11 Best QuickBooks Alternatives for Small Business in 2024

Multiple Quickbooks alternatives might fit better for your business. QuickBooks is the most popular accounting tool with more than 3 million active subscribers. The platform owes its recognition to the marketing team, entry-level price point, ease of use, and reliability.

While the platform does offer advanced features to manage your financing and books, it is not specific to an industry.

Hence, if you are looking for accounting software for a more specific industry (or business model) or want to add unlimited users to your account, you might want to look at some of the top QuickBooks alternatives for small businesses.

What are the Best QuickBooks Alternatives?

Here are the top QuickBooks substitutes you can consider for your small business.

• FreshBooks
• Oracle NetSuite
• Xero
• Wave Accounting
• Zoho Books
• Kashoo
• Sage 50cloud
• ZipBooks
• Sage Business Cloud Accounting
• ZarMoney
• FreeAgent

1. FreshBooks

Best QuickBooks Alternative for Freelancers

FreshBooks offers accounting features designed for business owners and freelance accounting firms.

Best Features

• Automated Bank Reconciliation: Organize all your transactions easily with the help of automated bank reconciliation. All your financial transactions are automatically imported and categorized by the platform. FreshBooks allows you to approve the automated matching suggestions quickly.
• Credits: Track your overpayments, prepayments, and credit notes with the help of credits. You can easily apply these transactions to your future invoices. This will make refunding or rewarding a client much easier for you.
• Accurate Reporting: FreshBooks offers a double-entry accounting feature for its users, where it identifies the revenue stream and their related expenses. This, in turn, gives you an accurate calculation of your profits and losses. The automated checks offered by this accounting platform ensure that your debit and credit amounts are equal. These checks help reduce the chances of errors year-round and make it simpler for you to file taxes.
• Automated Mileage Tracker: The automated mileage tracker feature automatically logs all your business trips and saves your travel history. Every time you travel in the name of business, it is an expense you can claim during taxation. FreshBooks allows you to classify a trip as either business or personal and then sends a mileage report on your email.
• Expense Tracking: Keep your business automatically up-to-date by connecting your business bank account or credit card to FreshBooks. This accounting tool updates your most recent spending on the dashboard, allowing you to track your expenses.
• Invoices: Create professional-looking invoices for your business within seconds. The invoice generator allows you to easily create invoices and personalize them with your company branding. You can also integrate the platform with third-party applications for fixed assets management. FreshBooks is the leading QuickBooks Online alternative.

Pricing

FreshBooks has four plans – Lite, Plus, Premium, and Select.

• The Lite Plan allows you to track unlimited expenses.
• The Plus Plan offers double-entry accounting reports.
• The Premium Plan lets you track project profitability.
• The Select Plan gives you access to a dedicated account manager.

With FreshBooks, you get access to a free 30-day trial, where you can send unlimited estimates, track your mileage, send unlimited invoices, and customize your email signature.

2. Oracle NetSuite

Leading QuickBooks Alternative for Streamlining Tax Management

Oracle NetSuite gives you a complete view of your financial performance and cash flow statements.

Best Features

• General Ledger: Gain flexibility and visibility into your core accounting processes with NetSuite's general ledger. It automates your processes and offers a flexible structure that can adapt to your organization's needs. Real-time bank integration and auto-posting of journal entries reduce your reliance on manual data entries.
• Cash Management: Get real-time access to bank and credit card data to boost your accounting team's efficiency. The real-time finance insights and automatic imports give you an accurate picture of your current cash position. Oracle NetSuite is the perfect alternative to QuickBooks Online.
• Tax Management: NetSuite offers end-to-end global tax management with its configurable tax engine. The platform simplifies tax compliance, saves time, reduces costs, and eliminates manual calculations. It also offers monthly tax updates for over 110 countries and retains the historical rate changes.
• Payment Management: Reduce your processing costs and improve finances with flexible options for making and receiving customer payments. This paperless method of managing your expenses is more reliable and allows the funds to be transferred quickly. Oracle NetSuite also offers real-time financial data insights.
• Asset Management: Make your financial reporting more timely and accurate with the help of lease accounting and automated asset depreciation. This helps you manage the entire lifecycle of your asset – from acquisition to retirement. Fixed asset management makes it easier for you to maintain accurate records of depreciating and non-depreciating assets.
• Accounts Receivable and Payable: Oracle NetSuite allows you to automate every aspect of invoice delivery, payment processing, and collections management. This helps you shorten the credit-to-cash cycle. The accounting platform also lets you automate your accounts payable processes.

