QuickBooks Online is the best overall accounting program for small businesses. Not only do most small-business accounting professionals use QuickBooks Online, but there are also endless online training resources and forums to get support when needed. All accounting features can be easily accessed on a single dashboard, making accounting more streamlined and efficient.

Intuit's QuickBooks Online has been the most commonly used accounting program by small businesses and their accounting and tax professionals. The program is cloud-based and can be accessed through a web browser or via the mobile app.

After the free 30-day trial, the four subscription plan options include: Start at $25 per month, Essentials at $40 per month, Plus at $70 per month, and Advanced at $150 per month. Typically, a significant discount is offered for the first few months, and some accountants are able to offer wholesale pricing for small businesses as well.

The monthly subscription for this software can be upgraded as the business grows, and there are many customizable options with the mobile app that can be used to accept payments, review reports, scan (and record) an image of an invoice, and track business mileage. For businesses seeking a payroll solution, QuickBooks Payroll fully integrates with QuickBooks Online.

Each plan offers more advanced features such as Inventory management , time tracking, additional users and budgeting. Most small service-based businesses will find that the Start plan meets all their needs. For small product-based businesses, Essentials or Plus will offer more inventory and customization options. The Advanced subscription is a new offering and provides powerful financial reporting enabled by Understand .Fathom is an elite online financial statement analysis tool used by many large companies around the world.

All plans allow integration with third-party apps like Stripe or PayPal. The QuickBooks Online App Store categorizes all apps by function and provides useful examples of each app's benefits.

Xero is our top pick for micro-businesses looking for a very simple accounting program. This program has a clean interface and also fully integrates with a third-party payroll service. Businesses can collect online payments from customers through Xero's integration with Stripe and GoCardless.

Pros

Xero was founded in 2006 in New Zealand and now has over two million users worldwide. This accounting software is popular in New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. Xero has over 3,000 employees and is also growing rapidly in the U.S.

Xero offers three monthly subscription options and a full-service fee add-on: Starter at $9 per month, Growth at $30 per month, and Foundation at $60 per month. The full payroll service option is offered through Gusto and is an additional $39 per month, plus $6 per employee. The company offers a free 30-day trial and a promotion for a $50 discount for two months.

The early plan limits usage and only allows the recording of five sales invoices or quotes, five purchase invoices, and agreement 20 bank transactions per month. This limited plan may be suitable for a microbusiness with relatively high-value transactions, but only a few per month, such as a consultant or a small service provider. Both the Growing and Custom plans offer unlimited sales and purchase invoices and transactions. The only difference between the two is that the Established Plan has additional features such as multi-currency, expense management, and project costing. All three plans offer Hubdoc, an invoicing and receipt-capture solution.

FreshBooks was chosen as the best accounting software for the needs of service-based small businesses. The most important accounting need for most service-based businesses is invoicing. FreshBooks offers more invoice customization options than other accounting programs. Its primary function is sending, receiving, printing, and paying invoices, but it can also handle a business's basic accounting needs. This accounting software makes it easier for service-based businesses to send proposals and invoices, request deposits, track project time, and receive payments.

Founded in 2003 in Toronto, FreshBooks began as billing software. Over time, more features have been added, and now FreshBooks has over 300 employees. There are four different plans, and businesses can get a 10% discount if they choose to pay annually rather than monthly. Additionally, FreshBooks offers a 60% discount per month for six months. The four plans are: Lite at $15 per month, Plus at $25 per month, Premium at $50 per month, and Select, which is a custom service.

The main difference between the four plans is the number of different clients that can be invoiced per month. On the Lite plan, up to five clients can be invoiced per month. On the Plus plan, up to 50 clients can be invoiced per month. On the Premium plan, up to 500 clients can be invoiced per month. The Select plan has no limit on the number of clients that can be invoiced per month. It costs an additional $10 per month for multiple team members to use the accounting software and costs an additional $20 per month for the advanced payment feature, which allows users to charge a credit card in real time or set up a recurring credit card charge for a client.

There are many third-party app integrations available, such as Shopify, Gusto, Stripe, G Suite, and more. A unique feature of FreshBooks is that invoices can be highly styled and customized for a professional look and feel. FreshBooks is an excellent tool for budgeting projects, sending estimates or proposals, and collecting client payments.

Wave is an ideal accounting software platform for a small service-based business that sends simple invoices and doesn't need to track inventory or run payroll. For many freelance or service-based businesses, Wave's free features will cover all their accounting needs, and it's the best free software. At the end of the year, accountants can pull the necessary reports from Wave to prepare a business's tax return. .

Wave was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Toronto. The company has over 250 employees and was recently acquired by H&R Block. The core accounting features that most small businesses need, such as tracking income and expenses, financial reporting, and invoicing, are included in this free software. These features can be accessed online or via the mobile app. Client payroll processing and payroll services are considered premium services that cost extra, but all bookkeeping, invoicing, and reporting features are completely free.

Wave makes its money on its payment gateway. To process a payment from a client, Wave charges 2.91% plus 30¢ per transaction for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover, and 3.41% plus 30¢ per transaction for American Express. These fees are slightly higher than those of other accounting programs. Furthermore, to process an ACH payment, rather than a credit card, Wave charges 1.1% per transaction with a $1 minimum fee. This is unique to Wave, as most accounting software does not charge a fee for processing ACH payments.

Wave offers two payroll plans as an additional service. The first plan is $20 per month plus $6 per employee or contractor. Under this plan, Wave will process the payroll and prepare payroll tax calculations, but the user is responsible for manually completing payroll tax forms and filing tax payments. The second plan is $35 per month plus $6 per employee or contractor. Under this plan, payroll is fully serviced, meaning that all tax filings and payments are fully managed by Wave. This full-service payroll option is available in only 14 states.