Featured Partners
1
Xero
90% off for 4 months
Yes
30 days
2
Intuit QuickBooks
50% off for 3 months
OR experience QuickBooks risk free with a 30-day free trial
Expert help, invoicing, maximize tax deductions, track mileage
3
Sage Intacct
Yes
Yes
Yes
Compare the Best Accounting Software of 2025
Best Accounting Software of 2025
FreshBooks
Best for Ease of Use
FreshBooks
Starting Monthly Price
$21 plus $11 for each added user
Fixed Asset Management
Yes
Budgeting
Yes
$21 plus $11 for each added user
Yes
Yes
The FreshBooks dashboard interface is a breath of fresh air. The default setup places your outstanding invoices, bank connections, current revenue and expenses and other accounting elements in separate, easy-to-peruse blocks, with plenty of white space to make it easy to find the one bit of information you’re looking for.
The crystal-clear FreshBooks dashboard makes it easy to find the accounting information you need.
Changing the default dashboard view is as easy as choosing the Edit Dashboard option in the top-left corner, dragging and dropping the options in the order you prefer and clicking Save. It’s just as easy to create custom invoices using the company’s free invoice generator, with options that include your choice of styles and color schemes. Adding your company logo, a pay-now option, recurring payments, payment reminders and late fees can be done with a single click.
If all these options aren’t easy enough for you, try one of FreshBooks’ free accounting templates that can be used to track and report on your company’s finances, prepare your taxes and promote consistency and accuracy in your record-keeping. Templates cover profit and loss reporting, income and billing statements, general ledger, expense reports and bank reconciliation.
- Clear accounting dashboard interface is easy to use and customize
- Free invoice generator supports payment reminders, pay now and late fees
- Customizable templates cover the most common accounting reports and documents
- Entry-level Lite plan lets you send invoices to only five clients
- Payroll add on costs $40 a month plus $6 per employee
- Accounts payable offered only in the high-end Premium package
NetSuite
Best for Manufacturers and Wholesalers
NetSuite
Starting Monthly Price
Not listed
Fixed Asset Management
Yes
Budgeting
Yes
Not listed
Yes
Yes
Manufacturers and wholesalers have unique accounting needs that aren’t addressed in the standard one-size-fits-all accounting software products sold by many vendors. NetSuite’s accounting software is especially well-suited to the needs of manufacturers and wholesalers due to its fixed asset management tools, which track an asset’s value from its acquisition to disposal, and its SuiteTax indirect tax product, which helps companies calculate their taxes across international jurisdictions. NetSuite’s accounting software automatically tracks depreciation through a product’s life cycle and provides companies options for when and how to apply depreciation.
The NetSuite home screen is jam-packed with key financial information in tables and small graphs, which makes it challenging to find specific data.
- Fixed asset management features help managers determine the cost of finished products
- SuiteTax component calculates and reports taxes in multiple international jurisdictions
- Accounting software is tightly integrated with ERP, CRM and other management tools
- More accounting features and functionality than most SMBs require
- Doesn’t publish prices
- Requires an annual license fee and one-time implementation fee
Zoho Books
Most Affordable
Zoho Books
Starting Monthly Price
$0
Fixed Asset Management
High-end Premium plan only
Budgeting
Yes
$0
High-end Premium plan only
Yes
Zoho Books delivers the core accounting features small businesses need at an affordable price, and without an excess of bells and whistles. In addition to its free plan for a single user and an accountant, Zoho Books sells five complete accounting packages priced from $20 a month for three users for Standard. All paid plans come with custom invoices, sales receipts, online payments and payment reminders. You can also include payment links in invoices and record transactions offline.
All Zoho Books plans, including the free version, support automated bank reconciliation that identifies and matches transactions from your bank statements to your accounting records. Businesses can view the status of all their accounts in a single window and retrieve statements from banks and creditors on a set schedule using third-party services. They can also import bank statements manually in CSV, XLS, Open Financial Exchange (OFX) and other formats.
Zoho Books’ bank reconciliation shows the status of all company accounts in a single window.