Pricing

Oracle NetSuite's paid plan includes a $999 monthly licensing fee along with a per-user fee that starts at $99 per month. You can connect with their customer care support team for a more accurate pricing plan.

Oracle NetSuite offers a free demo to its customers, where you can access their platform and experience its general ledger, tax management, and cash management features.

3. Xero

Top QuickBooks Substitute for Small Business Owners

Xero offers robust accounting features, seamless integrations, and lets you add unlimited users to the platform.

Best Features

• Manage Expenses: The expense tracker allows you to capture your business cost and view your spending. It also lets you submit, approve, and reimburse the expense claims. These claims can be made by simply clicking a photo of the receipts. The expense analytics helps you monitor your employee’s business spending.
• Bill Payment: Xero allows you to view your accounts payable and finances. You can store all your bills in one place, track them, and pay them on time. Xero is one of the best alternatives to QuickBooks Online.
• Bank Reconciliation: With the help of quick bank reconciliations, you can keep your financials up to date. The suggested matches help you categorize and accept automated account reconciliations.
• Payroll Records: Xero allows you to manage your payroll system by keeping all the pay records online. You can use the platform for straightforward, recurring pay runs. These can either be done individually or via batch payments. You can also integrate a third-party payroll application with Xero, like a customer relationship management app.
• Online Invoicing: The intuitive invoicing software lets you send online invoices from your desktop software or mobile application. This makes it effortless for your clients to pay you instantly. You can customize the invoices to fit your brand identity. Multi-Currency: With Xero, you can do business with clients from all over the world. The platform supports 160 currencies and offers instant conversions. You can also view how the current market can affect rate change, finances, and your profit. The reports and invoices can be prepared and viewed in local and foreign currencies.

Pricing

Xero has three pricing plans – Early, Growing, and Established.

• The Early Plan allows you to capture bills and receipts.
• The Growing Plan lets you manage short-term cash flow.
• The Established Plan offers different currencies.

With Xero, you get access to a free 30-day trial, where you can use robust features like online invoicing and bank reconciliation. You can then decide which plan suits the best for your business needs.

4. Wave Accounting

Free QuickBooks Alternative With Freemium Services

Wave Accounting is a simple bookkeeping and payment accounting tool that manages your finances and prepares you for tax time.

Best Features

• Invoices and Estimates: Simplify your invoicing process with automation and multiple customization options. The platform makes it easy to create brand invoices and estimates for your clients. You get access to invoice scheduling, status tracking, invoice dashboard, automatic time zone calculations, and pre-built templates.
• Inventory Management: Wave offers essential inventory tools to add items for invoicing. The platform offers project management features, through which you can also add the item’s description, sales prices, and mark whether they are bought and sold.
• Actionable Reports: The platform gives you access to multiple reports that help you manage and track your business expenses. They also give you a good idea about your finances. You get access to profit and loss, balance sheets, cash flow, sales tax, and account transaction reports. Wave Accounting is an excellent QuickBooks Online alternative.
• Bookkeeping: Record your financial transactions easily with the platform’s bookkeeping features. You can manage your contacts, track your expenses, create journal entries, set automatic bill reminders, view your accounts in different currencies. The platform also gives you access to live bank feeds and bank reconciliation features.
• Tax Support: The tax filing feature is one of the most helpful features this accounting tool offers, making it a great QuickBooks substitute. This accounting tool can be seamlessly integrated with H&R block, helping you file your taxes quickly. You can add unlimited users to your account.
• Recurring Billing: Save time on payments and billing with the help of automated billing options. You can quickly set up your credit card payments and toggle easily between manual and automatic billing. Wave Accounting allows you to customize your invoices according to the timezone.

