Introduction
Bookkeeping software records and manage various financial transactions. It keeps track of income, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity. Accountants use this software to manage their finances more accurately and effectively.
Standard bookkeeping software looks after invoicing, expense, and inventory tracking and prepares financial reports for a business. Let’s take a deep dive into bookkeeping software, its benefits, and things you should consider before onboarding software in your organization.
Read More: A Comprehensive Guide of Bookkeeping
List of TOP 10 bookkeeping software
Below are the best bookkeeping software in 2023.
- NetSuite
- QuickBooks
- Xero
- FreshBooks
- ZohoBooks
- Wave
- Sage Intacct
- SAP Business One
- BlackLine
- Acumatica
10 Best bookkeeping software – explained in detail
You should record financial transactions to manage your business’s financial health. Spreadsheets or more sophisticated bookkeeping software can help you track such transactions. Take a look at the top ten popular bookkeeping software on the market.
1. NetSuite
NetSuite records transactions, manages payables and receivables, collects taxes, and helps a company close its books. It helps enterprises report on financial transactions on time and gives executives more control over financial assets. You can quickly drill into specifics to address problems with real-time access to financial data.
It allows organizations to comply with regulatory standards like generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX), etc.
Why should one choose NetSuite?
NetSuite offers a comprehensive suite of applications for managing financials, inventory, customer relationships, and more. One of the key advantages of NetSuite is its automation capabilities. NetSuite also offers multi-currency support, making it easier for companies that operate in different regions or countries to manage their finances.
Features
While lowering back-office expenses and enhancing corporate performance, NetSuite effortlessly integrates core accounting and finance operations with effective compliance management.
Some of the common features offered by Netsuite are:
- General ledger helps accountants tailor account types, transactions, and reporting segments to match specific business needs
- Cash management enables Finance teams to have complete visibility over the company’s cash flow
- Fixed assets management allows companies to manage and oversee the lifetime of depreciating and non-depreciating assets, from creation through disposal.
- Tax management empowers businesses to manage domestic and international taxes with the help of a single, user-friendly solution.
Pros and cons
Netsuite Pros | Netsuite Cons |
| Useful features | Not applicable to some countries’ policies and laws (G2) |
| Robust and flexible | Unclear permissions (G2) |
| Easy to use and customizable | Outdated fixed asset management software (G2) |
Pricing
NetSuite’s core platform, extra modules, and the number of users are the three key parts that make up your license. The platform charges one-time implementation fees for the initial setup.
The NetSuite platform license includes accounting functionality. The company hasn’t revealed the pricing on its website. Users can contact them to get the pricing based on their requirements.
Quick Read: 9 Best Accounting Software for Small Business
2. QuickBooks
QuickBooks specializes in financial and tax preparation software and is available in several versions, including desktop and cloud-based solutions, to meet the needs of different types of businesses.
Why should one choose Quickbooks?
QuickBooks is easy to use, with an intuitive interface that makes it easy for non-accountants to manage their finances. Furthermore, it offers a range of features for businesses to better manage their finances.
Features
Some key features of QuickBooks include:
- Reports and insights include cash flow planning, project profitability, reports, and tag transactions
- Real-time tracking involves inventory, mileage tracking, e-commerce, enter time, and receipt capture
- Money in provides insights into business funding, income, payments, invoicing, and estimates
- Money out manages bills, expenses, sales taxes, and vendor payments
Pros and cons
QuickBooks Pros | QuickBooks Cons |
| Convenient and user-friendly | Unstable banking connections (G2) |
| Tracking cost per job | Poor support (G2) |
| Several versions of QuickBooks | No update purchase option (G2) |
Pricing
QuickBooks online provides its users four different packages, namely: Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, Advanced. Below is a snapshot of features that come with the respective subscription plan.
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3. Xero
Xero provides a comprehensive solution for small and medium-sized businesses to manage their finances. It integrates with third-party apps and services, such as payment gateways, inventory management systems, and CRM tools, to provide a complete business solution.
Why should one choose Xero?
Choosing Xero as your accounting and bookkeeping software can bring many benefits to your business. One of the main advantages is its user-friendly interface. As your business grows and evolves, Xero can grow with you.
Xero gives your business the tools and insights you need to manage your finances more effectively, saving time and improving your bottom line.
Features
Xero’s comprehensive set of features helps businesses manage their finances efficiently and effectively, saving time and improving financial performance. Xero offers several features like:
- Tracking income and expenses to record every transaction
- File exports to share transactions records in bulk
- Reporting and dashboards to deliver actionable insights into financial data
- Payroll to process employee payments while complying with a company’s norms and other regulations
Pros and cons
Xero Pros | Xero Cons |
| Beginner friendly | Lack of reporting ( G2) |
| Needs no prior experience or knowledge | Poor search capability (G2) |
| Ability to integrate with third-party applications | Only available as a cloud-based solution (G2) |
Pricing
Xero offers three pricing packages: Starter/Early, Standard/Growing, and Premium/Established. Below is a snapshot of features that come with respective subscription packages.