- Core accounting features for small businesses starting at $20 a month for three users
- Free version supports invoicing, sales receipts and a customer self-service portal
- Affordable midrange plans add sales management, purchase orders and recurring journals
- Report builder and custom dashboards offered only in high-end Elite package
- Supports fewer third-party integrations than competing accounting software
- All plans cap the number of users, annual invoices and locations
AccountEdge
Best Desktop Accounting Software
AccountEdge
Starting Monthly Price
$20 for one user
Fixed Asset Management
Yes
Budgeting
Yes
$20 for one user
Yes
Yes
Cloud-based accounting software offers SMBs many advantages, such as faster and less expensive implementation and reduced hardware costs. However, there are plenty of reasons why some companies choose to keep their accounting operations on their premises, including ownership and control over financial data and access to systems when internet links fail.
Businesses looking for an on-premises accounting software solution will appreciate AccountEdge’s command centers, which put advanced financial data management tools within easy reach. For example, the Accounts Command Center features a Company Data Auditor Assistant that steps you through the process of confirming the integrity of the data in each company file prior to submitting it to your accountant.
AccountEdge Pro’s desktop accounting software adopts the familiar, generic interface of apps designed for Windows PCs and Macs.
In addition to the AccountEdge Pro (single-user) and AccountEdge Network Edition (multi-user) products for Windows PCs and Macs, the company offers a hosted version that runs in browsers. However, the hosted product costs $50 per user a month, compared to AccountEdge Pro’s price of $20 a month for a single user and Network Edition’s $30 a month price for two users.
- Command centers put advanced financial data management tools within easy reach
- Affordable on-premises accounting solution includes budgeting, time billing and Office integration
- Includes dozens of reports for business insights, jobs and profit-and-loss analysis
- Desktop interface is dated
- Payroll, bank feeds and telephone support sold separately
- Hosted version costs $50 per user a month
OneUp
Best for Sales and Inventory Management
OneUp
Starting Monthly Price
$9 for one user
Fixed Asset Management
Yes
Budgeting
No
$9 for one user
Yes
No
OneUp’s seamless integration of accounting with sales and inventory management sets it apart from competing products. All five of the company’s accounting packages combine accounting with invoicing, inventory and CRM to create a complete business management solution.
Much like the uncluttered interface of our top pick, FreshBooks, the main dashboard in OneUp places the two most important accounting features for most SMBs at the top of the window: invoices (accounts receivable) and payments (accounts payable). You can see at a glance the percentage of invoices that have been paid (green), quotes or open sales orders requiring follow-up (in yellow) and those whose expiration or delivery date has passed (red). Bar graphs indicate invoicing and payment trends for the current year, month or date, or the past seven days, month or other time increment.
The OneUp dashboard places the two most important accounting tools for SMBs front and center: how much money is coming in, and how much is going out.
The low-end Self plan is intended for contractors and sole proprietors and excludes support, while the $19-a-month Pro plan is designed for a business owner to share with their accountant or business partner. Most SMBs are better served by OneUp’s higher-end Plus and Teams products that cost $29 and $69 a month and support three and seven users, respectively.
- Presents the most important sales, invoicing and payments information clearly
- Complete, low-cost plans for individuals and very small businesses
- All packages include automatic inventory updates and reordering
- Third-party integrations limited to Square
- Inventory limited to 10,000 products and imports to 500 products
- Doesn’t support check printing or barcode scanning
Striven
Best for Third-Party Access
Striven
Starting Monthly Price
$35 per user
(five-user minimum)
Fixed Asset Management
Yes
Budgeting
Yes
$35 per user
(five-user minimum)
Yes
Yes
Striven’s Portals feature makes it easy to establish secure links to your clients and partners. Striven offers three separate portals for connecting with customers, vendors and job candidates. However, the two that will have the greatest impact on your accounting operations are the Customer Portal that serves as a CRM system, and the Vendor Portal that links your accounting operations to your business partners. I was particularly impressed by the Vendor Portal’s ability to apply three levels of permission to financial documents. For example, purchase orders can be limited to view, accept or fulfill, depending on the person’s role.
Striven’s Vendor Portal applies three levels of permission for your business’s partners: view, accept and fulfill.
