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Top10.com
AccountingInvoicingBookkeeping
Last Updated: Jan 2025

The Best Accounting Software of 2025
Easily track and manage expenses

Simply manage, oversee and consolidate your business' financial data in one place. Compare the best accounting software for your business today.

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1
QuickBooks -Comprehensive invoicing & accounting solution for growth-focused businessesRead Review
  • Our choice for small businesses
  • PCMag's best accounting software
  • Seamless transition from books to taxes
  • Integrates with Mailchimp, payroll & more
  • Get 50% off for 3 months
exceptional
9.9
View Plans
30-Day Free Trial
2
Oracle NetSuite -Accounting solution for startups to enterprisesRead Review
  • Intuitive and easy to use
  • Supports multiple billing models
  • Includes invoicing, HR, and eCommerce
excellent
9.2
3
Sage Intacct -AI-powered cloud accounting ideal for businesses with employee size of 20+Read Review
  • Increases productivity by 40% or more
  • Boost efficiency up to 90% by automating tasks
  • Trusted by over 24,500 businesses
very good
8.8
Payroll & HR only
4
Gusto -Award-winning payroll, HR, and Benefits software for small businessesRead Review
  • Automated payroll tax filings
  • Simple switchover + flat fee
  • Designed to meet growing businesses' needs
good
8.4
5
FreshBooks -Cloud-based double-entry accounting solutionsRead Review
  • Designed for small businesses
  • 30-day money-back guarantee
  • Cloud-hosted solution
excellent
9.0
6
Xero -Accounting software for accountants, bookkeepers, and small businessesRead Review
  • 30-day free trial, no credit card required
  • 3M+ customers globally
  • Easily sync bank and financial information
good
8.3
7
1-800Accountant -Virtual tax advisory, payroll, and bookkeeping servicesRead Review
  • Flat fee monthly pricing
  • Year-round live support
  • Automated expense categorization
fair
7.9
8
Striven -Financial management tools with fast reports and unlimited usersRead Review
  • Ideal for small business growth
  • Comprehensive business management solution
  • All-in-one CRM and financial software
good
8.1
9
Melio -A simple accounts payable and receivable software, ideal for small & medium-sized businessesRead Review
  • Free B2B payment platform
  • Pay by card to maximize cash flow
  • Seamless accounting software sync
fair
7.9
10
Patriot Software -Accounting and payroll software for small businessesRead Review
  • 30-day free trial
  • Flat monthly price
  • Streamlines payroll processes
good
8.4
Our Best Overall Accounting Software
Our Most Popular
1
QuickBooks -Comprehensive invoicing & accounting solution for growth-focused businessesRead Review
  • Our choice for small businesses
  • PCMag's best accounting software
  • Seamless transition from books to taxes
  • Integrates with Mailchimp, payroll & more
  • Get 50% off for 3 months
exceptional
9.9
View Plans
30-Day Free Trial

What is Accounting Software?

Accounting software is software that automates accounting and bookkeeping tasks like invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, income, and expenses. Small business accounting software puts all your financial information in one place, making it easier to share data across teams or externally and saving your employees from double entries or having to type things in manually.

The best accounting software for small business comes in 2 forms: desktop accounting software or online accounting software. Desktop accounting software is an application you install on your company’s computers. Online accounting software, also known as software-as-a-service or SaaS, has the same functions but runs on the cloud.

What Features Should You Look for in Your Accounting Software?

At a minimum, your accounting software is an online bookkeeping program that carries out the core accounting processes we mentioned earlier–such as invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, income, and expenses. But that’s not all it should do. Below are some of the advanced features included in the best accounting software for small business.

Tax integration. Your accounting software should provide balance sheets, profit and loss reports, and any other customized reports you or your accountant require in order to file taxes. The top bookkeeping software even lets you photograph and save receipts using a mobile device so you have it all stored securely for tax time.

Payroll management. Payroll usually isn’t built into accounting software but is offered through integrations with third-party payroll and HR software. Once everything is set up, your software will be able to calculate and file your payroll, pay payroll taxes, pay with same-day direct deposit, and manage employee benefits.

Business insights. Online accounting software programs gather a lot of data about your business, so why not use all that data to your advantage? The best programs offer business insights and intelligence through user-friendly reports and dashboards.

Custom invoices and receipts. Remember, every interaction with customers and service providers is an opportunity to promote your brand. Some accounting programs let you create custom invoices and receipts, helping to make your brand more memorable.

Multi-user access. Depending on the size of your business, you may want to grant access to more than one person. The best accounting software programs offer plans for multiple users, including access for your accountant.

Support for mobile. You never know when you might need to capture or access data from a mobile device. Most of the big names in accounting software offer free iOS and Android apps.

Unlimited cloud storage. One of the benefits of using online accounting software is that all your data gets stored in the cloud, where capacity is virtually unlimited.

