15 Best Accounting Software Compared for 2024

FreshBooks, a popular cloud-based accounting software that began as a Toronto startup in 2003, is designed to simplify financial management for freelancers, the self-employed, and small businesses.

With FreshBooks, you can easily create and send professional invoices, track expenses, accept online payments, and manage projects. Its intuitive interface and scalable plans are designed for independent professionals and small businesses, making it a great choice for growing businesses. For businesses that need to bill clients based on time spent, Freshbooks can integrate with these time billing software to help streamline invoicing for hourly work.

FreshBooks offers several plans tailored to your specific needs, including options for freelancers, teams with contractors, and teams with employees. And for payroll, it integrates with Gusto, allowing you to pay contractors in more than 120 countries.

QuickBooks, a leading accounting software from Intuit, the makers of TurboTax and Credit Karma, empowers small to midsize businesses to take control of their finances.

With its intuitive interface and robust features, QuickBooks simplifies accounting tasks, bookkeeping, making it easy to create and send professional invoices, track expenses, manage inventory, and gain valuable insights through in-depth reporting.

Whether you’re a small or a growing business, QuickBooks offers scalable plans to meet your needs, ensuring you have the tools to manage your finances efficiently as your business expands.

Try QuickBooks today and experience how it can streamline your accounting and empower your business growth.

Xero is ideal for small businesses and freelancers. Founded in New Zealand, Xero has gained global recognition for its intuitive interface, essential accounting features, and emphasis on collaboration.

With Xero, you can manage your finances, from invoicing and expense tracking to project budgeting and cash flow analysis. Its seamless integration with banks and other business apps simplify transaction reconciliation and ensures your financial data is always up-to-date.

Xero offers multiple pricing plans to suit different business needs. As a beginner, you can start with Early plan.

Wave is a cloud-based accounting software renowned for its free plan, which offers a surprisingly comprehensive suite of features for small businesses and freelancers. Founded in Canada in 2010, Wave has become a popular choice for those seeking a user-friendly and affordable way to send invoices and receive payments.

With Wave’s free plan, you get unlimited invoicing and estimates, transaction automation, automated payment reminders, and even basic accounting reports. This makes it an excellent option for startups, solopreneurs, and small businesses with limited budgets.

For businesses that require more advanced features, Wave also offers a Pro plan starting at $16 per month. The Pro plan includes features like discounted rated payments, receipt capture, bank transaction import, categorize bank transactions, and customer support.

Melio is a free bill pay platform to simplify and streamline how businesses manage their accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR). Founded in 2018 and headquartered in New York,

Unlike traditional accounting software that focuses on bookkeeping and financial reporting, Melio specializes in the bill payment process. It allows businesses to pay vendors via bank transfer (ACH), check, or credit card, regardless of how the vendor prefers to be paid.

Businesses can save time, reduce errors, and improve vendor relationships by streamlining their bill payment processes. Whether you’re a small business owner or part of a large accounting team, Melio offers a user-friendly and cost-effective solution for managing your AR and AP.

For businesses managing huge volumes of receivables, integrating Melio with dedicated accounts receivable software and accounts payable software can enhance the efficiency of their overall cash flow management.

Zoho is a business suite comprised of many business software solutions. Their offering for accounting and bookkeeping is Zoho Books. With Zoho Books, you can manage clients, invoices, projects, and timesheets.

Zoho Books is best suited for E-Commerce businesses because it offers seamless integration with major online marketplaces and payment gateways, automates sales and inventory management, and provides analytics tailored for online retailers.

The pricing model had 6 different tiers and complex features to scale for teams of all sizes. Zoho Books’ starting plan is Free, allows 1 user with their accountant, and is only for companies under 50,000 in revenue per year.

Dext Prepare (formerly Receipt Bank) is a leading provider of automated data extraction and document management solutions. No wonder, more than 500,000 customers trust Dext.

Dext Prepare simplifies the tedious tasks of managing receipts, invoices, and bank statements by automatically extracting key data and integrating it with your accounting software. This eliminates manual data entry, reduces errors, and saves valuable time for accountants, bookkeepers, and business owners.

Bill is a leading cloud-based financial automation software, empowering small and midsize businesses (SMBs) to streamline their financial operations and improve cash flow. Founded in 2006 in California, Bill has become a trusted partner for over 460,000 businesses.

Bill’s comprehensive platform offers a range of solutions to automate and simplify various financial tasks, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, spend management and cash flow management.

Bill now leverage AI to extract necessary data from invoices and business documents to help to pay bills faster. They claim to save 50% by leveraging Bill AI.

