QuickBooks is one of the most successful financial software options available in the market today, which provides an ability to keep track of the income and expenses of your businesses.
Many small to medium business owners use QuickBooks. According to a report, there were more than 3.3 million QuickBooks active subscribers in the US and 1.3 million internationally, 40% of which were small businesses. Its ease of use and reporting tools make it successful among these users.
QuickBooks has a number of subscription levels you can choose from, and most of them offer multi-currency features. This is useful for businesses working with international customers and suppliers.
But what if QuickBooks isn’t the right fit for your business’ bookkeeping needs? The good news is that if you’re looking for accounting software in the market other than QuickBooks, you have a lot of alternatives.
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What to look for in a QuickBooks alternative?
If you’re looking for an alternative to QuickBooks Online, you should start by determining what you’re looking for that QuickBooks Online doesn’t offer.
The best QuickBooks alternative provides all of the necessary bookkeeping tools for small businesses, but it’s usually easier to use and less expensive.
Does the user interface irritate you? Is the functionality you want available? Looking for a less-priced solution; or one; that integrates better with your other applications?
Whatever your purpose for looking for an alternative, the best QuickBooks alternative should have all the necessary bookkeeping features and fulfill all small business requirements. Here are a few things to keep in mind while looking for a QuickBooks alternative.
1. Ease of use
It’s all well and good to look for a product that has plenty of great features. It really doesn’t matter if such features are available or not in your find.
Ease of use is one of the most important things for any new user to consider. Nowadays, every application offers a free demo or a trial account, you can take advantage to check the product’s simplicity, and it’s the right one for your business.
2. Price point
While most small business accounting solutions offer multiple plans at fair costs, it can be expensive to acquire all of the features your business wants at a reasonable price. Some of the solutions may be available free of cost or on a trial basis.
Make sure it includes the features your business is looking for in the base plan, and if you have to upgrade to the next plan level, make sure that the cost is within your budget.
3. Support
Support is one of the frequently overlooked features when searching for an accounting application.
That’s one of those things you don’t pay too much attention to – until you need it.
Almost every application provides support by online chat or ticket system, and some give extensive knowledge base. Please keep in mind that any product you’re interested in offers a support option that works for you.
4. Cloud Accounting
Cloud accounting is the technique of using an accounting system via an internet connection.
The cloud has never been more relevant for Small to Medium Businesses (SMBs), particularly in the area of accounting. You can access your real-time records anywhere around the globe on any device connected to the internet using a dedicated app or a web browser.
Access to the app ecosystem; Live bank feeds; Secure sharing of data; online payments like PayPal, Stripe, or Cardless are the other benefits of cloud accounting.
Here are some other features you should consider before purchasing the Quickbooks Alternatives:
- Online and Mobile Invoicing: Easily create invoices, email, and track until they get paid.
- Online Banking: Automatically fetch transactions from your bank account and make the reconciliation process more straightforward.
- Accounting reports: Provide reports for the income statement as well as the balance sheet.
- Integrations: Integrate third-party apps or services for payroll and online payments.
- Time Tracking
- Mobile Apps
The 8 Best QuickBooks Online Alternatives
We have top alternatives to QuickBooks for you to consider as an accounting software, all of which start at a lower price than QuickBooks with similar features. You can easily manage sales and revenue, keep track of bills, rent, and expenses, handle payroll, essential reporting, track inventory, accept online payments, and so on with the enlisted softwares.
Let’s get started.
Xero
Xero is an excellent QuickBooks alternative for small business accounting software and offers similar features at a lower cost with unlimited users.
The distinctions are in the way in which information is displayed, as well as more subtle comforts such as Bank accounts and reconciliation, Reports, and Assets management.
Prices:
All Xero’s plans offer a flat 50% discount for the first three months. You can get a 30 days trial for free with no credit card required. The basic (Starter) package starts from $22 per month for 20 invoices, 5 bills and the highest (Premium) package costs $67 per month with unlimited features.
Pros:
- Good inventory accounting
- Cloud-based Solution
Cons:
- No expense tracking or multi-currency support with the cheapest plan
- No phone number to call for customer support
FreshBooks Accounting
FreshBooks is another popular bookkeeping and invoicing solution and comes in second place in the list of QuickBooks alternatives.
With the recent addition of double-entry accounting, it is now a feasible alternative for your business or solo venture.
It offers a complete ecommerce integration with the popular vendors available in a market like Shopify, eBay, BigCommerce, Magento, Squarespace, and WooCommerce.