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4. FreshBooks
FreshBooks is a cloud accounting software for small, growing businesses and self-employed professionals. It provides comprehensive and user-friendly accounting and bookkeeping capabilities that help them manage their finances more efficiently and effectively.
Why should one choose FreshBooks?
With customizable templates, automated payment reminders, and online payment options, FreshBooks simplifies the invoicing process, allowing businesses to get paid faster and more easily. The software also provides robust expense tracking features and add-ons, making it easy to categorize expenses and prepare for tax season.
Features
FreshBooks offers a lot of features to its users. Some of them are:
- Expert bookkeeping service to aid tax preparation
- Automated workflows to easily manage financial operations while reducing manual work
- Automated payment reminders to nudge clients for pending payments
- Tax advisory service to keep businesses 100% compliant
Pros and cons
FreshBooks Pros | FreshBooks Cons |
| Ease of tracking and reporting payments | Complicated platform (G2) |
| Suitable for freelancers | Not developed for large companies (G2) |
| Perfect for invoicing | Users can no longer create tickets and convert them into invoices (G2) |
Pricing
FreshBooks offers three pricing plans to its users: Lite, Plus, Premium and also an option to customize the pricing.
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5. Zoho Books
Zoho Books is designed for small and medium-sized businesses to manage their finances and accounting processes. It helps companies manage core accounting, bank reconciliations, and stock tracking while complying with GST or other tax regulations.
Why should one choose Zoho Books?
Zoho Books offers invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, project management, inventory management, financial reporting, and more. Users can also integrate Zoho Books with other Zoho applications and third-party applications such as PayPal and Stripe.
Features
Some of the features of Zoho Books include:
- Customer portal allows customers to make bulk payments, share recent transactions, quicken the estimate approval process, collect customer feedback, and more.
- Project management helps customers make the most of billable hours. You can use the timer widget to track your time on a project or keep a daily or weekly time diary.
- Mobile application enables users to utilize the iOS and Android applications to manage accounting on the move.
Pros and cons
Zoho Books Pros | Zoho Books Cons |
| Clear layout | Some setup items, like opening account balances, are not as straightforward (G2) |
| Intuitive and easy-to-navigate software | Lack of advanced features (G2) |
| Security and feasibility | Doesn’t run without internet (G2) |
Pricing
Zoho Books offers Free, Standard, Professional, Premium, Elite, and Ultimate plans. Below is a snapshot of the features that come with the respective plan.
Quick Read: 10 Best Expense Management Software
6. Wave
Wave is a small business accounting software that helps companies manage their finances, including invoicing, expense tracking, payroll accounting, and reporting. It provides 1:1 calls with accounting and bookkeeping experts to address your challenges.
Why should one choose Wave?
One of the key benefits of Wave is its ease of use. The software is designed with small business owners in mind, so it has a simple, intuitive interface that makes it easy to start. Businesses can set up an account and start using the software quickly and easily, without the need for extensive training or technical expertise.
Wave also offers a range of features that can help businesses save time and improve their financial management.
Features
Wave helps businesses streamline their financial management and improve their financial performance. It enables businesses to focus on their core operations and grow their businesses more effectively. With Wave, you can add and improve capabilities in:
- Invoicing allows your team to create and upload invoices faster
- Payments help process transactions made through online credit cards and bank payments.
- Accounting features keep tabs on your earnings and spending
- Payroll enables you to pay yourself, your team, and others instantly
Pros and cons
Wave Pros | Wave Cons |
| It’s free and perfect for small businesses | Improvements come along slowly (G2) |
| Can easily duplicate invoices | Poor customer service (G2) |
| Easy bank and credit card reconciliation | Cannot download monthly reports (G2) |
Pricing
You can use Wave bookkeeping and banking tools together or separately for maximum control of your business finances. Here’s an overview of several subscription options rolled out by the company.
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7. Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct automates and streamlines financial operations, reduces costs, and improves productivity. From purchasing to reporting, the software manages several processes involved in maintaining and closing a company’s books.
Why should one choose Sage Intacct?
Sage Intacct offers a range of automation features, such as automated journal entries, bank reconciliations, and inter-company transactions, which can help businesses reduce errors and increase efficiency. It provides powerful reporting and analytics tools that enable businesses to gain insights into their financial performance and make data-driven decisions.
