such illustrative articles on everything there is to know on SME articles.