Top 11 Best QuickBooks Alternatives for Small Businesses

Find 11 QuickBooks alternatives offering efficient accounting solutions tailored for small businesses. Compare their features, pricing, and benefits with ease.

By Brad Nakase, Attorney

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Have a quick question? I answered nearly 1500 FAQs.

The “Swiss Army knife” method of accounting utilized by QuickBooks overwhelms many small business owners. The majority of firms only require an accounting tool to help them generate a budget, send invoices, and enter and classify their transactions.

What makes alternatives to QuickBooks different?

  • Bench.co: Bench.co is the top accounting program for business owners who want to automate their accounting procedures entirely.
  • Xero: One of the easier alternatives to QuickBooks with comparable capabilities that is presented in an intuitive manner.
  • One Up: The key functions included in a software package for small retailers.
  • You Need a Budget: Another, less expensive tool for simply budgeting is You Need a Budget.
  • Wave: A free substitute for Quickbooks for frugal business owners.
  • GNUCash: The most advanced accounting program for the most intricate customization.
  • Tiller: A tool for automation to improve your spreadsheet skills is Tiller.
  • Free Excel Template: This spreadsheet is a free resource for starting a business.
  • FreshBooks: A less expensive option for independent contractors in need of an invoicing system.
  • Gusto: The payroll application that simplifies employee administration
  • Square: Square combines the functions of basic budgeting and payment processing.

1. Bench Accounting

If you detest doing accounting on your own

In an ideal scenario, accounting would be handled by someone else, but it is time-consuming and distracting. Although switching to QuickBooks Live might be an option for you, we need you to be aware that you have other choices.

We are Bench, a virtual bookkeeping service run by real individuals. Our straightforward service concentrates on tax filing and bookkeeping, and we handle it exceptionally effectively (see our 4.5+ rating Capterra evaluations). In addition to providing you with your monthly financial statements, we will assign you your personal bookkeeping staff and handle all of your company’s transactions.

Bench may remove the burden and anxiety from your life—for good—if you’re looking to catch up on the bookkeeping, get ready for tax time, or handle your finances on your own.

Do you require immediate financial performance insights? Your Bench account helps you monitor where your finances are going in actual time by providing a high-level snapshot of your company’s spending and cash flow. You can click on any of the transactions to get more information.

After your bookkeeper has examined your transactions, you may use Bench’s simple financial statements to get a longer-term, more comprehensive look at your finances. Find out more about Bench’s potential benefits.

2. Xero

If you believe QuickBooks is clumsy and confusing.

Xero is as close to a feature-for-feature QuickBooks substitute as you can find in a more condensed, user-friendly packaging.

Xero imports every one of your transactions automatically and allows you to access your accounts from any internet-connected device. Several of the financial reporting capabilities that make QuickBooks so appealing are now available to you minus the feature overkill. A less expensive option, prices range from as low as $15 per month to as much as $78 per month, depending on the services you choose.

Pros

  • Complete accounting toolkit, comprising bank reconciliation, program budgeting, reporting, and accounts receivable and payable.
  • Features geared for freelancers and small businesses, such as payroll management, purchase orders, expenditure tracking, and invoice management
  • Sophisticated accounting software, such as tax, fund, and asset management

Cons

  • QuickBooks has more functionality and add-ons.
  • Accountants’ unfamiliarity
  • You still handle your own bookkeeping.

3. One Up

If you want a straightforward, retail-focused solution

One Up is an excellent choice if you want a program that manages the essentials of accounting & record-keeping without becoming bogged down in extras.

One Up performs pretty well at the few tasks it does. Its main focus is on helping you keep track of your sales, charging your clients, and ensuring that your numbers are current. Additionally, it’s the only solution on our list designed with small merchants in mind and optimized for mobile.

Pros

  • A collection of tools designed specifically for small shops, such as invoice monitoring, inventory management, and a system that will classify the transactions for you
  • Really basic user interface designed for mobile
  • The solo plan is $9 per month.

Cons

  • Features like payroll, time tracking, and advanced reporting are absent.
  • Each month, the “Unlimited” plan costs $169.
  • Lacks sophisticated authorization features and becomes disorganized when utilized by numerous users.
  • You continue to handle your own bookkeeping.

4. YNAB (You Need a Budget)

Budgeting is all you need to do.

You Need a Budget is the software for you if you primarily utilize QuickBooks for budgeting or if you’re unfamiliar with financial management in general.

