60.1% of Canadian small businesses cite increasing revenue as one of their top challenges. 44.7% cite maintaining its profitability.

One easy way to help business owners manage their capital and increase revenue is with accounting software. The best accounting software can provide you with a ton of information to help you make smarter business decisions.

It’s not always easy to know what the best small business accounting software is for your specific needs. We want to help you save time and run your business more efficiently.

Keep reading to read our comprehensive list of accounting software for small businesses.

Why This List of Accounting Software is Important

Accounting software has a wide range. The most basic options allow you to create invoices and track expenses.

The most comprehensive software provides advanced financial reporting along with inventory management. Which software you choose should depend on your goals and which criteria appeals most to your needs.

At a bare minimum, the best online accounting software should provide the following:

• Basic accounting and bookkeeping
• Invoice creation
• Expense tracking
• Financial report generation
• A record of banking transactions

If you require more tools, look for accounting software that offers extended functions such as inventory management, eCommerce management, and native CRM.

Intuit Quickbooks Online

One of the best online accounting services available is Intuit Quickbooks. Their online version makes it easy to download your businesses banking and credit card information easily.

They also provide for integrations with PayPal, Shopify, and Square and provide 24/7 chat support. Every plan allows for the following:

• Tracking income
• Tracking expenses
• Sending invoices
• Receiving payments
• Running reports
• Sending estimates
• Tracking sales
• Tracking taxes
• Organizing

Advanced Plans are Available

There are also more advanced plans which let their customers track inventory, manage your 1099 contractors, track time, and you can even run your payroll through Quickbooks.

Pricing ranges from $13 per month to $40 per month depending on the plan you choose to work with.

Xero

Xero is a close second to Quickbooks. They offer similar features and, unlike Quickbooks and most other competitors, Xero doesn’t charge a fee per user nor do they limit the number of users.

Xero is a great choice for business owners who are constantly on the go. Common features include:

• Custom invoicing
• Tracking inventory
• Creating purchase orders
• Connect with your bank account
• Financial reports

And you can do all of this using your phone or your tablet. Xero’s downsides are that they do not provide live support and if you require payroll services, you’ll have to use their partner Gusto.

The Downside of Xero

The only type of support Xero offers is via email. While it’s fairly easy to locate a Quickbooks expert to help answer your questions, it’s not as easy to find someone as familiar with Xero.

Pricing starts at $9 per month for standard services and $70 per month for premium services.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is a great choice if you typically send out recurring invoices, require time tracking capabilities, and own a business that customers subscribe to. FreshBooks even lets you see the precise location when a customer opens your invoice.

That feature lets you avoid customers trying to tell you they never received their invoice. The system even lets you easily apply late fees to those delinquent customers.

You can also integrate with other business applications, and you’ll have a single dashboard to manage your accounting and finances. They also provide regular secure backups so you never have to worry about losing all your information.

The Downside of FreshBooks

Current customers don’t enjoy that you can’t view balance sheets or statement of cash flows.

Pricing starts at $15 per month for five clients up to $50 per month for 500 clients. If you pay for a full year at once, you’ll receive 10% off.

Wave

Use Wave if you’re a freelancer, have only a few employees or you’re on a tight budget. That’s because many of Wave’s services are completely free, including invoice and transaction management.

You can even sync your information with their software.

The Downside of Wave

Since Wave is free, it’s missing a few key features. You can’t pay your bills directly from Wave which means you’ll have to manually enter and pay your bills.

You also can’t run an accounts payable report until you’ve manually entered in all your bills and payments. If you need time tracking, inventory tracking or project management features, look for a different software company.

Pricing is free for accounting, invoicing, and receipt scanning. They do charge for online payments and payroll services.

Zoho Books

Compared to all the other paid services, Zoho is the most economical. Common features include:

• Connect bank and credit card statements
• Key financial reports
• Accept online payments
• Multi-user access

Zoho is also easy to use and perfect for small companies looking to manage their cash flow and finances. They also provide excellent customer support and their dashboard is easy to read and use.

The Downside of Zoho

Zoho doesn’t offer payroll processing so you would also have to use a payroll service such as Gusto to pay employees.

Pricing begins at $9 per month per organization up to $29 per month. Check out their yearly plans since they offer discounts.

AccountEdge Pro

AccountEdge lets you use double-entry accounting tools such as time billing and reporting to inventory. You can also customize and optimize these tools for your desktop.

The downside is that there’s not a mobile phone app you can use. If you really need a mobile option, they do offer a cloud collaboration option for a fee.

Pricing is either a one-time fee of $149 for basic services or a one-time fee of $399 for more professional services.

Always Work With a Professional

While this list of accounting software can help you run your business more efficiently, you should still use an accounting professional to make sure you’re following the most current tax laws and are making good financial decisions.

We can help. Our team of professionals can make sure your business succeeds year after year. Don’t wait until there’s a problem, click here to contact us.