While other accounting software lets you set roles and permissions to control access to sensitive financial data, Striven’s three portals go further by making customers, vendors and job applicants feel like invited guests. For example, vendors can be assigned tasks in their portal and can view their work history in addition to being able to receive contract-approved purchase orders and submit bills directly.
- Customer, vendor and job candidate portals provide intuitive, secure access to third parties
- Vendors can view their work history and have tasks assigned to them by your accounting staff
- Customer can use their portal to receive and pay invoices, view their order history and approve contracts 24/7
- Free Portals limited to 100 customers, vendors and job applications each month
- Plans require a minimum of five users ($25 a month added for each user below five)
- Entry-level Standard package limited to 250 chart of accounts and 20 entity types
- Doesn’t offer a mobile app
Sage Cloud Business Accounting
Best Customizations and Integrations
Sage Cloud Business Accounting
Starting Monthly Price
Not listed
Fixed Asset Management
Yes
Budgeting
Yes
Not listed
Yes
Yes
Sage makes customization and integration the cornerstone of its accounting products for SMBs through its Platform Services, which conform your accounting solution to your company’s unique needs.
Platform Services let you create applications by using predefined objects rather than code. This allows non-programmers to define an app’s functions and characteristics by combining various premade app components. For example, you can assign certain functions by using documents that define data relationships and then add automatic processes in the form of triggers. These are then applied to data tables that have been converted into objects to create the custom app. Other Platform Services can be used to create validation rules and events such as preventing invalid records from posting and alerting managers when an invoice has arrived.
Sage’s Platform Services for Intacct and other accounting products links internal and external processes using no-code app development.
Many small businesses may think this level of object-based app development is beyond their needs, but any size company can benefit from the efficiency and customization that Sage Platform Services provide. It may take some upfront effort to get going, but once your fully integrated and customized accounting solution is operating, you’ll be ready to compete with companies of any size.
- Platform Services offers no-code custom app and integration development
- Gives companies full control over their accounting operations
- Fast creation of apps and integrations allows businesses to capitalize quickly on new opportunities
- More functionality and capability than many small businesses require
- Doesn’t list prices
- Accounting software sold separately from inventory, HR and business management products
Xero
Best Mobile App
Xero
Starting Monthly Price
$25
Fixed Asset Management
Yes
Budgeting
Yes
$25
Yes
Yes
Xero is way ahead of the competition by offering a full-featured accounting and bookkeeping app that can be used to send invoices, monitor cash flow and capture data from paper bills using your phone’s camera.
One feature that sets the Xero accounting app apart from competing products is its bank reconciliation, which confirms the accuracy of payments and deposits at any time and from any location. You can review and match all recent bank transactions to confirm invoices, bills and other payments. Clicking the plus sign in the top-right corner of the app opens a menu for other functions such as creating invoices or uploading files.
The Xero mobile app puts the most common accounting operations within easy reach from any location.
Xero’s entry-level Early plan caps the number of invoices you can send and approve at 20 and the number of bills you can enter at five, which makes it impractical for most small businesses. Also, the ability to make online payments requires an added fee for all three Xero accounting packages.
Learn more: Read our full Xero review.
- Mobile app gives businesses ready access to important accounting information
- Easily convert paper bills to digital invoices using your phone’s camera
- App can be used to create and send invoices on the spot
- Entry-level plan limits invoices at 20 and bills at five
- Partners with Gusto for payroll processing services
- Inventory management and online bill paying sold separately
ZarMoney
Best for Simple Invoicing and Estimates
ZarMoney
Starting Monthly Price
$20 plus $10 for each added user
Fixed Asset Management
Yes
Budgeting
No
$20 plus $10 for each added user
Yes
No
ZarMoney’s invoicing and estimate tools stand out as a combination of simplicity and effectiveness that increases the likelihood of your organization’s invoices getting paid on time.
You can customize the default invoice by choosing “Add a new” on the left side of the main invoice page (choose Sales > Invoice on the ZarMoney dashboard to open the page). Your other options are Customer, Quote, Sales Order and Credit Memo. After entering the invoice information, click Save & Close to add the invoice to your sales list. To customize the invoice, open it and click the printer icon in the top-right corner to convert it to a large or small packing slip.
