Revised April 1, 2022
Revised September 16, 2020
Revised June 26, 2018
The first accounting applications for small business back in the early 90s were mostly repackaged, repriced versions of highly complex suites first designed for large companies. They were generally highly complex, loaded with unneeded features, and difficult to use, even for accountants. New vendors emerged to challenge those market incumbents with simpler, easier-to-use products better designed for small business needs, though they still required management overhead.
Today’s SaaS-based accounting and finance tools are affordable, easy to use, and impressively sophisticated. They enable even the smallest businesses to cost-effectively maintain accurate books while staying tax- and standards-compliant.
The half-dozen tools here enable small to midsized businesses to efficiently manage invoicing, purchase orders, expenses, payroll, reporting, taxes, and more.
Accounting Software
1) Xero
Google Review Count: 203
Online accounting software with functionality for invoicing and quoting, inventory tracking, purchase orders, billing and expenses, and payroll, plus integration with more than 500 apps for timesheets, ecommerce, expense management and more.
Sample review: “These top back-office tools will help you grow…(check out) Xero for your accounting needs.” — Marketing Insider Group
Pricing: $9/$30/$70 per month
Showcase reviews: Marketing Insider Group
2) FreshBooks
Google Review Count: 170
Web-based small business accounting software that handles invoicing, expenses and receipts, project management, time tracking, online payments, and financial reporting.
Sample review: “FreshBooks makes it remarkably easy to do everything yourself without expensive accounting software. FreshBooks allows you to easily create, send & track professional invoices, and even allows you to accept payments via credit cards.” — AppStorm
Pricing: $15/$25/$50 per month
Showcase reviews: AppStorm, StoreYa Blog
3) QuickBooks
Google Review Count: 166
Online or on-prem accounting software with a range of features including inventory control, payroll and employee records, purchasing and vendor management, reporting, pricing, and more.
Sample review: “Quickbooks is an oldie, but a goodie. This accounting software is now mobile, so you can check balances, send invoices, and receive payments wherever you are. You can also include the option for customers to pay you online.” — B2B PR Sense Blog
Pricing: $15/$30/$40 per month; $200 one-time; enterprise pricing by quote
Showcase reviews: B2B PR Sense Blog, StoreYa Blog
4) Wave Accounting
Google Review Count: 141
Create and send invoices, estimates and receipts; track the status of invoices and payments; process credit cards, scan receipts, manage payroll, and produce financial reports.
Sample review: “Free features and tools with Wave. The free tools include an accounting tool, invoice services, receipt management, and a general financial tracker.” — StoreYa Blog
Pricing: basic accounting app is free; payroll is $15 plus $4 per employee, per month; credit card processing is by transaction
Showcase reviews: StoreYa Blog
Sales Tax Reporting
1) TaxJar
Google Review Count: 183
TaxJar makes sales tax filing easier for online merchants. Sign up for TaxJar and then connect to the platforms or channels you sell through. Most channels can be connected in seconds with just a few clicks.
Sample review: “(TaxJar) integrates with the platforms you use, such as Square, to generate automated sales tax reports that calculate your totals by city and state. They will even automatically file your forms for you if you wish!” — B2B PR Sense Blog
Pricing: $19/$49/$99 per month; contact vendor for enterprise pricing
Showcase reviews: B2B PR Sense Blog
Invoicing Software
1) Slimvoice
Google Review Count: 80
Create, manage, and send invoices for free. Enter cash and check payments to keep track of outstanding balances. Accept credit cards on your invoices by connecting your Stripe account.
Sample review: “Create, manage, export, and send unlimited invoices for free.” — StoreYa Blog
Pricing: free; credit card processing is by transaction
Showcase reviews: StoreYa Blog
More Tools
Hubstaff
Google Review Count: 179
A time tracking tool ideal for remote teams with a range of features including the ability to set weekly time limits by team member; project budget tracking; automated payroll through PayPal or other services; GPS location monitoring; activity tracking; team scheduling; and client invoicing.
Pricing: $5 to $499 per month depending on features (basic or premium) and staff size
Sage Accounting
Google Review Count: 150
A proven small-business accounting systems that includes features such as invoicing, bill pay, bank account reconciliation, inventory tracking, job costing, budgeting, and integration with Microsoft Office 365.
Pricing: $51/$78/$198 per month (Sage 50cloud Accounting)
Stampli
Google Review Count: 121
An accounts payable (AP) automation platform with features including advanced OCR; the ability to capture invoice data in real-time and learn your accounting process for accurate coding and approval routing; a modern, paperless approach to AP with duplicate detection; collaborative approvals; and paper checks or ACH transactions.
Pricing: contact vendor
ZipBooks
Google Review Count: 98
Simple accounting software for invoicing & billing, reporting & reconciliation, expense management, and competitive intelligence that helps guide you toward optimal performance in all areas of your business.
Pricing: free or $15/$35/$125 per month
Fyle
Google Review Count: 66
Easy-to-use expense reporting and management software that works directly within common apps like Gmail, Outlook, Slack, and more. The tool also automatically reconciles expenses with live feeds of bank statements and expenses flowing into a central place. Integrates with popular finance software like NetSuite, Sage, and QuickBooks.
Pricing: $5/$9 per user per month; contact vendor for enterprise pricing
Showcase Reviews
AppStorm
B2B PR Sense Blog
Marketing Insider Group
StoreYa Blog
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