If you own a business, you need software ready to help with all your basic accounting needs. As you expand your network of suppliers, contractors, locations, and assets, it rapidly becomes more important to have accounting software that is versatile and mobile. Before buying, you will want to determine what you need to track from inventory to people to expense reports. You can spend too much on a program that will be wasted on your small freelancing operations or struggle when you opt for a mobile version for your business with an expanding payroll. Here you will find three of the best accounting software systems that are built for a mom n’ pop shop, the active freelancer, and a burgeoning mid-sized business.
Top Accounting Software
- QuickBooks
- Freshbooks
- AccountEdge Pro
QuickBooks
One of the most appealing things about QuickBooks is that it is made by the folks at intuit, who also create the TurboTax program. Whatever you enter into your QuickBooks program can be ported into your tax program to create quarterly payments, file all your taxes, and stay on schedule. Built for the modern small business owner, it arrives fully functional with the ability to track inventory, send out invoices, and write checks to pay your vendors. Furthermore, it’s a bit like having a digital office assistant as it features a document management system ready to help file incoming emails, receipts, reports, and proposals in an easy-to-navigate file folder
Highlights
- Works seamlessly with TurboTax
- Handles accounts receivable and payable
- Offers document management
Freshbooks
If you are just starting out as a freelancer, you can still benefit from an accounting software for tax purposes. If that’s the case, Freshbooks may be the right accounting option for you. Designed to work with the tasking economy, this app works on your smartphone or tablet and focuses on tracking invoices, deadlines, and offering a simple means to keep your contacts all in one place. You pay a low monthly fee of $15 for access to your cloud-based accounting, so you don’t have any file cabinets to worry about. What Freshbooks lacks is what makes it more appealing to freelance workers who don’t need to track inventory, pay employees, or build a complicated database of clients. What it does is track expenses quickly and efficiently.
Highlights
- Designed for freelancers
- Affordable monthly fee
- Ready for your mobile device
AccountEdge Pro
For the rapidly growing company that needs more than the basics, you might want to check out AccountEdge Pro. This robust software requires an upfront purchase price of nearly $400, but there are no management fees. You can install it on your desktop computer but still have access to all your files on the available cloud. There is also an app for your phone that is ready to display account information and offers a fast way to upload receipts to the home computer. The dashboard is fully customizable for your business, which will take some time, but you will never be held back by a generic program that struggles to keep up with your rapid growth. This is the right option for your company that hasn’t quite taken the leap to having its own accounting department but needs some in-house assistance in processing the payroll.
Highlights
- Fully customizable
- Works on desktop, mobile, and the cloud
- Integrated payroll
Conclusion
While shopping for the right accounting software, take a look at where your business is and where you are heading in the next few years and make your purchase accordingly. Every good system will accept payments, cut a check, and track your traveling expenses. However, the flexibility for growth or mobility will be the determining factors on whether QuickBooks, Freshbooks, or AccountEdge Pro is the right option for you.