Accounting for small businesses is a nightmare and most of the entrepreneurs tend to use Microsoft Word or Excel to manage it. Often this leads to wasting hours and resources in creating the data and keeping a check on their business expenses. Not to mention, these manual based systems do not fulfill the data retrieval requirements of business and as such are not rewarding. Instead the time needlessly spent on compiling the data results in organizational frustration.

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The small businesses require an effective solution through which effortless automated business transactions take place. This, in turn, will allow for the accounting processes to become data-oriented and viable. The usage of online accounting software can lead to effective utilization of technological resources, by discarding the need for manual & time-consuming processes of filing receipts, sending invoices, etc.

There are numerous resources, both offline and online, that can ensure quick and error-free accomplishment of accounting tasks. Here are the top 10 recommended accounting software that can be used by small businesses, as follows:

Fresh Books

It covers all the financing data that a small business requires when it comes to managing the accounts, such as invoicing, tracking expenses & revenues, tracking payrolls or due dates, etc. All the data is kept in a single ledger and can be accessed from anywhere without the hassle of any need for separate storage devices. It is a subscription-based product that charges on monthly basis.

Fresh Books provides businesses with a variety of offers and they go as low as up to $6 per month, some of which are mentioned below:

• Lite: It can be employed by the self-employed businessman & entrepreneurs that’s on the go. It comes with a $6 per month subscription that can bill up to 5 clients.
• Plus: It can be employed by small businesses with relatively high aims and comes with a monthly fee of $10 that can bill up to 50 clients.
• Premium: It can be employed by growing businesses with dynamic teams. It comes with a $20 per month subscription that could bill up to 500 clients.
• Select: It is a custom based service where they provide a company with a personal account manager and they charge based on the workload.

QuickBooks

It is an accounting software that manages the finances of small or medium enterprises. It comes with both licensed version as well as an online version. It allows to import data from excel to its platform and let the system do the tracking and managing of the data. Furthermore, QuickBooks offers both monthly and yearly subscriptions to its clients. It also provides a 30-day trial to its clients to allow them to discover its functionalities.

The subscription offers of the QuickBooks can be summarized below:

• Monthly Subscription offer 3 types of plans for their clients, as follows:
  • Simple Start: It comes with a subscription fee of $7.50/month where maximum of 2 users can access the system.
  • Essential: It can give access to 4 users with a subscription fee of $11.50/month.
  • Plus: It allows access to 6 users at one time with a subscription fee of $15.50/month.
• Yearly Subscription offers 3 types of plans for their clients, as follows:
  • Simple Start: It offers access to 2 users with a subscription fee of $142.56/year.
  • Essential: It offers access to 4 users at a time with a subscription fee of $218.24/year.
  • Plus: It offers access to 6 users at a time with a fee of $294.36/year.

Accounting by Wave

It offers double-entry accounting for small businesses, whose employees are below 9 individuals. It helps them in importing data, tracking data & expenses and customizing the data into charts, so to make it easier for the clients to comprehend the data easily. Furthermore, Wave offers free services to its client without any charges.

Zoho Books

It is online accounting software that helps the businesses in managing their cash flows, expenses and invoices. It also helps them in recording as well as tracking transactions.

Zoho Books offers both monthly and yearly plans for its users, as discussed below:

• The Zoho Books’ monthly subscription offers 3 types of plans:
  • Basic: It comes with a $9/month plan where businesses can record up to 50 contacts.
  • Standard: It offers a subscription fee of $19/month where businesses can record up to 500 contacts.
  • Professional: It can record unlimited contacts for the businesses and has a subscription fee of $29/month.

• The Zoho Books’ yearly subscription offers following 3 types of plans and each plan carries a two months discount on annual subscription:
  • Standard: This offers a subscription plan of$190/year with a recording capacity of up to 500 contacts.
  • Basic: The annual subscription of basic plan is $90/ with recording capacity of up to 50 contacts.
  • Professional: The annual subscription under this plan is $290/year with recording capacity of unlimited contacts.

Quicken

It is a personal financial management software and automates the process of recording transactions, planning a budget and viewing the progress made by the company. It also helps in tracking investment and monitoring the performance of the company.