Features
Features of Sage Intacct include:
- Reporting and analytics provide financial statements, custom reporting, and dashboards
- Functional platform offers customization, user, role, and access management, performance & reliability, and output document generation
- Integration helps enterprise to import and export data from connected software
Pros and cons
Sage Intacct Pros | Sage Intacct Cons |
| Scalable & flexible | Poor user pricing (G2) |
| Dashboards and customized reporting | Lack of visibility of the vendors and invoices (G2) |
| Comprehensive system | Steep learning curve (G2) |
Pricing
Sage Intacct website doesn’t have the pricing listed. However, users can request the pricing through the website.
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8. SAP Business One
SAP Business One streamlines business operations, including financial management, sales and customer management, purchasing and operations, inventory and distribution, and reporting and analytics.
Why should one choose SAP Business One?
One of the key advantages of SAP Business One is its ability to streamline processes and workflows across multiple departments and functions, from finance and accounting to sales and customer management, procurement and inventory management, and reporting and analytics.
Features
Features of SAP Business One include:
- Purchasing and Inventory control to manage the entire order-to-pay cycle, including receipts, invoices, returns, and payments, to optimize purchasing procedures and keep costs under control
- Business intelligence utilizes analytics and reporting tools to produce accurate and timely reports based on corporate-wide data
- Mobility allows instant access the most pertinent information to help you run your business from anywhere, at any time, with SAP Business One mobile app
- In-memory platform optimizes decision-making across your organization with an in-memory platform
Pros and cons
SAP Business One Pros | SAP Business One Cons |
| Designed for small and medium enterprises | Not low-cost solution (G2) |
| Robust program that scales as the organization grows | Smaller businesses can not take full advantage of the various features (G2) |
| Covers all aspects of business, including financial and non-financial | The non-availability of data entry features (G2) |
Pricing
Pricing is not mentioned on the official website. However, users can contact them and request a quotation from the SAP team based on their needs and wants from the bookkeeping software.
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9. BlackLine
Blackline is a cloud-based accounting and bookkeeping software that helps companies solve financial close management, account reconciliation, and various other bookkeeping tasks. The software uses automated workflow to streamline processes while improving the efficiency of overall finance operations.
Why should one choose BlackLine?
BlackLine’s automation tools can streamline and accelerate financial processes, enabling your finance team to focus on more strategic tasks. It also integrates with various ERP systems, making it easier to adopt without disrupting the existing infrastructure.
Features
- Reporting and analytics offers custom reports and dashboards
- Integration helps sync data in various systems to ensure 360-degree visibility of entire financial data.
- Reconciliations automate reconciliation, matching transactions, and identifying discrepancies to ensure data accuracy and compliance.
- Task management helps users organize, track, and manage tasks related to the financial close process, improving visibility and accountability.
Pros and cons
BlackLine Pros | BlackLine Cons |
| Auto certification | Longer implementation time (G2) |
| Easy to perform multiple reconciliations | Unwanted columns in the list of tasks (G2) |
| Constant improvement and additions | Complicated user interface (G2) |
Pricing
BlackLine doesn’t mention its pricing on the official website. However, you may request a quote based on your requirements.
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10. Acumatica
Acumatica is designed to help businesses manage their finances. It integrates with other applications and services, such as payment gateways, inventory management systems, and CRM tools, to provide a complete business solution.
Why should one choose Acumatica?
Choosing Acumatica as your ERP solution can benefit your business. One of the main advantages is its flexibility and scalability, allowing you to customize the software to suit the needs of your business and add or remove modules as your needs change.
Acumatica’s customizable dashboard lets you view and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) in real time, providing insights into your business’s financial health and overall performance.
Features
- General Ledger includes journal entries and audit trail
- Accounts receivable facilitate invoice customization & AR automation
- Accounts payable involves payment processing of purchase orders
- Tax management ensures timely payment of taxes while proving compliance
Pros and cons
Acumatica Pros | Acumatica Cons |
| Flexible online cloud-based platform | Format of pages (G2) |
| Powerful and simple interface | Third-party integrations and customizations add complication (G2) |
| Better web-based ERP experience | Heavy and resource-expensive auditing (G2) |
Pricing
The company hasn’t disclosed the pricing on its website. They encourage potential buyers to request a quote to provide customized pricing based on their requirements and business needs.
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What is bookkeeping software?
Bookkeeping software does the heavy lifting of managing and tracking financial transactions. It involves streamlining and automating various accounting tasks, such as tracking income and expenses, creating financial statements, and handling tax obligations.
Bookkeeping platforms provide real-time access to financial data, improve accuracy, and allow leadership to make better decisions. An intuitive interface and user-friendly features of the software cater to users with diverse levels of accounting knowledge.
