Retail accounting software can help you manage inventory, track taxes and sync sales across multiple channels. Which of those channels your business uses will likely determine the best option for you. Have a brick-and-mortar? You'll want accounting software that works with your POS system. If you sell online, make sure your choice integrates with your e-commerce platform.
On top of retail-specific features, look for all the basics you’d want in typical small-business accounting software — think reporting, online bank connections, live customer support and a mobile app.
Here are NerdWallet’s picks for best accounting software for small retail businesses, organized by the capabilities that make them stand out.
Our Nerdy picks for
Best Accounting Software for Small Retail Businesses
Product | Promotion | Learn more | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
QuickBooks Online Learn more on QuickBooks Online's secure website | 5.0/5 Best for Retail stores that sell online and in person | $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 |
Xero Learn more on Xero's secure website | 4.5/5 Best for Access for multiple employees | $13/month Additional pricing tiers (per month): $37, $70. | 30-day free trial or monthly discount (terms vary). | Learn more on Xero's secure website |
Zoho Books Learn more on Zoho Books' secure website | 4.0/5 Best for In-house e-commerce website builder | $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 |
Wave Accounting | 3.5/5 Best for Free accounting for invoice-based retail businesses | $0 Free (Wave makes money via paid money management products). | N/A | |
QuickBooks Enterprise | 4.0/5 Best for Advanced inventory tracking for larger brick-and-mortar stores | $1,410/year Additional pricing tiers (per year): $1,830; $2,250; $4,400. Adding users or cloud access costs extra. | 30-day free trial |
Our pick for
Retail stores that sell online and in person
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.
All QuickBooks Online plans include a built-in connection with an Amazon, Shopify or eBay e-commerce account — a convenient feature for retail shop owners who sell products on these platforms. QuickBooks Online also integrates with a variety of POS systems you might find in brick-and-mortars, like Square, Lightspeed Retail and ShopKeep. These built-in e-commerce connections plus POS system integrations make QuickBooks Online a good option for retail store owners with multiple sales channels.
QuickBooks Online’s robust feature set makes it versatile, too — it can be a good fit for very small retail businesses and growing ones alike. Whereas some competitors stand out for having excellent invoicing but potentially fall short in other categories, for instance, QuickBooks Online’s key features are solid across the board.
Pros
- Built-in Amazon, Shopify and eBay store connections.
- Set custom sales tax rates and track how much sales tax you owe.
- More than 750 app integrations, including Square, Lightspeed, Gusto and ADP.
- Daily phone support and 24/7 chat support in all plans.
Cons
- Expensive compared to the competition.
- Must subscribe to Plus plan (or higher) to track inventory and cost of goods sold.
Our pick for
Access for multiple employees
Xero
Learn more
on Xero's secure website
Starting at
$13/month
Additional pricing tiers (per month): $37, $70.
Promotion
30-day free trial
or monthly discount (terms vary).
For retail businesses that give multiple employees some level of access to their accounting software, Xero can be a big money saver. Whereas competitors often cap how many users can access the software or charge a monthly fee per additional user, all of Xero’s plans let you loop in as many users as you want. And you can assign them different permission levels: For example, one user might only be able to create invoice drafts and submit time entries, while another can view reports but not edit transactions.
Unlimited users aside, Xero also includes the most third-party integrations of the products listed here. Just keep in mind that some popular e-commerce store apps aren’t direct integrations, which means they may require extra steps to set up or charge additional fees. Still, the product can suit both online shops and physical storefronts alike.
Pros
- Unlimited users in all plans.
- Track up to 4,000 inventory items in all plans and calculate profit by item.
- More than 1,000 third-party app integrations, including Square, Lightspeed, Gusto and ADP.
- Set custom sales tax rates.
- Simple layout and easy to use.
Cons
- Entry-level plan limits bills and invoices to five and 20 per month, respectively.
- No phone number for customer support listed.
Our pick for
In-house e-commerce website builder
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.
If you’re looking to bundle your retail accounting software with additional business tools from the same provider, Zoho Books should be on your list of considerations. On top of its accounting software, Zoho has a range of other products — like Zoho Inventory, Expenses and CRM — that conveniently integrate with each other to form an all-in-one retail software solution.
Unlike some of its competitors, it offers its own online shop builder through Zoho Commerce, which starts at $27 per month. First, you choose a website template and add images of your products. From there, Zoho Commerce lets you accept payments, manage orders and shipping, automate emails to customers and gather product reviews in a single platform.
It’s also one of the most affordable business accounting solutions out there, with plans starting at $0 per month. It’s worth noting that although Zoho Books has two lower-level plans, many of the retail-specific features — sales orders, purchase orders, etc. — are only available with the Professional plan.
Pros
- Design and build your online shop with Zoho Commerce (additional fees apply).
- Free accounting plan available for businesses with less than $50K in annual revenue.
- Zoho Inventory features are integrated by default and include shipping labels, inventory reports and the ability to generate barcodes.
- Set custom sales tax rates and track how much sales tax you owe.
- Email support in free plan; 24/5 phone and chat support in paid plans.
Cons
- Fewer third-party integrations than some competitors; only direct POS and payroll integrations are Square, Zoho Payroll and SurePayroll.
Our pick for
Free accounting for invoice-based retail businesses
Wave Accounting
Starting at
$0
Free (Wave makes money via paid money management products).