Quicken offers yearly plans for its users, as follows:

• Starter: It involves a subscription fee of $34.99/year where businesses can create budget and manage their bills.
  • Deluxe: It includes features, such as managing & tracking of debt and enabling the businesses to customize their budget within a subscription fee of $49.49/year.
  • Premier: With premier plan, businesses can utilize the features of deluxe plan plus added features of gaining access to customer support as well as free online bill payments, all within a subscription fee of $71.99/year.
  • Home & Business: It offers everything that comes with Quicken premier plan plus special feature for the businesses to separate and categorize business as well as personal expenses all within a subscription fee of $95.39/year.

DEAR Systems

It is a cloud-based inventory management software for small & medium enterprises, retailers and wholesalers. It helps in creating, planning and tracking the purchases of the company and based on the information provided, it also helps them in reducing cost and maximizing their profits.

DEAR Systems offers a monthly or annual subscription plans which the users can customize according to their needs, as mentioned below:

• Monthly: The monthly plan starts from $199/month.
• Annually: The annual plan can be accessed for $2189/year.

Deltek Costpoint

It has been specifically built for government contractors, offering them services related to project management plus accounting management. It helps in improving operational efficiency and providing insights to the contractor based on the information provided.

Sage Business Cloud Accounting

It helps companies in tracking cashflows and gives them a real-time view of key financial activities. Moreover, it also helps them in tracking invoices, securing transactions and connecting the clients to the banks securely.

Sage offers monthly plans and a 30-day trial offer as follows:

• Accounting Start: It is an entry-level accounting software ideal for businesses who want to manage their cash flow at a price of $10/month.
• Accounting: It offers powerful cloud accounting solution ideal for small businesses, with support for invoicing and cash flow management at a price of $25/month.

Debitoor

It is an invoicing and accounting software specifically designed for freelancers and small business owners. It automates the process of managing expenses, entering payments and sending reminders to the customers. It further enables the entrepreneurs to take the accounting and financial side of the business into their own hands.

Debitoor offers a 4-monthly plan and a trial version for the users as follows:

• Monthly subscription plans are as follows:
  • XS: Involves subscription fee of $4/month with recording capacity of up to 100 invoices/year.
  • M: Involves subscription fee of $10/month with recording capacity of up to 800 invoices per year.
  • S: Involves subscription fee of $7/month with recording capacity of up to 400 invoices/year.
  • L: Involves subscription fee of $20/month with unlimited invoices recording capacity.

Vyapar

It is an invoicing & inventory app specifically designed for small Indian Business owners that allows them to track their business details. Through Vyapar app, they can make professional invoices, manage inventory and generate GST reports.

Vyapar comes with both mobile and desktop version plans, as follows:

• Vyapar offers mobile app-based plans for its users as follows:  Vyapar offers mobile app-based plans for its users as follows:
  • Trial: It offers free trial for 30 days and thereafter $10 for 3-month subscription.
  • Basic: It comes with a subscription price of $19/year.
  • Saver: The saver plan offers 3-year subscription for $50 only.
  • Ultra-Saver: The lifetime subscription can be availed at $140 only.

• Vyapaar offers desktop app-based plans for it users, as follows:
  • Basic: Desktop services for businesses only with annual subscription price of $49.99.
  • Desktop + Mobile: Desktop and mobile services for businesses withannual subscription price of $64.99.
  • Basic Plus: Desktop services for businesses only for 1.5 years at subscription price of $69.99.
  • Saver: Desktop services for businesses only for 3 years at subscription price of $89.99.
  • Ultra-Saver: Desktop services for businesses for lifetime at subscription price of $219.99.

Pros & Cons of Online Accounting Software

Listed below are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using online accounting software to manage the business operations:

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• Pros: Online accounting software can help the businesses in streamlining all of their accounting processes and provides benefits such as:
  • Requires a minimal investment for acquiring its services.
  • Needs no installation of an additional hardware.
  • Eliminates the need for hire extra labor.
  • Is easy to use, maintain & recover data.
  • Is accessible from anywhere.
  • Reduces the manual work.

• Cons: Before businesses jump into incorporating the online accounting software to automate their processes, they must also consider the disadvantages that comes with its usage and must consider how it could affect their business operations:
  • Comes with a risk of data theft.
  • Relies on an internet connection.
  • Comes with limited features.
  • Causes frustration due to unfamiliarity with the system.
  • Targets only small business owners.
  • Limits software’s functionality due to location-based restrictions.

Though online accounting software have its own share of disadvantages, the fact is that they can be subdued. In fact, the benefits of online accounting are so significant that they completely outweigh the disadvantages. These accounting softwares provide businesses with a clear picture into their company’s financial health and with the help of these online accounting software, businesses can make wiser decisions as well as save time which they can invest in other aspects.