Introduction

Bookkeeping Software records and manage various financial transactions. It keeps track of income, expenses, assets, liabilities, and equity. Accountants use this software to manage their finances more accurately and effectively. 

Standard Bookkeeping Software looks after invoicing, expense, and inventory tracking and prepares financial reports for a business. Let’s take a deep dive into bookkeeping software, its benefits, and things you should consider before onboarding software in your organization.

Read More: A Comprehensive Guide of Bookkeeping

List of TOP 10 bookkeeping software

Below are the best bookkeeping software in 2023.

1. NetSuite
2. QuickBooks
3. Xero
4. FreshBooks
5. ZohoBooks
6. Wave
7. Sage Intacct
8. SAP Business One
9. BlackLine
10. Acumatica

10 Best bookkeeping software – explained in detail

You should record financial transactions to manage your business’s financial health. Spreadsheets or more sophisticated bookkeeping software can help you track such transactions. Take a look at the top ten popular bookkeeping software on the market.

1. NetSuite

NetSuite records transactions, manages payables and receivables, collects taxes, and helps a company close its books. It helps enterprises report on financial transactions on time and gives executives more control over financial assets. You can quickly drill into specifics to address problems with real-time access to financial data.

It allows organizations to comply with regulatory standards like generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX), etc.

Why should one choose NetSuite?

NetSuite offers a comprehensive suite of applications for managing financials, inventory, customer relationships, and more. One of the key advantages of NetSuite is its automation capabilities. NetSuite also offers multi-currency support, making it easier for companies that operate in different regions or countries to manage their finances.

Features

While lowering back-office expenses and enhancing corporate performance, NetSuite effortlessly integrates core accounting and finance operations with effective compliance management.

Some of the common features offered by Netsuite are:

• General ledger helps accountants tailor account types, transactions, and reporting segments to match specific business needs
• Cash management enables Finance teams to have complete visibility over the company’s cash flow
• Fixed assets management allows companies to manage and oversee the lifetime of depreciating and non-depreciating assets, from creation through disposal. 
• Tax management empowers businesses to manage domestic and international taxes with the help of a single, user-friendly solution.

Pros and cons

Netsuite Pros	Netsuite Cons
Useful features	Not applicable to some countries’ policies and laws (G2)
Robust and flexible	Unclear permissions (G2)
Easy to use and customizable	Outdated fixed asset management software (G2)

Pricing

NetSuite’s core platform, extra modules, and the number of users are the three key parts that make up your license. The platform charges one-time implementation fees for the initial setup. 

The NetSuite platform license includes accounting functionality. The company hasn’t revealed the pricing on its website. Users can contact them to get the pricing based on their requirements.

Quick Read: 9 Best Accounting Software for Small Business

2.  QuickBooks

QuickBooks specializes in financial and tax preparation software and is available in several versions, including desktop and cloud-based solutions, to meet the needs of different types of businesses. 

Why should one choose Quickbooks?

QuickBooks is easy to use, with an intuitive interface that makes it easy for non-accountants to manage their finances. Furthermore, it offers a range of features for businesses to better manage their finances. 

Features

Some key features of QuickBooks include:

• Reports and insights include cash flow planning, project profitability, reports, and tag transactions
• Real-time tracking involves inventory, mileage tracking, e-commerce, enter time, and receipt capture
• Money in provides insights into business funding, income, payments, invoicing, and estimates
• Money out manages bills, expenses, sales taxes, and vendor payments

Pros and cons

QuickBooks Pros	QuickBooks Cons
Convenient and user-friendly	Unstable banking connections (G2)
Tracking cost per job	Poor support (G2)
Several versions of QuickBooks	No update purchase option (G2)

Pricing

QuickBooks online provides its users four different packages, namely: Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, Advanced. Below is a snapshot of features that come with the respective subscription plan.

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3. Xero

Xero provides a comprehensive solution for small and medium-sized businesses to manage their finances. It integrates with third-party apps and services, such as payment gateways, inventory management systems, and CRM tools, to provide a complete business solution.

Why should one choose Xero?

Choosing Xero as your accounting and bookkeeping software can bring many benefits to your business. One of the main advantages is its user-friendly interface. As your business grows and evolves, Xero can grow with you. 

Xero gives your business the tools and insights you need to manage your finances more effectively, saving time and improving your bottom line.