Pricing

Wave Accounting is a free accounting software that lets you easily manage and track your expenses.

Wave Accounting gives you access to a fully-featured free plan, where you can manage your inventory, create customizable receipts, and file your taxes quickly.

5. Zoho Books

Top QuickBooks Alternative for Inventory Management

Zoho Books is a comprehensive cloud accounting software that handles your important and mundane accounting tasks.

Best Features

• Billing Management: Zoho Books allows you to create, send, and manage all your bills online. You can set your accounts in a recurring mode for purchases that occur at regular intervals. Increase the accuracy of your accounting by enabling transaction approval.
• Expense Accounting: Trace your bills, keep an eye on your expenses, and read customer credit with the help of the expense accounting tool. You can record all your expenses in one place, track and categorize them, and even bill them to your clients when necessary.
• Inventory Tracking: The inventory tracking feature is an all-in-one tool for your growing business, from monitoring stock levels to replenishing them. You can capture the complete details of the product on your dashboard. Zoho Books is an excellent alternative to QuickBooks Online.
• E-Invoicing: Zoho Books allows you to upload your invoices directly to the platform and generate an e-invoice. This helps during the tax filing process. These invoices are generated keeping in mind the government-mandated fields. It validates all the data entered to check for missing fields or incorrect entries.
• Accounting Automation: Increase your business’s productivity with the accounting automation feature. The platform allows you to eliminate repetitive tasks, perfecting your accounting needs.
• Client Portal: Zoho Books offers a separate portal for your clients, where you can share recent transactions, accelerate the approval process, and capture all the feedback. The platform keeps you informed of the actions taken by your client with real-time alerts.

Pricing

Zoho Books has three pricing plans – Standard, Professional, and Premium.

• The Standard Plan gives you access to recurring invoices.
• The Professional Plan allows you to add unlimited users.
• The Premium Plan gives you access to custom buttons.

With Zoho Books, you get access to a free 14-day trial. This free trial period offers project management options, allows you to manage client portals, track your expenses, and integrate with third-party applications.

6. Kashoo

Leading QuickBooks Substitute with Automated Bank Feed Tool

Kashoo is simple small business accounting software that helps you sort your transactions and maximize your deductions.

Best Features

• Business Reports: Kashoo offers customizable business reports to its users. These can be exported to Excel and sent to your clients and customers. The platform includes eight different types of reports, including income statements, general ledger, balance sheet, transactions, and unpaid invoices.
• Contact Management: Manage your customers and suppliers easily with the interactive dashboard. The contact management feature allows you to save your client information and set a default income and sales tax account.
• Item Tracking: This accounting solution offers an essential item list to track all the items you sell or buy in your store. You can also add stock-keeping units to your articles to track them efficiently, making them perfect for your business needs.
• Expense Tracking: Scan receipts, store them in one place, and track your expenses quickly. Kashoo lets you capture bank statements manually or use the live bank feed feature. You also get access to automatic transaction matches suggestions. Kashoo is a leading QuickBooks Online alternative.
• Bank Reconciliation: Compare the bank account balance in your books with the balance reported by your bank with Kashoo. This will help you examine any difference between the two amounts and rectify the error, perfecting it for your accounting needs.
• Sales Tax: With Kashoo accounting software, you can set up as many sales tax options as you like. The advanced setting offered by the software allows you to set receivable, payable, and expense accounts.

Pricing

Kashoo has three pricing plans – Trulysmall Invoices, Trulysmall Accounting, and Kashoo.

• The Trulysmall Invoices Plan allows you to send estimates and invoices.
• The Trulysmall Accounting Plan lets you track expenses.
• The Kashoo Plan offers advanced reporting features.

Kashoo gives you access to a free plan, where you can accept customer payments, send invoices and estimates, and track your income.

7. Sage 50cloud

Top QuickBooks Alternative for Tracking Job Costs

Sage 50cloud allows you to take control of your finances with the flexibility of a cloud accounting platform.

