Accounting and bookkeeping apps can help you keep track of your business’s financial transactions, document expenses and share information with your bookkeeper or accountant all from your phone. To determine whether an app has the functionality your business needs, look for the ability to view reports, send invoices, track mileage and upload receipts, among other features.
Some of the best accounting software and bookkeeping services also feature robust mobile apps to make their tools even more accessible. Here are some of our favorites.
Best Accounting and Bookkeeping Apps for Small Business
Product | Promotion | Learn more | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
QuickBooks Online Learn more on QuickBooks Online's secure website | 5.0/5 Best for Overall accounting app | $30/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $60, $90, $200. | 50% off for first three months or free 30-day trial. | Learn more on QuickBooks Online's secure website |
FreshBooks Learn more on FreshBooks' secure website | 4.5/5 Best for Freelancers | $17/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $30, $55, custom. | 30-day free trial or monthly discount (terms vary). | Learn more on FreshBooks' secure website |
Zoho Books Learn more on Zoho Books' secure website | 4.5/5 Best for Mobile-first features | $0 Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20, $50, $70, $150, $275. | 14-day free trial of the Premium plan. | Learn more on Zoho Books' secure website |
Xero Learn more on Xero's secure website | 5.0/5 Best for Employee access | $15/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $42, $78. | 30-day free trial or monthly discount (terms vary). | Learn more on Xero's secure website |
Wave Accounting | 3.5/5 Best for Free accounting app | $0 Free (Wave makes money via paid money management products). | N/A | |
Bench | Best for In-app messaging with your bookkeeper | $299/month | One free month of bookkeeping. |
Our pick for
Overall accounting app
QuickBooks Online
Learn more
on QuickBooks Online's secure website
Starting at
$30/month
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $60, $90, $200.
Promotion
50% off
for first three months or free 30-day trial.
QuickBooks Accounting, the app that accompanies the popular QuickBooks Online accounting software, covers the basics for most small-business owners. It lets users create and send invoices, upload receipts, track miles, and view accounting reports from their phone or tablet. All the features of QuickBooks Online Simple Start are available in the app. However, if you use a costlier QuickBooks Online plan, some features are available only on the browser-based version. QuickBooks also offers its own mobile card reader for processing payments on the go.
Pros
- Create and send invoices to clients.
- Photograph receipts, upload and pair them with expenses.
- Automatically track mileage using GPS.
- View profit and loss reports and balance sheets.
- Available for iOS and Android.
Cons
- Expensive compared with the competition.
Our pick for
Freelancers
FreshBooks
Learn more
on FreshBooks' secure website
Starting at
$17/month
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $30, $55, custom.
Promotion
30-day free trial
or monthly discount (terms vary).
FreshBooks supports automated mileage tracking, mobile invoice creation and receipt capture to log expenses — all key features that small-business owners can benefit from. But it's especially ideal for freelancers because it makes it easy to stay in touch with clients. The notifications tab shows when invoices have been paid or become overdue, and you can send clients messages from within the app. Messages might consist of payment reminders, a response to a client’s question or a request for feedback.
Pros
- View financial insights like total profit and outstanding revenue.
- Invoice clients, message them in-app and get notified when they view or pay invoices.
- Automatically track mileage and label trips as business or personal.
- Available for iOS and Android.
Cons
- Least expensive Lite plan doesn't include receipt scanning.
- Lite and Plus plans limit how many clients you can invoice.
Our pick for
Mobile-first features
Zoho Books
Learn more
on Zoho Books' secure website
Starting at
$0
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20, $50, $70, $150, $275.
Promotion
14-day free trial
of the Premium plan.
Zoho Books is part of the robust Zoho suite, which includes several business services at affordable price points. Its mobile-first features are what set its bookkeeping app apart, though. Take, for example, the ability to send invoices through iMessage or add widgets to your phone’s home screen so that you can easily access timers and overdue invoices lists. There’s also an Apple Watch app that lets you track time, send payment reminders and review outstanding invoices. Though you’ll have to download it separately, the in-house Zoho Expense app lets you track mileage via distance covered, point-to-point map locations, GPS or odometer reading, too. Other apps typically make only one or two of those methods available.
Pros
- View balance sheet, cash flow reports and income statements.
- Invoice clients and turn photos of their business cards into contacts.
- Add accounting widgets to your phone’s home screen; track time using your Apple Watch.
- Available for iOS and Android.
Cons
- To scan receipts and track mileage via GPS, you’ll need Zoho Expense, a separate app (free plan includes these features).
Our pick for
Employee access
Xero
Learn more
on Xero's secure website
Starting at
$15/month
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $42, $78.
Promotion
30-day free trial
or monthly discount (terms vary).