ZarMoney’s invoice-creation options keep invoicing simple while adding a handful of customization options.
To view ZarMoney’s invoice templates, click the settings icon in the top-right corner of the dashboard and choose Templates in the left menu. You can also upload an existing template from your local files (25 MB maximum) or create a template from scratch. Templates are available for 12 other types of accounting documents, including purchase orders, bills and payment receipts.
- Makes it easy to create and customize simple, straightforward invoices
- Lets you upload existing invoices and convert them into templates
- Supports direct deposit of credit card and debit card payments to your bank accounts
- No option for adding a company logo to invoices or other accounting documents
- Entry-level Small Business plan charges $10 a month for each user above two
- Supports only a handful of third-party apps
Intuit QuickBooks Online
Best for Anomaly Detection
Intuit QuickBooks Online
Starting Monthly Price
$30 for one user
Fixed Asset Management
Yes
Budgeting
Yes
$30 for one user
Yes
Yes
“Get it right the first time” carries much more significance for accounting operations than for most other business processes. The automatic error checkers built into most accounting software can identify duplicates, data entry errors and other inconsistencies in accounting data, but the AI-powered Report Insights feature included with QuickBooks Online adds a level of anomaly detection that goes beyond what you’ll find in other accounting solutions.
Report Insights is included in the Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports of the high-end QuickBooks Plus and QuickBooks Advanced plans. It displays the number of anomalies and trends it detects at the top of the reports. Within the reports, a blue diamond icon indicates the presence of an insight with a short description of its importance, what changed and why. The insight includes a chart showing the effect of the insight over time.
QuickBooks Plus and Advanced feature AI-based Report Insights that detect potential anomalies and trends in your accounting data.
Report Insights is one of several AI-based tools featured in QuickBooks’ Plus and Advanced packages. Others include beta versions of Customer Agent, which identifies the most promising leads and crafts personalized response emails, and Automagic, which automates bank reconciliation. The high-end Advanced plan adds a Finance Agent for financial planning and KPI analysis, and a Project Management Agent that features continuous project cost allocation to help teams stay within their project budgets.
- Report Insights uses AI to identify trends and potential anomalies in accounting records
- All plans feature the Intuit Assist automated expense management tool
- All but the entry-level Simple Start add AI-based Accounting Agent and Payments Agent
- Simple Start and Essentials lack project and inventory management
- Users capped at one for Simple Start, three for Essentials and five for Plus
- Auto-tracking of fixed assets limited to the high-end Advanced package
Methodology
We began our testing of accounting software by evaluating 44 separate features of 47 products sold by 18 vendors. I then put the 10 top-scoring accounting products from the first round through hands-on testing to determine the strengths and weaknesses of each offering and identify the types of businesses they’re best suited to serve. Our 10 Best Accounting Software solutions represent the range of options available to SMBs to meet their accounting needs.
| Decision Factor | Scoring Weight | Description |
|---|---|---|
| General Features | 41% | Factors weighted the highest in this category are financial forecasting, budgeting and payroll management. |
| Expert Score | 20% | The product’s ease of use, customer service, support documentation, security and privacy, and general features were assessed by our reviewers to determine its expert score. |
| Advanced Features | 13% | These include multi-currency support, API access, payment processing integration and e-commerce integration. |
| Consumer Sentiment Index | 10% | We aggregated each product’s ratings on three popular user review sites to generate their scores in this category. |
| Pricing | 10% | Each product’s flat monthly or annual fees, price per user and user limits factored into its score for overall value. |
| Service and Support | 6% | Offering support by phone, live chat and email each contributed 2% to the product’s overall rating. |
How To Choose the Best Accounting Software
The first thing to keep in mind when assessing accounting software for your business is that your accounting and related financial processes are dynamic. You need a product that meets your current needs but is adaptable and extensible enough to serve you as the business evolves. While the core accounting features, such as general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable and bank reconciliation are constant, other attributes may be required later, including project accounting, expense management and third-party integrations.
Essential Accounting Software Features
The base attributes of accounting software are general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, bank reconciliation and cash flow management, financial reporting, invoicing and purchase orders.
