Best accounting software for small businesses in 2024

Zoho Books is an accounting software tool, nestled within Zoho’s extensive software suite for businesses, offering a comprehensive free plan suitable for small businesses looking for a reliable accounting solution without added costs. The platform’s list of features includes expense tracking, online and offline payments, invoice management, bank reconciliation and the ability to add multiple bank and credit card accounts — and that’s just in the free version.
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Zoho Books offers five paid plans, ranging from $20 to $275 per month (if paid monthly; annual payments reduce the costs). These plans cater to various business sizes, providing flexibility and scalability. The $20 per month Standard plan supports up to 5,000 invoices annually, the Premium plan at $70 per month includes 50 custom reports, and the Elite plan ($150 per month) offers advanced analytics and real-time, customizable reports and dashboards.
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Its clean user interface stands out, providing easily navigable workflows and processes. Plus, extra features such as inventory management and time tracking make the platform a well-rounded solution for small businesses looking to integrate as many business processes as possible.
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However, the free plan is only suitable for businesses that require only one user and one accountant, while the cheapest paid package only allows for three users. It’s also worth noting that users can only access customer support via email when subscribing to the free package.

FreshBooks is cloud-based accounting software with a great suite of features designed for small businesses, but also for freelancers, sole proprietors and businesses with contractors. With these in mind, FreshBooks offers features such as automated expense tracking, late payment reminders, late fee creation and auto-billing to help maintain a healthy cash flow. Business owners can also benefit from the platform’s standard accounting features, including robust reporting (profit and loss, balance sheets, etc), unlimited invoices and recurring bills.
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The software boasts an uncluttered and modern interface and offers many built-in automations to reduce repetitive processes such as billing, invoice reconciliation, transaction categorization and recurring invoices.
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Keep in mind that FreshBooks’ cheapest plan accommodates up to five clients, while the next tier is suitable for up to 50 clients. This means that, with just six clients, you may end up paying significantly more for features you might not necessarily need.
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Plus, if you have even one employee working for you, you’ll need to choose a more expensive package since the basic tier doesn’t include double-entry accounting. When managing employees, double-entry accounting is especially important since you’re responsible for managing payroll transactions and employee expenses while complying with tax regulations.
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FreshBooks offers four pricing plans. The Lite plan costs $17/month and allows for sending invoices to up to five clients; the Plus plan costs $30/month and includes automatic expense tracking and receipt data capture, while the Premium plan costs $55/month and enables businesses to track project profitability and set up recurring billing. The platform’s most expensive plan is priced on a business-by-business basis.

Intuit QuickBooks Online is an accounting software platform that’s best for growing small businesses and larger businesses due to its extensive feature set and higher-priced plans.
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As one of the most popular accounting solutions, QuickBooks offers a comprehensive suite of features. These include all core accounting features (income and expense tracking, invoicing and payments and a general ledger) as well as more advanced features such as time and project tracking, the ability to sync with sales channels like Shopify, and project profitability management.
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While smaller businesses can benefit from using QuickBooks, the platform’s ability to help businesses calculate tax deductions, perform job costing and manage inventory make it a great choice for businesses preparing for growth. Plus, QuickBooks’ add-on features, such as integrated credit card processing and its solid payroll function contribute to its versatility.
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QuickBooks offers four plans. Simple Start at $30 per month includes invoices, payments, tax deductions, and syncs with one sales channel. Essentials at $60 per month adds more channels, users and bill management. The Plus plan at $90 per month includes all sales channels, inventory management and project profitability. The top-tier plan at $200 per month includes employee expenses, workflow automation and Excel data syncing.
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Despite the product’s popularity, some users report issues when switching from the provider’s desktop version to the cloud-based program, including glitches and unintuitive changes to the platform’s core functionality.