You can easily create your initial budget with YNAB, which also syncs with every one of your credit card and bank accounts. According to Wirecutter, it is “the only budget tool we’d spend our personal money on” and “the closest approach to having an efficient professional assist you construct your own budget spreadsheet.”

Pros

  • Complete set of tools for budgeting, including reports, goal tracking, and advice
  • Almost all major operating systems and browsers are compatible.
  • Most credit card companies and banks sync automatically, and smaller institutions can be easily synced manually.
  • Outstanding in-app and technical assistance

Cons

  • It requires some effort to set up and adjust to, and it costs more than other comparable applications ($99 per year or $14.99 per month).
  • Multiple-user support is not available.
  • Unable to manage your accounting

5. Wave

If you’re looking for something free

Wave is a great option if you enjoy QuickBooks but think the cost is too high. You can go there for free roughly 75 percent of the route.

In a similar manner to QuickBooks, Wave walks you through the entire receivables process. With unambiguous reporting, it lets you keep track of any unpaid accounts, generate invoices, and take payments. Like QuickBooks, Wave allows you to keep track of your earnings and outlays, provides financial statements to help you monitor your financial situation, and supports several users whenever you need to share information with your accountant.

Pros

  • Support for an infinite number of users and companies
  • Accounting basics, including monitoring income and expenses, managing payments, financial reporting, and receivables
  • Free of cost

Cons

  • Only online assistance is available; there is no live telephone assistance, and support time frames are poor.
  • Omitting certain common QuickBooks functions, such as bill paying and check printing
  • You continue to handle everything alone without assistance.

6. GNUCash

If you’re looking for anything open-source

Not a fan of gaudy designs? Collaborate with a group of developers? Are you looking for something open-source? If so, GNUCash is your go-to accounting and money management tool.

One of GNUCash’s advantages is that it allows you to do almost anything you want. GNUCash most likely already includes the resources necessary for budgeting, cost tracking, reporting, and double-entry accounting. Additionally, it is cost-free, malware-free, and safe. Since the project’s inception in 1997, the group of developers behind it has continuously added new features.

Pros

  • Open source
  • Free
  • Mobile-friendly
  • Complete set of financial planning and accounting tools, such as budgeting, expense monitoring, double-entry accounting, financial statements, etc.

Cons

  • Not intuitive
  • High learning curve
  • To use double-entry accounting, you have to comprehend it.

7. Tiller

If you’re a Google Sheets fan

Tiller can help if you’re sick of working with financial planning applications in general and need a spreadsheet with all of your data in one location.

Using Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, Tiller transfers all of your data, including bank accounts, credit cards, and investment accounts, into a single file. Following that, you can either utilize one of Tiller’s ready-made templates or create your own spreadsheets according to your preferences. Tiller’s complete version is $79 per year, and a trial period of thirty days is available here.

Pros

  • Helps you save hours of labor by instantly importing every bit of your data.
  • Provide summaries of daily activities.
  • Excellent for companies that are concerned about security and do not want their data stored in the cloud.

Cons

  • Not suitable for those who dislike spreadsheets
  • You continue to handle everything by yourself.

8. Excel Template

If you desire something even more straightforward

It enables you to record transactions, construct an income statement using basic computations, and build up a straightforward single-entry accounting system. To complete the spreadsheet, simply enter all of the transactions you made and all of the revenue, expense, and costs of sale types that you utilize in your firm.

For somebody who wants to begin monitoring the fundamentals of their company’s finances but isn’t yet ready to commit to professional accounting software, it’s ideal.

9. FreshBooks

If you only require payments and invoices

FreshBooks can include all the accounting features you require if you’re a freelancer who is concerned with billing customers, managing your workload, and monitoring your earnings.

FreshBooks covers every step of the freelancer accounting process, from the initial hour that you work and track with its time management tools to its smooth billing feature that creates invoices automatically to its capacity to take client card payments.

Do you want to manage your bills? With FreshBooks, you can set up automated reminders for payments, charge late fees, and even create repeating invoices automatically.

Do you want to dig in and examine your company’s overall financial health? Besides creating income statements, cash flow statements, and balance sheets, FreshBooks can also create reports on activity that show you and your team which tasks are using the majority of your working hours.

For the typical freelancer, FreshBooks is a good accounting choice as long as you don’t want any of the more complex small business accounting features that QuickBooks often offers, such as accounts payable, inventory management, and payroll.