Prices:
It is available in three plans; $4.50 per month for Lite, $7.50 per month for Plus, and $15 for the Premium with a 30 days trial period. If your businesses have more complex needs, you can also get custom quotes.
Pros:
- Unlimited invoices
- The Toll-free number for customer support
- Integrates with popular ecommerce platforms
Cons:
- Additional fee for additional user
- Income and expenses cannot be tracked by class.
- The number of clients you can bill is limited by the plan.
Also Read: CRM Software: Is it Really Worth It?
Zoho Books
Zoho Books is another online accounting software built for your businesses. Zoho Books is ideal for freelancers and provides full-featured, powerful accounting integration with a robust invoicing solution at half the cost of QuickBooks.
It provides the ability to create Invoices and estimates with multi-currency support, expense tracking into groups, project and inventory management.
Price:
It offers a free plan for up to 1,000 invoices per annum (fits for the business with less than 50K USD revenue per year), and Zoho’s paid subscriptions start from $12 per month with a 14 days trial.
Pros:
- Inventory management, client portal, expense management
- Client portal included in all plans
- Import Bank and Credit Card Statements
Cons:
- Limited invoices you can send per plan.
- Limited 3rd-party integrations in the basic plan.
- Inventory management is included in the higher plans.
Sage Business Cloud Accounting
Sage Business Cloud Accounting is a cloud-based accounting system that has all of the features you small to medium businesses need to maintain your accounts effortlessly without many complex features that make the application more difficult to use.
Pricing:
The application is available in two plans, and you will be charged $10 per month for subscriptions for unlimited users after your free trial.
Pros:
- Automatic Bank reconciliations, Balance sheets, cash flow, and inventory management
- Unlimited transactions, users, customers, and vendors.
Cons:
- No Payroll integration.
- No customer support is available over the telephone.
- Limited features in lowest plan
Wave Accounting
Wave Accounting is the most affordable accounting software as an alternative to QuickBooks for free. With this solution, you can create and send unlimited invoices, Sync transactions from different financial sources such as Bank accounts and credit cards or bank accounts, and even track bills and expenses.
Pricing:
It’s available for free for individuals and businesses. However, you can upgrade your account for additional features like payroll services at the price of $35 per month.
Pros:
- Multi-Business and Unlimited users.
- Unlimited clients, invoicing, receipt scanning, and sales and expense tracking.
Cons:
- No phone support for customer service.
- No mobile app.
- Inventory tracking not is available.
FreeAgent
FreeAgent is a friendly accounting software with a project management solution. You can use this solution to track your project status, billable time, income and expenses, and even unbillable time. This will help you out to concentrate on limiting the number of work hours you will not get paid for.
Pricing:
FreeAgent subscription starts at $12 per month for six months, and increases up to $24 a month.
Pros:
- Unlimited users, billable clients, invoices, and projects
- Time recording against projects
- Excellent insight of financial position
Cons:
- Limited to Basic Bookkeeping Features
Quicken
Quicken is a personal finance and money management accounting software for landlords which allows them to manage and track tenants, which is not possible with QuickBooks. Unlike double-entry accounting software, it keeps things simple by focusing solely on your revenue and expenditures rather than recording assets and liabilities.
Pricing:
The Quicken is available in four plans that charge you annually; Starting from $35.99 for Starter, $51.99 for Deluxe, $77.99 for Premier, and $103.99 for Home & Business.
Pros:
- Collect rental payments online
- Easy-to-use visuals
- Automatic net worth tracking
Cons:
- Fairly expensive
- It Doesn’t sync with all banks easily
- Requires installation on your computer
Buildium
Buildium is another accounting solution for property managers to manage their tenants, leases and track profit & loss by properties. It features a dedicated resident portal where tenants can pay their rent and post maintenance requests.
Pricing:
A free 15-days trial period is available on each plan. The Buildium pricing starts from $50 per month for up to 20 units; and $65 per month for 40 units. You can contact the Buildium support team, if you are managing more than 5,000 units.
Pros:
- Visually pleasing and easier to use
- Track work orders and convert them to bills
- Frequent updates, always valuable, and make it even.
Cons:
- Overdue task alert emails
- Email options are difficult to use.
- No integrated payroll
Bottom Line / Conclusion
QuickBooks leads the small business accounting industry, but it isn’t always the best solution for everyone. There are a variety of choices available (QuickBooks alternatives) available in the market to explore. You might discover an alternative accounting software depending on your desired features, industry, budget, and fits for your business needs.