Best Features

• Cash Flow: Get an instant snapshot of your finances with this powerful invoicing software. It gives you a clear picture of your finances. The accounting software gives you a detailed report of the balance of your cash accounts, cash expected to come in, and the cash expected to go out.
• Inventory Management: Sage 50cloud accounting tool allows you to stay on top of your purchase orders. You can use these inventory tools to enter transactions and track the costs and quantities of items. The three-step process allows the software to adjust the inventory automatically and helps in business growth.
• Job Costing: The platform gives you a better insight into all your jobs and projects. This helps you analyze where and how much you are spending. You can set up job records, phases, and cost codes quickly. The cost codes help you determine if a job is over budget or under budget for a particular phase.
• Actionable Reports: Sage 50cloud gives you access to over 150 reports, helping you make informed business decisions. You can access all the financial reports with a single click. The accounting software also allows you to design new reports, drill down to transactions, and search text within reports. This feature makes Sage 50cloud one of the top QuickBooks alternatives.
• Simplified Payroll: Use pay cards or direct deposit checks to simplify the payroll process for your employees. You can also use the platform to track employee tips, manage vacation days, and analyze sock time hours. For your hourly employees, you can generate paychecks based on the hours recorded on time tickets.
• Banking: Eliminate manual entries and reduce errors with the advanced banking feature. You get access to bank feeds, payments, purchase orders, and invoices. This QuickBooks accounting software substitute lets you manage expenses and connect to your bank feeds to gain complete visibility of your finances. Sage 50cloud is an excellent substitute for QuickBooks Online.

Pricing

Sage 50cloud has three plans – Pro Accounting, Premium Accounting, and Quantum Accounting.

• The Pro Accounting Plan offers effortless invoicing options.
• The Premium Accounting Plan provides advanced budgeting tools.
• The Quantum Accounting Plan gives you access to workflow management.

Sage 50cloud gives you access to a free 30-day trial, where you can manage job costing, trace transactions, and use advanced budgeting tools.

8. ZipBooks

Affordable QuickBooks Substitute with Smart Insights

ZipBooks is a simple and powerful accounting solution that offers advanced tools and intelligence to scale your small business.

Best Features

• Auto-Categorization: Save time by eliminating repetitive data entry tasks with the auto-categorization feature. ZipBooks auto-categorizes your transactions and simplifies your bookkeeping service and process. The platform uses machine learning to combine your work with research and best accounting practices to choose a category for your transactions automatically.
• Tagging: Keep track of your expenses by tagging all the transactions you need to keep a closer eye on. Tags can help you identify unnecessary costs and make sure you profit. ZipBooks is an affordable substitute for QuickBooks Online.
• Bank Reconciliation: Easily reconcile all your bank accounts without the need for a pen and paper. This will help you explain or eliminate any differences between your withdrawal and deposit records and your bank’s records. ZipBooks will automatically transfer the data once your bank and credit card accounts are connected.
• Balance Sheet: Accurately produce a professional balance sheet with ZipBooks. The sheet will help you track the assets you own, your liabilities, and the equity of your business. You can use multiple colors to highlight the essential aspects of the report, making it easier to follow and understand.
• Smart Search: Smart search helps you find what you are looking for in just a few seconds. You can do a broad search across all the records in your account or choose to narrow your results by searching for specific items. The intelligent search features make ZipBooks one of the top QuickBooks alternatives.
• General Ledger: General ledgers are crucial for accurate financial reporting. This accounting software creates a ledger for you based on your chosen fields. You can view both simple and detailed transaction information with the ledger.

Pricing

ZipBooks has four plans – Free, Smarter, Sophisticated, and Accountant.

• The Free Plan lets you manage unlimited billable clients.
• The Smarter Plan gives you access to automated reminders.
• The Sophisticated Plan will enable you to generate insightful reports.
• The Accountant Plan lets you manage clients from the dashboard.

With ZipBooks, you get access to a free plan. This basic plan can view reports, manage unlimited customers, and create invoices.

