Best Accounting Software for Your Business Type
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Retail: Xero
- Unlimited users: All of Xero’s plans let you add an unlimited number of users to collaborate.
- POS system integrations: Xero integrates with popular retail POS systems, like Square and Lightspeed Retail.
- Payroll integrations: Options include Gusto, OnPay and Rippling.
- Simple user interface: Online reviews and our own hands-on testing agree that Xero is user friendly, even if you’re an accounting novice.
Food service: Restaurant365
- All-in-one platform: Restaurant365 is a one-stop-shop for accounting, inventory management, payroll and employee management needs. Having these solutions under the same umbrella may help you streamline your workflows.
- Built for restaurants: As its name suggests, Restaurant365 was created with the restaurant industry in mind. That means you get access to a restaurant-specific chart of accounts and recipe management tools.
- POS system integrations: Restaurant365 integrates with almost every restaurant POS system you can think of, including Clover, Square, Lavu, Lightspeed, Toast and TouchBistro.
Freelance: FreshBooks
- Customer portal: All FreshBooks plans include a client account portal that lets your customers pay invoices and comment on them.
- Relatively low price: FreshBooks isn’t the least expensive option by any means. But it’s certainly less pricey than more robust solutions, like QuickBooks Online.
- Exceptional mobile app: FreshBooks’ mobile app lets you respond to client questions and receive notifications as soon as your clients view their invoices. You can also use it to send invoices and track mileage.
- Free time tracking: Unlike many of its competitors, all FreshBooks plans include time-tracking tools. This is especially important for freelancers who bill by the hour.
Startups: Zoho Books
- Free accounting plan: We picked Zoho Books as the best free accounting software for a reason. Its free plan is packed with features, like recurring invoicing, the ability to invite an accountant and auto-scan expense receipts. It also comes with email support.
- Scalability: Scalability separates Zoho Books from other free accounting software. In addition to its free plan, the company offers five paid plans. In other words, it can support your startup as it grows.
- Variety of in-house business software solutions: Zoho has in-house solutions for inventory, CRM, payroll, project tracking and marketing. This can help streamline your decision-making process, since you don’t need to consider as many third-party integrations. Just know that Square is one of its only built-in, third-party POS integrations. To connect with other options, you’ll need to pay for Zapier.
Side gigs: Wave
- Free accounting plan: Wave’s free plan lets you accept online payments, enter your income and expense transactions and run basic reports. Its paid plan allows you to invite your accountant and automatically import bank transactions. But if your side gig is very part time, this probably isn’t necessary.
- Unlimited invoicing: Wave includes unlimited invoicing and billable clients in both of its plans. Competitors, like Xero and FreshBooks, put caps on one or the other in their base-level plans.
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Any other business: QuickBooks Online
- Accountant familiarity: QuickBooks Online is ubiquitous in the accounting world. Chances are, your accountant will be familiar with how it works, so they can help you set it up.
- POS system integrations: Numerous options, including Square. Restaurant-specific integrations include Clover and Toast. However, those may cost extra.
- Payroll integrations: In addition to its own in-house payroll solution, QuickBooks Online integrates with Square Payroll, Patriot, Gusto, RUN Powered by ADP and Paychex.
- POS system integrations: QuickBooks Online offers integrations with Square, Clover and Shopify. You can also sync with e-commerce products, like WooCommerce.
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Methodology
NerdWallet independently reviews accounting software products before determining our top picks. We collect the data for our software ratings from products’ public-facing websites and from company representatives. Information is gathered on a regular basis and reviewed by our editorial team for consistency and accuracy.
NerdWallet’s accounting software ratings favor products that are easy to use, reasonably priced, have a robust feature set and can grow with your business. The best accounting software received top marks when evaluated across 10 categories and more than 30 subcategories. Learn more about how we rate small-business accounting software.
These ratings are meant to provide clarity in the decision-making process, but what’s best for your business will depend on its size, growth trajectory and which features you need most. We encourage you to research and compare multiple accounting software products before choosing one.
NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our editorial guidelines.
Best Accounting Software for Small Businesses
| Product | Starting at | Promotion | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Xero Nerdwallet Rating on Xero's website | $20/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $47, $80. | 50% off for 3 months. | on Xero's website |
 QuickBooks Online Nerdwallet Rating on QuickBooks' website | $38/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $75, $115, $275. | 50% for first three months or free 30-day trial. | on QuickBooks' website |
 FreshBooks Nerdwallet Rating on FreshBooks' website | $21/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $38, $65, custom. | 90% off for 3 months. 30-Day Money Back Guarantee. | on FreshBooks' website |
 Zoho Books Nerdwallet Rating on Zoho Books' website | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20, $50, $70, $150, $275. | 14-day free trial of the Premium plan. | on Zoho Books' website |