Promotion
N/A
Wave can be a simple solution for entrepreneurs who operate their retail business out of their homes and do most of their sales via invoice, as opposed to through an online store or POS system.
Unlimited online bank connections enable business-related credit card transactions to flow seamlessly into Wave, and the software automatically sends invoice payment reminders to customers for you. The software also includes basic reporting, as well as income and expense tracking. You’ll only pay associated fees if you choose to utilize Wave’s online payment processing services or integrated payroll.
If you run a brick-and-mortar or online retail shop, however, Wave probably isn’t a good fit because of its lack of third-party integrations with common POS software or payment processors. Still, it can be an affordable option if, for example, you’re selling retail products on the side without an established storefront.
Pros
- Free.
- Unlimited users.
- Intuitive, customizable invoicing capabilities compete with those of more robust accounting solutions.
- Set custom sales tax rates and track how much sales tax you owe.
Cons
- Lack of third-party integrations makes it a poor fit for retail businesses that use in-store POS systems or want to sync online sales.
- Must subscribe to Wave’s paid services (payroll, payments, advisor, etc.) to receive customer support from a human.
Our pick for
Advanced inventory tracking for larger brick-and-mortar stores
QuickBooks Enterprise
Starting at
$1,410/year
Additional pricing tiers (per year): $1,830; $2,250; $4,400. Adding users or cloud access costs extra.
Promotion
30-day free trial
QuickBooks Enterprise has advanced inventory tracking and other industry-specific features you don’t typically find in competitors’ products. These can be valuable for larger small retail businesses that need more complex inventory tracking and pricing capabilities built in.
In addition to having a prebuilt chart of accounts tailored to retail businesses, Enterprise includes 14 retail-specific reports that calculate insights like gross margin by inventory item, monthly sales by customer and purchase volume by vendor. You can also track the cost of goods sold, adjust inventory for loss or shrinkage and create up to four inventory categorization levels to organize your items.
It’s important to remember that QuickBooks Enterprise is locally hosted unless you pay extra for cloud access, which starts at $171 per month for one user. If you operate multiple stores or an online business and want to be able to manage your finances from anywhere, a cloud-based retail accounting software might be a better fit.
Pros
- More than 200 reports, including industry-specific ones for retail businesses.
- Use mobile devices as barcode scanners to count inventory in the Platinum plan and up. Users can also track inventory parts and assemblies.
- Set up volume discounts and customize pricing rules by sales rep, item category or customer in the Platinum plan and up.
- Set custom sales tax rates and track how much sales tax you owe.
- 24/7 phone and chat support.
Cons
- Outdated user interface.
- Limited direct, third-party integrations for payroll software and popular point-of-sale systems. E-commerce integrations cost extra.
- Annual subscriptions are expensive; each additional user license costs extra.
How to choose retail accounting software
You can use any business accounting software for a retail business. This being said, certain accounting software solutions offer features that are better suited for small retail businesses than others.
The best retail accounting software should help you find opportunities to save money and boost profits. For example, by calculating the cost of goods sold and collecting sales data from your POS system or e-commerce website, your software can help determine which products are most profitable or, on the flip side, not worth producing anymore.
In addition to standard bookkeeping and accounting tools, here are a few important features retail businesses should consider when choosing accounting software:
Inventory management
Inventory is the lifeblood of a retail business, so it's extremely helpful to have inventory management tools integrated within your accounting software.
However, inventory management should expand beyond monitoring the merchandise you have in stock. Along these lines, you’ll want to look for accounting software that can determine:
- Your cost of goods sold.
- The profitability of each product you sell.
- How long your inventory sits on the shelves or in the warehouse before it’s sold.
- The rate at which your entire inventory turns in a given period.
- Shrinkage due to theft or damage.
Although your POS system might be able to take care of some of these functions, having these inventory tools in your retail accounting software can be more convenient.
Sales tax tools
Most states charge a sales tax, though certain items like medication, food and clothing may be exempt in your state. With the increased impact of online business on sales tax revenues, many states are passing laws requiring out-of-state retailers to collect and remit sales taxes. You’ll want to look for retail accounting software that can track sales taxes due and customize your sales tax rates.
» MORE: How sales tax deductions work
Sales channel integrations
If you have multiple sales channels — both online and offline — it’s important to choose an accounting product that has plenty of integrations with retail POS systems and e-commerce websites. That way, all of your sales data will be centralized in one place. This makes it easier to compare how your business is doing in one sales channel versus another. While browsing integrations, make sure to note whether they come with an additional monthly fee and factor that into your budget.
Payroll integrations
If you have employees operating your retail store, payroll software will be an important consideration. Although payroll isn’t unique to retailers, it’s often one of the biggest expenses these types of businesses incur. Your accounting software should handle your payroll correctly and efficiently, whether it’s through an integration or an in-house payroll product.
A version of this article was first published on Fundera, a subsidiary of NerdWallet.
Last updated on April 5, 2023
Methodology
NerdWallet’s accounting software ratings favor products that are easy to use, have a robust feature set and can grow with your business. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including scope of features and integrations, customer support and cost, among others. 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. Simplicity doesn't always translate into ease of use. Less scalable products are typically simpler, but diminished functionality can cause headaches down the road for growing businesses. We encourage you to research and compare multiple accounting software products before choosing one.
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