Free support. If something goes wrong, then you want to know your software provider has your back. Premium subscriptions usually include a dedicated account team.

Scalability. Accounting software is perfect for the rapidly-expanding business that finds that manual entries no longer cut it. The sky’s the limit for your business–and so you need software that offers small business accounting services that scale with you.

User-friendly. Last, but not least, is user-friendliness. Your accounting and invoicing software should be easy enough for anyone on your team to learn how to use it within a couple of hours.

How Much Does Accounting Software Cost?

Like most software-as-a-service, the cost of online accounting software really depends on how many features you need and how many users need access. Pricing models can really vary when it comes to accounting software. Some providers charge a fixed per-month price with all or most of the features included, while others offer tiered pricing that gradually gets more expensive as more features are integrated.

Based on our research of the top providers, accounting software could cost anywhere from $12 to $300 per month. The cheapest subscriptions automate basic accounting functions such as tracking income and expenses, invoicing and accepting payments, managing cash flow, tracking sales and sales tax, and sending estimates. Integrating payroll costs extra—it’s built into some of the more expensive plans or costs another $4 - $10 per employee per month as an add-on. Advanced features like income tax return preparation almost always cost extra.

Conclusion

If you can afford to automate administrative business tasks, then you probably should. Carrying out accounting tasks manually may be cheaper in the short-term, but you’ll quickly find it takes away time from growing your business and exposes you to the risk of potentially costly errors. The best accounting software grows with you, so you can start by automating just the core accounting tasks and then add on more complex tasks like payroll and tax reporting as you go. Once you begin using small business accounting software, you’ll quickly find yourself wondering why you ever did things manually.

Our Top 3 Picks

  • 1
    QuickBooks
    Intelligent OCR-backed receipt processing
    Visit Site
    • Best For - Best online accounting software overall
    • Price range - From $12.50 / month
    • Free trial or free version - Free 30-day trial
    Intelligent OCR-backed receipt processing
    Visit Site

    Quickbooks is a comprehensive accounting system designed for small businesses through to organizations at the advanced scales of staging. 

    The tool includes OCR-backed expense receipt tracking, invoice issuing, and for an add-on users can add the payroll functionality. Not all features are available on the mobile apps, but users can even use these, in conjunction with hardware, to process payments. 

    Read QuickBooks Review

    QuickBooks Pros & Cons

    PROS

    Apps for iOS and Android
    Project profitability tracking
    Easy hour billing with integrations

    CONS

    No free tier
    Not all features available on mobile
    quickbooks logo
    QuickBooks
    Visit Site
  • 2
    Oracle NetSuite
    Powerful, customizable, extensible ERM.
    • Best For - Enterprises and global companies
    • Price range - $999+
    • Free trial or free version - No (Demos available)
    Powerful, customizable, extensible ERM.

    NetSuite is hard to beat in terms of power and customizability, although it comes with a steep learning curve. The user support is also quite limited for basic subscribers, another reason why smaller businesses may find the experience too labor-intensive. The suite, however, is extensive enough to replace a variety of other operational and logistical applications (like CRM and HR), which can ultimately reduce the overall cost, both in terms of labor and money. 

    NetSuite is an excellent solution for enterprises and global companies that need to manage large operations with many moving parts and which have the human and financial resources to use NetSuite’s powerful platform to build the perfect ERM solution.

    Read Oracle NetSuite Review

    Oracle NetSuite Pros & Cons

    PROS

    Highly customizable
    Extremely powerful budgeting, forecasting and reporting
    All-in-one solution (HR, project management, inventory, etc.)

    CONS

    Complex to set-up and operate
    Can be very costly
    oracle-netsuite logo
    Oracle NetSuite
  • 3
    Sage Intacct
    Highly customizable platform
    • Best For - Scaling businesses
    • Price range - On request
    • Free trial or free version - No
    Highly customizable platform

    Sage Intacct is a highly customizable cloud accounting software solution ideal for growing businesses. With detailed reporting, extensive integrations, and robust training resources, Sage Intacct can help you scale your accounting as your business expands—without needing to invest in expert staff. 

    The platform includes the core accounting functionalities you need to run your business financials, including Accounts Payable and Receivable and your General Ledger. Plus, you can set up detailed reporting and dashboards to understand what’s really going on at your business.

    Why we chose Sage Intacct: We chose Sage Intacct for its customization options, huge integration marketplace, and user-friendly interface.

    Our experience with Sage Intacct: We found the website easy to navigate and appreciated the support available. Sage Intacct truly makes an effort to help you navigate the learning curve. 

    Read Sage Intacct Review

    Sage Intacct Pros & Cons

    PROS

    Highly customizable platform
    Extensive training resources
    Detailed reporting and dashboards

    CONS

    Pricing only on request
    Learning curve on implementation