Some bookkeeping solutions are designed for small businesses, while others cater to larger enterprises, offering advanced functionality and integration with other business management systems.
Types of bookkeeping software
Listed below are several types of bookkeeping platforms available on the market.
- Cloud-based bookkeeping software allows users to access financial data and reports through the Internet.
- Desktop bookkeeping software installs on a computer and manages financial data locally. It’s typically more powerful than cloud-based software. However, it requires more technical expertise to maintain.
- Mobile-based bookkeeping software provides the tool’s access through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. They offer a convenient and efficient way to manage their finances on the go, improving accessibility, real-time updates, and time-saving automation.
Importance of bookkeeping software
A bookkeeping tool streamlines financial management and provides real-time visibility into a company’s finances. It lets businesses make informed decisions about budgets, expenses, and cash flow. It helps businesses produce better cash flow forecasts and keep a company’s financial health in check.
Moreover, bookkeeping platforms help organizations ensure compliance with accounting standards like Generally Accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and tax regulations (GST), reducing risks of penalties and legal issues. As a business grows, your bookkeeping needs will evolve. Choosing software that can scale with your needs and provide businesses with various other benefits is best.
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Benefits of using bookkeeping software
Below are some key benefits of using bookkeeping software in an organization.
- Efficient bookkeeping. Automation capabilities help eliminate manual data entry and save time. It minimizes human errors while ensuring data is accurate and up-to-date.
- Easier accessibility. With bookkeeping software, organizations can access real-time financial data and make informed business decisions. You can customize the bookkeeping tools based on needs and scale the solution as your business expands.
- Comply with regulations. Bookkeeping software helps you comply with taxation laws. Organizations can generate relevant reports and calculate taxes in a better way.
- System integrations. Businesses use various software like CRMs, payroll, and solutions to track inventory. Bookkeeping software integrates with these tools to create a more connected business software stack.
Features of bookkeeping tools
Bookkeeping platforms typically offer a range of features to help businesses manage their financial data and streamline accounting processes.
Below are some of the common features.
- Financial transactions allow users to record financial transactions such as income, expenses, and payments
- Invoicing enables businesses to create and send invoices to customers, as well as track payments and outstanding balances
- Reconciliation automatically reconciles expenses with accounting records, helping to ensure the accuracy
- Accounts payable and receivable features track accounts payable and receivable, allowing businesses to manage outstanding invoices and payments
- Financial reporting generates balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements, empowering businesses to gain insights into their financial health
Factors to consider when choosing bookkeeping software
Below are some factors you should consider when selecting bookkeeping software:
- Evaluate the features and functionality. Ensure the software meets the specific needs of your business. For example, you may need software with inventory management capabilities if you have inventory.
- Ease of navigation. If the software is too complicated to use, it may result in errors or decreased efficiency.
- Integration options. Look for software that integrates well with other systems, like banking or payroll systems, to save time and reduce errors by automating data transfer.
- Multicurrency functionality. Check if the software can process transactions in foreign currencies. You might also need to perform currency revaluations if you hold assets or liabilities in other countries.
- Industry-specific features: Look for a provider offering more convenient business features. Avoid limiting your search to general but highly popular bookkeeping software. Ensure you can make the most out of the software.
FAQs
Bookkeeping software is designed to streamline financial management and improve accuracy by automating many manual tasks. It helps businesses save time while improving overall efficiency and productivity.
Yes, Tally is a popular bookkeeping software widely used by businesses of all sizes. It’s designed to automate and streamline financial management tasks such as recording transactions, generating invoices, managing accounts payable and receivable, and generating financial statements.
Below are three popular accounting systems in organizations.
– Cash accounting system records financial transactions when cash is exchanged, received, or paid. It only accounts for cash in and cash out, and it does not record accounts receivable or accounts payable.
–Accrual accounting system documents financial transactions when they occur, regardless of when cash is exchanged. It accounts for accounts receivable and accounts payable, allowing a more accurate representation of a company’s financial health.
–Hybrid accounting system combines elements of both cash and accrual accounting systems. It records cash transactions using the cash accounting method, tracking accounts receivable and accounts payable using the accrual accounting method.
The best software for maintaining bank accounts will depend on the specific needs and budget of the business. When evaluating accounting solutions and bookkeeping software options, it’s important to consider factors such as features, ease of use, customer support, and cost. A few popular software on the market are: QuickBooks, Xero, Netsuite, FreshBooks, etc.
FreshBooks and Zoho Books are one of the best accounting software in India. It’s specifically designed to cater to the needs of Indian businesses and is known for its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features.
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