You’ve likely heard the paradoxical phrase: “It takes money to make money.” That’s not an excuse to go throw around cash willy-nilly, but it’s a justifiable reason to spend your cash on wise investments.

Growth happens when you spend your money in the right way to allow your business to make more cash. On the other hand, failure follows when you consistently spend your money in the wrong way and your business loses cash as a result. Small business owners must walk a fine line between growth and the risk of failure to find success—and that’s where bookkeeping software comes in handy.

Raise your hand if any of the following are true:

  • You’re not an accounting expert.
  • You don’t particularly like numbers (especially math).
  • Your financial records are all over the place.
  • Your business is on a tight budget.
  • You have too much to do and too little time.

If any of those scenarios sound familiar, your small business may benefit from using accounting software. The best bookkeeping software for growing businesses will save you time and money while helping you walk the delicate tightrope between growth and failure. 

What is accounting software?

Accounting software helps you manage and record the day-to-day bookkeeping needs of your small business. The best small business accounting software connects to your bank account, helps you manage invoices and payments, and offers real-time reporting to give you clear information about the health of your business. It should also help you manage and pay your taxes. 

Accounting software often includes accounting tools that can make managing your day-to-day business easy and simple. Often these tools include balance sheets, income statements, financial statements for every quarter and year, information about your customers and their orders, and a platform that is easily accessed online by multiple users for your account. 

The best accounting software for small businesses will connect to your bank account to automatically match transactions and connect to your payroll system for easy payroll management. Tax accounting is also easier with automatic calculation, filing, and payment of your taxes at the right times during the year. 

How to choose the best accounting software for your small business.

As you research the best accounting software for your small business, consider the features that your business needs today and the integrations that will make your day-to-day bookkeeping both fast and easy. Look for accounting software that allows multiple users for your account if your finance team is larger than just yourself, allows branding customization for invoices and estimates sent to customers, and keeps fees low on both credit card and ACH payments. 

Best accounting software of 2024.

  • Best Free Software: Wave
  • Best Software For Ease Of Use: Xero
  • Best Robust Software: Sage
  • Best Software For Freelancers: FreshBooks

BEST FREE ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE

Wave

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BEST SOFTWARE FOR EASE OF USE

Xero 

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BEST MOST ROBUST ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE

Sage

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BEST ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE FOR FREELANCERS

FreshBooks

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Methodology

In selecting the best accounting software, we compared 10 accounting software platforms across various factors, including price point, target audience, features, and other relevant aspects. The chosen accounting software should align with the specific needs and budget of your business. 

We looked at starting price point for each application, but your price will vary depending on your revenue, number of users, and features needed. Remember that if you chose to process payments through your accounting software, that will be an additional expense. 

We also considered other aspects of these programs such as the target audience, features such as invoicing, expense tracking, financial reporting, scalability, integration with third-party software, user experience, customer support, and data security are also significant considerations. User reviews and industry reputation were also taken into account.