9. Sage Business Cloud Accounting

Leading QuickBooks Substitute with Automated Workflows

Sage Business Cloud Accounting lets you take control of your finances with time-saving automation and remote access.

Best Features

• Expense Tracking: This accounting tool allows you to track your expenses easily. You can monitor your costs by connecting your bank to the platform and setting up custom alerts and notifications. It also allows you to manage your inventory efficiently and stay on top of your purchase orders.
• Interactive Reports: Simplify your financial accounts by getting real-time insights with this accounting software. You can view and read all your reports on the dashboard, including the finances and balance sheet data. These financial reports help you understand trends and insights, making better business decisions.
• Automated Invoicing: Sage Business Cloud accounting tool is the best alternative to QuickBooks Online. It allows you to create your invoices online easily and send them to your clients in seconds. Online invoicing helps improve cash flow and ensures that you are paid faster. You can even create invoices through mobile apps.
• Multi-Currency: The platform allows you to track expenses, create invoices, transfer funds, and accept payments in multiple currencies. You can choose the currency of your choice and manage all your international contacts.
• Stock Management: Save your time by getting an accurate view of stock levels. The accounting software offers meaningful reports, warns you if you are out of stock, and lets you analyze your best-selling products. You can easily manage your supplies and prices and organize your products by category.
• Pre-Built Templates: This accounting tool offers pre-built invoice templates. These customizable templates can be downloaded and altered as per your need.

Pricing

Sage Business Cloud Accounting has two pricing plans – Sage Accounting Start and Sage Accounting.

• The Sage Accounting Start Plan offers automatic bank reconciliation
• The Sage Accounting Plan allows you to forecast your finances.

Sage Business Cloud Accounting software offers a 30-day free trial. With this free trial period, you can create invoices, track expenses, and send quotes or estimates to your clients.

10. ZarMoney

Leading QuickBooks Alternative with Permission-Based User Access

ZarMoney is an all-in-one cloud accounting software that makes it easier for you to track your finances and file taxes.

Best Features

• Accounts Receivable: This flexible and feature-rich software allows you to manage your invoices and receive payments. ZarMoney lets you improve your finances by creating an automated collection process. You can also accept payments online with Stripe, PayPal, or other payment processing services.
• Advanced Inventory Management: ZarMoney offers small businesses an intuitive, cloud-based inventory administration solution. With the help of cloud telecommunication technology, you can manage multiple warehouses from a single dashboard. It offers real-time product information, vendor evaluation, demand prediction, and asset tracking options.
• Bookkeeping: This automated accounting system helps you create financial statements, analyze them, and prepare them for tax filing. It updates your financial data in real-time and makes dynamic statements for you and third-party stakeholders. ZarMoney gives you a real-time view of your finances to automatically reconcile your bank accounts.
• Order Management: ZarMoney is a leading substitute to QuickBooks Online. It helps you offer your customers an efficient operational management system in a cost-effective manner. You can track your active status and business processes anytime and anywhere.
• Multi-User Access: This cloud accounting software allows you to add multiple team members to your account. You can protect your business finances by setting permissions and restricting access based on their location or role. This helps you enhance your efficiency and simplify processes.
• Customizable Estimates: With ZarMoney, you can create, customize, and send quotes to your clients within a few minutes. You can even convert your quote to a chargeable invoice with a single click. This feature helps in business growth.

Pricing

ZarMoney has three plans – Entrepreneur, Small Business, and Enterprise.

• The Entrepreneur Plan offers unlimited transactions.
• The Small Business Plan allows you to add two members to your team.
• The Enterprise Plan provides a dedicated account representative.

With ZarMoney, you get access to a 15-day free trial, where you can manage your account, create estimates, and keep track of your inventory levels.

11. FreeAgent

Top QuickBooks Substitute with Automated Bank Feeds

FreeAgent is an easy-to-use accounting software built for self-employed individuals, small businesses, and accounting firms.