Xero is an accounting software platform with features catered to a range of industries including construction, manufacturing, real estate, retail, hospitality and more. The platform is an excellent choice for businesses that require unlimited user access. All three of Xero’s pricing plans come with this functionality, setting it apart from the majority of the providers featured on this list.
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All pricing tiers offer a great range of features designed for small businesses. The most basic package costs $15 per month and includes custom invoicing and quoting, bank reconciliation and bill scheduling — although users are limited to sending 20 invoices per month. The second tier costs $42 per month for reconciliation of bulk invoices, while the most expensive plan costs $78 per month and is suitable for businesses that operate across multiple countries with features like multi-currency functionality and advanced analytics.
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Xero offers payroll functionality with payroll platform Gusto, although this costs an extra $40 per month, plus $6 per month per person. Despite Xero’s promotion of seamless integration with numerous popular banks, users have reported instances where the software stops integrating with their bank.

Sage 50 is a hybrid desktop accounting software with cloud connectivity that offers advanced feature packages suitable for many types of businesses, from solopreneurs to businesses that need industry-specific functionality for the construction, manufacturing and distribution sectors.
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The Pro Accounting package — priced at $595 per year for one user or $58.92 per month if you choose monthly billing — covers core accounting features like invoice tracking and bank reconciliation, along with advanced functions such as robust reports and inventory management. The mid-tier package (Premium Accounting) starts at $970 per year for one user or $96.58 per month if you choose monthly billing. It adds the option to have up to five users (the price increases accordingly) as well as features like purchase orders and audit trails. The top-tier package (Quantum Accounting) starts at $1,610 per year for one user ($160 per month for one user when billed monthly) and expands your available user number to 40 (again, the price increases accordingly) while adding role-based user permissions, workflow management, faster processing and more.
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Ideal for businesses looking for an accounting solution that can grow with them as their accounting team grows, the platform offers a comprehensive feature set that extends to cover other business functions like inventory management. Businesses that want to add payroll functionality can take advantage of Sage’s payroll module; it integrates seamlessly and is priced using a tiered structure based on number of employees.
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The platform offers add-ons for even more versatility, including automatic bill, purchase and employee expense capture, streamlined invoice payments and automatic recording of cash receipts.
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Keep in mind that the hybrid nature of the tool has been troublesome for some users, including issues around compatibility with updated Windows operating systems and limited functionality after installing Sage 50 software updates.

AccountEdge Pro is an accounting desktop application for Mac and Windows users with remote cloud-access functionality. The platform enables businesses to manage banking, credit card and expense accounts, set up recurring transactions, and create departments and profit centers.
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The system is based on a suite of eight “command centers” that house different feature sets for business needs, including invoicing, sales and inventory. Users have access to over 100 reports to monitor the health of their business, and can also create their own custom reports. Plus, the system’s customer portal enables clients to view their open and paid invoices, apply credits and submit payments.
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Compared to modern accounting solutions and some competitors, AccountEdge Pro’s interface is lackluster and a bit dated (though the company is reportedly making some updates), and users report an influx of bugs upon new feature releases. Plus, even though pricing starts at $20 per month for one user license, there are a plethora of optional add-ons such as a payroll subscription ($20 per month), phone support ($10 per month), and cloud collaboration tools ($15 per month) that can quickly drive up the initial cost of investment. They do offer free email support if needed.

NetSuite’s accounting software tool sits within the NetSuite ERP platform and is a solid choice for medium-sized businesses preparing to scale. The platform’s key features include tax management, general ledger, accounts receivable and payable, and account reconciliation. Growing businesses can also benefit from the tool’s close management and fixed asset management features.
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With NetSuite, businesses can automate manual and repetitive processes, access real-time metrics and data, and gain insights from rich reports to inform business-critical decisions. Although NetSuite doesn’t publicize pricing information, businesses will pay for an annual license fee (based on optional modules and the number of users) and an implementation fee for the initial setup.
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While users can benefit from the tool’s versatility and the wider NetSuite ecosystem, the platform does come with a steep learning curve, especially for those new to complex enterprise software solutions.