15 Best Accounting Software for Businesses in 2024

FreshBooks started as a Toronto, Canada startup in 2003. FreshBooks is a popular cloud-based accounting tool great for invoices, payments, and tracking expenses.

FreshBooks offers affordable pricing, scalability, and tailored solutions that meet growing companies’ unique financial management needs.

FreshBooks includes plans for freelancers, self-employed individuals, teams with contractors, and teams with employees. The pricing model offers month-to-month and annual billing options. Their lowest plan is Lite which starts at $19 per month billed monthly. With Freshbook’s current discounts, it’s $7.60 per month. The cost to add team members is $11 per user per month.

QuickBooks is a cloud-based and super popular accounting software for invoices, expenses, inventory, receipts, and in-depth reporting. QuickBooks is one of Intuit’s first business software after Intuit was founded in 1983 in California. Other solutions offered include TurboTax, CreditKarma, and Mailchimp.

QuickBooks stands out for small to midsize businesses by offering user-friendly accounting solutions with customizable invoices, easy expense tracking, and simplified cash flow management.

Quickbooks has monthly pricing for their plans. Their lowest plan is Simple Start at $30 per month billed monthly and with their current sale offering 3 months at 50% off, it’s $15 monthly.

When you checkout you can choose to purchase one of their payroll plans, their starting plan Payroll Core is $45 per month and $22.50 per month with the current discount. You can also avail of an additional service of assisted bookkeeping with experts for $50 per month.

Sage is an accounting application most suitable for big teams that need advanced reporting, budgeting, and invoice management. Sage was founded in 1981 in the UK and offers various business solutions for CRM, HR, time tracking, payroll, and more. Enterprise teams may also consider Sage Intacct, which includes accounting solutions with payroll, and HR functionality.

Plan tiers in Sage can be monthly and annual. Their first plan, Pro Accounting, allows one user and starts at $58.92 per month billed monthly or $595 billed annually.

NetSuite by Oracle is an online business accounting software for transactions, taxes, and automation. NetSuite is Oracle’s cloud-based ERP solution with over 37,000 users globally. Oracle, first called Software Development Laboratories, was founded in California in 1977.

NetSuite is best suited for Enterprise Businesses because its scalable cloud-based ERP system supports global operations and real-time financial consolidation.

NetSuite cloud accounting software offers an annual license depending on the base features, the add-on capabilities you want, and the number of users you will need.

A simple accounting software that is popular for its affordability is Wave. Wave provides unlimited invoicing and estimates in all plans, transaction automation, and automated reminders for clients with late payments. The company started in 2009 and launched Wave accounting software in 2010 in Canada.

Wave has two simple plans, Starter and Pro. The Starter plan is free. The Pro plan starts at $16 per month, billed monthly, or $170 per year, billed annually.

Wave’s free plan offers core accounting features with a user-friendly interface, appealing to those seeking cost-effective financial management solutions.

Xero is a worthwhile virtual accounting solution for small and medium virtual teams. It works well with managing taxes, especially for contractors, project budgets, and staying on top of analytics for cash flow.

Xero pricing starts in their Early plan at $15 per month but with the current discount, it’s 75% off for the first three months, making it $3.75 per month.

Dext is a great online accounting solution for managing as well as extracting bank statements and receipts. The London company started in 2010 when they bought Receipt Farm and was renamed Receipt Bank, in 2021 they rebranded as Dext.

The software is designed for pulling data for general finances, accounting data, and sales transactions.

The subscription model offers a different selection of plans depending on your needs. Dext offers three products: Dext Prepare, Dext Commerce, and Dext Precision.

Dext’s cheapest plan starts at $24 per month for upto 5 users with a limit of 250 documents. They also offer customized plans for 15 or more users, starting at $69 per month.

Melio is a cloud-based accounting software designed to simplify bill payments, offering businesses an efficient way to manage and optimize their financial transactions.

The company started in 2018 and is headquartered in New York.

With Melio, users can combine bills going out to the same vendor, splitting one bill into several payments, and arranging recurring payments or necessary expenses.

Melio is a semi-free accounting tool to manage bills, payments, and forms. You incur costs with the software depending on the action you want to complete. ACH bank transfers are free, checks are $1.50, cards have a 2.9% fee, and international payments are a $20 flat fee.

Zoho is a business suite comprised of many robust 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.

Their next plan up includes 3 users and is $20 per company per month, billed monthly, or $15 per company per month, billed annually. Each tier includes a set number of users, and additional users for $3 a month billed monthly or $2.50 a month billed annually.

AccountsIQ is the best accounting software for complex workloads. AccountsIQ enables automated financial reporting and analysis, with the capability to generate detailed reports and insights tailored to different stakeholders.

The AIQ Cloud accounting software began in 2004 and now is utilized by 4,000 teams globally.

The pricing model is in Euros or GBP. The starting plan is Essentials (AIQ1), which is about $215 USD, per month. You can’t go to check out or make an account, unfortunately, to purchase you need to contact sales and schedule a demo.

BILL is an accounting solution with an array of pricing options to manage payments, expenses cash going in and out, accounts payable (AP), and accounts receivable (AR). Founded in 2006 in California, BILL is used by 460,000 businesses, and 100 of the best US accounting firms.

Plans depend on the different needs of your team. Potential buyers will be able to choose from subscriptions designed for businesses or accountants. There are subscriptions for AP, AR, AP & AR, and Spend & Expanse. Their Spend & Expense starts at $0 per user per month. You can apply for a credit line from 500,000 to 5 million, start requesting funds, and manage your budget, and spending.

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/mo 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 $22 per month, billed monthly.