ZarMoney is the best fit for teams looking for cloud-based software with plans for established small, medium, and semi-large companies. It’s a good accounting platform for managing transactions, inventory, and reporting. The company was founded in 2006 in California.

ZarMoney offers customizable features that can adapt to a business’s growing needs – from basic accounting, invoicing and expense tracking for small startups to advanced inventory management and detailed financial reporting for larger enterprises. This allows businesses to expand their operations without needing to switch to a different accounting software, making it a versatile solution across all stages of business growth.

Subscriptions have included user amounts and costs are more determined by team size, with all plans having the same core features, excluding customization in the highest tier. Their lowest plan is $20 per month for one user, and their highest tier is $350 per month for over 30 users.

Professionals with small to mid-size workflows may enjoy Bonsai as their accounting application. It will help with scheduling, invoicing, payments, proposals, and workflow management. The company was started in 2023 and is headquartered in California.

Bonsai offers a tailored suite of tools for proposal creation, contract management, invoicing, and tax preparation, all designed to simplify the administrative side of freelancing, allowing professionals to focus more on their work and less on paperwork.

Bonsai has monthly and annual pricing, with their Starter plan being $21 per month, billed annually. Their current discount offers the first 2 months free for yearly billing. You can add on team members for $10 per user per month.

AccountEdge is an on-premise, desktop accounting software. AccountEdge lets you manage sales, invoices, expenses, inventory, data, contacts, banking, and time. The AccountEdge software started out in 1989, but their company Acclivity began in 2005 in New Jersey, before being acquired by Priority Software in 2018. The software helps over 100,000 small companies globally but with North America as their primary market.

All plans have access to base features like general ledgers, financial reporting, bank reconciliation, data backups, and password protection.

AccountEdge Pro offers enhanced data control and security, allowing users to manage their finances without relying on a constant internet connection, while still providing the option for cloud collaboration to ensure flexibility and accessibility when needed via the AccountEdge Connect.

Pricing is based on the number of users you need and the type of hosting you prefer. They have subscriptions to run on your desktop or the option to host on your own secure cloud desktop server for your team. Phone support is available as a $10/month add-on.

Patriot Accounting Software offers subscriptions for both accounting and payroll needs for bigger teams that still want affordable and flexible plans. With Patriot accounting app, you can manage payments, expenses, invoices, forms, bank transactions, and account reconciliation. Patriot Software started in 1986, is headquartered in Ohio, and serves over 50,000 teams in the United States.

Subscriptions start at $20 per month for the Accounting Basic plan and $30 for the premium plan that includes invoicing and business expense tracking.

Those looking for simple accounting software with equally simple pricing can benefit from FreeAgent. It can manage invoices, expenses, bank transactions, and project costs.

The software company was developed in 2007 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and acquired by NatWest Group in 2018. They are used by over 150,000 small teams.

Pricing for FreeAgent is $27 per month, billed monthly, but since users get 50% off for the first 6 months, it comes to $13.50 per month.

NetSuite by Oracle is a leading cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, encompassing comprehensive accounting functionality. With over 38,000 users globally, NetSuite is tailored for large enterprises and global corporations seeking a scalable solution to manage their complex financial operations.

Unlike other accounting software like FreshBooks or QuickBooks, NetSuite is not suited for small businesses due to its enterprise-level focus and typically higher costs. NetSuite offers a quote-based pricing model tailored to each company’s specific requirements.

Sage Intacct is designed specifically for large businesses and enterprise teams with complex financial management needs. It is part of the broader Sage suite of business solutions, but it stands out as a comprehensive platform for advanced reporting, budgeting, and invoice management.

Sage Intacct caters to businesses requiring robust accounting capabilities, offering features like multi-entity consolidation, complex revenue recognition, project accounting, and customizable reporting. Sage Intacct focuses solely on accounting and ERP functionality, often integrating with best-in-class solutions from other providers. Additionally, for businesses focusing on sustainability and environmental impact, integrating carbon accounting software can help track and report carbon emissions while managing finances.

Sage AI is available with Intacct to automate accounting tasks and give real-time actionable insights. Unlike Sage’s standard accounting plans, Sage Intacct pricing is typically quote-based and tailored to the specific needs of each organization.

For small businesses, you can go for Sage 50, which costs $607 per year.

AccountsIQ has inbuilt business intelligence offering detailed reporting, consolidation and core accounting features. It enables automated financial reporting and analysis, with the capability to generate detailed reports and insights tailored to different stakeholders.

AccountsIQ is suitable for UK-based businesses who are looking to make tax digital and automate accounts payable.