Best Features

• Online Estimates: FreeAgent offers you professionally designed templates to customize to fit your small business. You can generate these estimates in multiple currencies and languages. The platform also provides a real-time notification feature, which alerts you when your client accepts or rejects your quote.
• Time Tracking: Keep track of your hourly employees and pay them quickly with the time tracking software. You and your team can track time on your computer and mobile phones. This accounting platform helps you generate accurate invoices from the time tracked against projects and tasks. You can also generate timesheet reports and email them to your clients.
• Automatic Bank Transactions: With the help of automated bank feeds, you can automatically import your bank transactions. You need to link your bank accounts with FreeAgent. This feature makes FreeAgent one of the leading QuickBooks alternatives in the market. The platform also saves your time by automatically explaining the transactions based on your previous records.
• Project Expense: This small business accounting software lets you offer project management features and keep a tab on income, expenses, and profitability. You can track the completed tasks and define the hours billed to your clients. FreeAgent is one of the top alternatives to QuickBooks Online.
• Invoicing: FreeAgent offers a simple invoicing feature that gets you paid faster. The pre-built invoice templates help you create professional invoices within minutes. You can also create and customize emails and automated late payment reminders for your clients.
• Automated Expense Management: This accounting tool makes expense tracking easier by allowing you to capture receipts and upload them to the software from your mobile. These receipts help you build accurate accounts with a detailed list of expense categories.

Pricing

FreeAgent has a single paid plan. You get access to automatic bank transactions and customized invoicing and estimate features.

FreeAgent offers a free 30-day trial to its users, where you can track time, manage your project expenses, handle invoicing, and build a business around the globe.

What to Look for in QuickBooks Alternatives?

Accounting software helps you get in control of your finances and scale up your business. While QuickBooks is a leading accounting tool, it is generally not preferred by people looking for industry-specific software. Here are a few crucial elements you should look for while searching for a QuickBooks accounting software substitute.

1. User-Friendly

Finances can be tricky. Accounting software should be easy to understand and use for all your team members. The tool should be flexible and offer advanced accounting features with an interactive dashboard. This makes it easier for everyone on your team to keep track of your business’s finances and ensure that you are making a profit.

2. Inventory Management

If you have a B2B or a B2C business and are selling physical products, then inventory management is a crucial part of your finances. A good accounting platform will allow you to add items to the software and keep a tab in your warehouse. The software should also allow you to calculate the cost of your inventory and how much profit you made out of it.

This helps you in the long run and saves you time. However, there is a good chance of making an error while managing your inventory manually. Hence, software that automates this process would be great for your business.

3. Billing and Invoicing

Most small businesses and self-employed individuals cannot manage their billing system and invoice the proper amount to their clients. Therefore, good accounting tools should offer advanced billing and invoicing options that will allow you to create customizable invoices for your clients. In addition, you should look for a tool that will enable you to email them directly to your client.

Looking for automated accounting software that will send recurring invoices directly to your clients is a good idea if scaling your business. In addition, proper billing and invoicing would help you with bank reconciliation during the tax season.

4. Mobile Friendly

A good accounting platform offers a mobile application to its users. This helps you keep a tab on your finances and business while you are on the move. With mobile apps, you can easily track the time you spent working in your car and bill it to your clients.

A mobile-friendly software helps track mileage. Every time you travel in the name of business, it is an expense you can claim during taxation. A good accounting tool allows you to classify a trip as business or personal and then send a mileage report on your email.

QuickBooks Online Alternatives FAQ

Best Small Business Accounting Software If You Don’t Like QuickBooks

If you don't like QuickBooks, the best small business accounting tool depends on the industry and the features you require to keep your finances on track.

• If you are an eCommerce business and looking for software with advanced inventory management features, then you should try ZohoBooks, Wave Accounting, or Sage 50Cloud.
• If you are looking for a platform with automatic bank reconciliation, you should choose FreshBooks, Xero, FreeAgent, or ZipBooks.
• If you are looking for a tool for managing your taxes, you should try Oracle NetSuite, Sage Business cloud accounting, Kashoo, or ZarMoney.

When looking for the best alternatives for QuickBooks, you can compare QuickBooks and FreshBooks to find what suits best for your business needs.

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