Pros

  • Robust comprehensive invoicing pipeline featuring personalized designs, scheduled and recurring payment features, and automated payment reminders
  • Tracking expenses and providing basic financial reports
  • Sophisticated time-tracking & reporting capability

Cons

  • No reconciliation of credit cards or banks
  • Absence of payroll, inventory, or accounts payable functionality
  • You continue to accomplish everything on your own.
  • The manual nature of basic double-entry capabilities increases the likelihood of user error.

10. Gusto

If all you need is something to manage payroll

Gusto is committed to solving your payroll issues. (Note: Gusto is a payroll-focused program; it does not include accounting software.)

Gusto can assist if you are overwhelmed by the thought of handling tax form collection and distribution, check writing, employee information management, and direct deposit management. From entering employee data to connecting your bank account to establishing an account with the IRS, they will walk you through every step of the payroll setup procedure.

11. Square

If you require a retail and inventory-focused solution.

We should make it clear that Square is not accounting software. You should go elsewhere if you’re trying to find a business management package that generates financial statements that comply with GAAP.

However, some people prefer not to use a full-featured company management package. Keeping track of who purchased what and when is all that some individuals want.

If your company primarily accepts card payments in-person at a retail location, requires a few standard business capabilities such as sales reports and inventory tracking, and is searching for a solution that works well with an online store, Square is the solution for you. It is designed for new and small e-commerce and retail enterprises seeking a low-risk, straightforward solution that is free of concealed costs.

Square supplies the necessary equipment and packages it with an application that facilitates e-commerce and mobile sales. It grants you the ability to use basic inventory management and reporting features and charges you a nominal fee in addition to a portion of each transaction to cover all of this. In addition to a flat ten-cent cost, standard charges for processing are 2.6%.

Pros

  • Fast setup
  • No monthly or set fees
  • Equally effective for retail, mobile, and internet sales
  • Incredibly dependable and well-liked hardware/software solution

Cons

  • Unexpected account freezes and slow help response times
  • Higher costs per transaction compared to other processors for merchants
  • Unable to manage accounting

Choosing the best alternatives to QuickBooks for you

Every company is unique, and the same is true of their accounting procedures. Consider the following questions to help you choose the best alternatives to QuickBooks.

1. Are you trying to find a long-term solution?

Your accounting software may often be made simpler if your company’s operation is simpler. However, thinking that simplicity will endure as your business expands and changes can lead to issues later on when you need to update your accounting software.

All of your company’s data and transactions must usually be imported onto the new platform when changing accounting software. You are correct if you think that seems like an effort. You can skip that process, though, if you invest more in a platform with features you will value later.

2. What are the necessary versus desirable functions?

Choosing one of the most feature-rich alternatives to QuickBooks could result in you spending excessively for benefits you never utilize. You can wind up using software that doesn’t genuinely enhance your workflow until you choose an alternative that accomplishes everything for you.

Prior to choosing a solution, try making a list of the aspects of your bookkeeping that you would most like to eliminate. Is managing accounts receivable a tedious task? Look for features in invoices that automatically remind you to pay. Is it necessary to monitor spending by the project? Select the option that just requires labeling a transaction.

The alternatives to QuickBooks that don’t meet your needs can be eliminated once you’ve determined what is necessary and what is good to have.

3. What is your transaction volume?

Transaction posting is the first stage in the monthly bookkeeping process. While certain alternatives to QuickBooks include account linkages that sync your credit card and bank information automatically, less expensive ones will need to be posted manually.

It takes a lot of effort to manually post every business transaction, and if you forget any, you run the risk of making mistakes. However, automation is not free.

Software with physical transaction posting may be more cost-effective for companies with few transactions. If not, think about paying a little more for automation; just make sure your bank & credit card company collaborate.

4. Who requires access to your bookkeeping?

You must select one of the suitable alternatives to Quickbooks if you wish to give your bookkeeper or other company personnel access to all your company’s reporting.

There are certain solutions on our list that are difficult to access online or that charge to add a user. The fees increase as you want more people to see your reporting.

Selecting a solution that you can grant your accountant access to, in particular, facilitates obtaining their thoughts. Since your accountant is a priceless source of corporate finance and tax expertise, having a tight working relationship with them can be quite beneficial.

Have a quick question? We answered nearly 2000 FAQs.

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