The Xero app is a good choice for entrepreneurs who need to give mobile access to multiple employees, so that they can submit expenses or invoice clients. Employees can download the Xero Me self-service app to submit expense claims for things like team lunches or gas. They can also view their personal information, such as contact and employment details. Administrators can assign employees specific permissions based on their roles to determine which information and features they can access.
Pros
- View profit and cash flow insights, including outstanding payments.
- Invoice clients via email or messaging app and know when they’ve viewed it.
- Xero Me app lets employees submit expenses and view personal information.
- Available for iOS and Android.
Cons
- Must subscribe to the most expensive Established plan to access mileage tracking. Users can plug in start and end locations after their trip, but they cannot use GPS to automatically track mileage as they drive.
- Must subscribe to the Established plan to access the receipt scanner.
Our pick for
Free accounting app
Wave Accounting
Starting at
$0
Free (Wave makes money via paid money management products).
Promotion
N/A
Wave, one of NerdWallet’s top free accounting software picks, has a convenient mobile app that lets you send invoices and view basic financial information, like overdue invoices and your taxable income for the fiscal year. More detailed reports, like a full profit and loss statement plus your balance sheet, are available in your Wave account, but not on the mobile app. While the app is free, you will incur fees if you choose to accept invoice payments online or scan receipts from the mobile app. The mobile receipts feature — which uploads your receipts and uses the information to create new expenses for you — costs $8 per month or $72 per year.
Pros
- View a profit and loss chart, invoicing details and total income and expenses.
- Create and send invoices to clients.
- Available for iOS and Android.
- Scan receipts and automatically generate new expenses for a monthly fee.
Cons
- No mileage tracking feature.
Our pick for
In-app messaging with your bookkeeper
Bench
Starting at
$299/month
Promotion
One free month of bookkeeping.
Unlike the accounting apps listed, Bench is an online service that outsources bookkeeping tasks for small-business owners. Instead of offering invoicing and mileage tracking, its bookkeeping app focuses more heavily on providing an array of reports and making it easy to communicate with your bookkeeper. For the most part, the service will take account reconciliation and transaction categorization off your plate, but you may have to leave notes about recategorizing a transaction every so often. The mobile app lets you do this from anywhere.
Pros
- View profit and loss insights, balance sheets, income statements and top 10 expenses.
- Send messages to your bookkeeping team.
- Categorize transactions and record notes for them.
Cons
- Available for iOS only.
- No invoicing, mileage tracking or receipt capture features.
How to choose accounting and bookkeeping apps
Generally, no accounting or bookkeeping software lives totally on an app. All our picks for the best accounting and bookkeeping apps accompany cloud-based software. Some or most features are available on the apps, but users will probably still need their computers for certain tasks.
The less cumbersome bookkeeping is, though, the easier it will be to keep up. Accounting and bookkeeping apps should feel intuitive, automate simple tasks and make it easy to track receipts and expenses on the go. Here are some other things to note when choosing the best app for your business.
What do you need to do from your phone?
Some tasks lend themselves to mobile, like tracking mileage, accepting in-person payments or uploading photos of receipts. Creating and sending estimates and invoices at a job site can be helpful, too.
If you prefer to work on your desktop computer or laptop, software that offers a fairly simple mobile app might be good enough. But if you’re mobile-first in other aspects of your business, then a powerful, intuitive mobile app might be more important.
What apps do you need to sync with?
Many accounting and bookkeeping software companies also offer payments or expense-tracking software, and you may need to use those apps in tandem for the full suite of services. For instance, if you use the Zoho Books app for bookkeeping, you’ll also need the Zoho Expenses app to upload photos of receipts.
If any other business apps or software programs are key to your operations, choose an accounting or bookkeeping app that integrates with those programs.
Do you have an Apple or Android phone?
Most, but not all, of our picks for best accounting and bookkeeping apps are available for both iOS and Android devices. Before subscribing to an accounting software product, make sure its app is compatible with your team’s mobile devices.
Methodology
The best accounting and bookkeeping apps should make it easy to do simple tasks, like invoicing or categorizing transactions, from your phone and provide a high-level overview of your business’s financial health. Each selection is a mobile app component of one of NerdWallet’s top picks for accounting software or online bookkeeping services.
To choose the best accounting apps, NerdWallet evaluated each option’s variety of reports and insights, invoicing capabilities, iOS and Android compatibility, mileage tracking features, and mobile receipt scanner. We also considered unique features, like the availability of an Apple Watch app or inventory dash, to determine the best use cases. For the best bookkeeping apps, we evaluated the ability to communicate with your bookkeeper or team of bookkeepers, as well as the option to view important reports on the go.
Last updated on August 18, 2023