- General ledger. A general ledger (GL) is a complete account of all transactions conducted by the business. Each debit and credit entry includes an explanation of the transactions, such as an itemized list of all office supplies purchased in each period. All 10 products in our ranking include general ledger capability.
- Accounts payable/accounts receivable (AP/AR). AP tracks all the money the business owes to creditors for goods and services bought on credit. AR manages all funds due to the company from its customers or partners for goods and services that have been delivered but not yet paid for.
- Bank reconciliation and cash flow management. Bank reconciliation confirms the accuracy of a business’s financial statements by comparing them to bank statements. Accounting software automates much or all of the reconciliation process. Cash flow management ensures that the business has sufficient cash on hand to maintain daily operations. Xero is noted for its automated bank reconciliation features and reconciliation on the go using the company’s mobile app.
- Financial reporting. Standard financial statements include cash flow statements, balance sheets, income statements and statements of shareholder equity. Accounting software supports financial reporting standards such as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Financial analytics are key planning tools for businesses of all sizes. They apply business intelligence (BI) and data visualization to calculate risk, help set budgets and confirm regulatory compliance. FreshBooks features expense, profit and loss and several other reports among its accounting templates, while NetSuite’s SuiteTax automates transaction tax reporting for U.S. and international jurisdictions.
- Invoicing and purchase orders. Most accounting software includes the ability to generate and process purchase orders to request goods and services, and invoices to request payment for the goods and services sold. Purchase orders prevent payment disputes and help businesses manage their expenses, while invoices create a financial record to support bank reconciliation and financial reporting. ZarMoney’s straightforward invoicing options include converting estimates to invoices, support for deposits and pre-payments, and automatic notifications to customers when invoices are updated or changed.
Value
Some very small businesses will have their accounting software needs met by the free releases available from vendors such as Zoho Books. However, the free and entry-level versions offered by accounting software vendors typically limit companies to a single user and a set number of invoices, among other restrictions.
Most SMBs will realize the greatest value from products priced between $40 and $65 a month that remove most or all restrictions of entry-level products and include more advanced features such as project accounting, inventory management and budgeting. High-end accounting packages add more forecasting and analytics features, as well as personalized customer support.
Featured Partners
1
Xero
90% off for 4 months
Yes
30 days
2
Intuit QuickBooks
50% off for 3 months
OR experience QuickBooks risk free with a 30-day free trial
Expert help, invoicing, maximize tax deductions, track mileage
3
Sage Intacct
Yes
Yes
Yes
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What third-party integrations are important to accounting software users?
Many accounting software users rely on the products’ ability to link to business bank accounts and payment processing services. International Outsourcing Group CEO Stuart Rogers cited this capability as a primary reason the company chose Xero for its accounting needs. “Xero’s native integration is seamless,” Rogers explains. “Invoices sync automatically, payments reconcile without manual matching, and we can see real-time revenue without logging into multiple systems…. With QuickBooks, we would’ve needed third-party connectors or manual exports. That’s friction we didn’t want.”
How is return on investment (ROI) calculated for accounting software?
Key metrics for measuring accounting software ROI are time savings on accounting tasks, cost savings from improved accuracy and efficiency, and enhanced budgeting and financial planning. Accounting software costs include subscription fees, setup and training, while benefits include fewer work hours spent on accounting tasks and reduced errors and resulting penalties. As an example, a company’s accounting software costs may total $4,000 a year, while its benefits amount to $5,500 (150 work hours saved at an average of $30 an hour plus $1,000 due to fewer errors and penalties). So 5,500 minus 4,000 divided by 4,000 over 100 results in 37.5% ROI.
What are important data security features of accounting software?
Protecting your company’s financial data begins with encrypted storage and transmissions using AES-256 encryption. This applies to data stored locally and in the cloud. Controlling access to sensitive financial data is a key feature of all accounting software. The products support multi-factor authentication (MFA) and allow companies to assign various roles and permissions to provide specific levels of access, from least privileged (the default) to most privileged. Lastly, accounting software supports regular security audits and audit trails to confirm compliance with applicable regulations.