Features

Xero’s comprehensive set of features helps businesses manage their finances efficiently and effectively, saving time and improving financial performance. Xero offers several features like:

• Tracking income and expenses to record every transaction
• File exports to share transactions records in bulk
• Reporting and dashboards to deliver actionable insights into financial data
• Payroll to process employee payments while complying with a company’s norms and other regulations

Pros and cons

Xero Pros	Xero Cons
Beginner friendly	Lack of reporting ( G2)
Needs no prior experience or knowledge	Poor search capability (G2)
Ability to integrate with third-party applications	Only available as a cloud-based solution (G2)

Pricing

Xero offers three pricing packages: Starter/Early, Standard/Growing, and Premium/Established. Below is a snapshot of features that come with respective subscription packages.

Quick Read: Understanding the Differences Between Bookkeeping and Accounting

4. FreshBooks

FreshBooks is a cloud accounting software for small, growing businesses and self-employed professionals. It provides comprehensive and user-friendly accounting and bookkeeping capabilities that help them manage their finances more efficiently and effectively.

Why should one choose FreshBooks?

With customizable templates, automated payment reminders, and online payment options, FreshBooks simplifies the invoicing process, allowing businesses to get paid faster and more easily. The software also provides robust expense tracking features and add-ons, making it easy to categorize expenses and prepare for tax season.

Features

FreshBooks offers a lot of features to its users. Some of them are:

• Expert bookkeeping service to aid tax preparation
• Automated workflows to easily manage financial operations while reducing manual work
• Automated payment reminders to nudge clients for pending payments 
• Tax advisory service to keep businesses 100% compliant

Pros and cons

FreshBooks Pros	FreshBooks Cons
Ease of tracking and reporting payments	Complicated platform (G2)
Suitable for freelancers	Not developed for large companies (G2)
Perfect for invoicing	Users can no longer create tickets and convert them into invoices (G2)

Pricing

FreshBooks offers three pricing plans to its users: Lite, Plus, Premium and also an option to customize the pricing. 

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5. Zoho Books

Zoho Books is designed for small and medium-sized businesses to manage their finances and accounting processes. It helps companies manage core accounting, bank reconciliations, and stock tracking while complying with GST or other tax regulations.

Why should one choose Zoho Books?

Zoho Books offers invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, project management, inventory management, financial reporting, and more. Users can also integrate Zoho Books with other Zoho applications and third-party applications such as PayPal and  Stripe. 

Features

Some of the features of Zoho Books include:

• Customer portal allows customers to make bulk payments, share recent transactions, quicken the estimate approval process, collect customer feedback, and more.
• Project management helps customers make the most of billable hours. You can use the timer widget to track your time on a project or keep a daily or weekly time diary.
• Mobile application enables users to utilize the iOS and Android applications to manage accounting on the move.

Pros and cons

Zoho Books Pros	Zoho Books Cons
Clear layout	Some setup items, like opening account balances, are not as straightforward (G2)
Intuitive and easy-to-navigate software	Lack of advanced features (G2)
Security and feasibility	Doesn’t run without internet (G2)

Pricing

Zoho Books offers Free, Standard, Professional, Premium, Elite, and Ultimate plans. Below is a snapshot of the features that come with the respective plan.

Quick Read: 10 Best Expense Management Software

6. Wave

Wave is a small business accounting software that helps companies manage their finances, including invoicing, expense tracking, payroll accounting, and reporting. It provides 1:1 calls with accounting and bookkeeping experts to address your challenges.

Why should one choose Wave?

One of the key benefits of Wave is its ease of use. The software is designed with small business owners in mind, so it has a simple, intuitive interface that makes it easy to start. Businesses can set up an account and start using the software quickly and easily, without the need for extensive training or technical expertise. 

Wave also offers a range of features that can help businesses save time and improve their financial management. 

Features

Wave helps businesses streamline their financial management and improve their financial performance. It enables businesses to focus on their core operations and grow their businesses more effectively. With Wave, you can add and improve capabilities in:

• Invoicing allows your team to create and upload invoices faster
• Payments help process transactions made through online credit cards and bank payments.
• Accounting features keep tabs on your earnings and spending
• Payroll enables you to pay yourself, your team, and others instantly

Pros and cons

Wave Pros	Wave Cons
It’s free and perfect for small businesses	Improvements come along slowly (G2)
Can easily duplicate invoices	Poor customer service (G2)
Easy bank and credit card reconciliation	Cannot download monthly reports (G2)

Pricing

You can use Wave bookkeeping and banking tools together or separately for maximum control of your business finances. Here’s an overview of several subscription options rolled out by the company.

Quick Read: 12 Best Invoicing Software

7. Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct automates and streamlines financial operations, reduces costs, and improves productivity. From purchasing to reporting, the software manages several processes involved in maintaining and closing a company’s books.

Why should one choose Sage Intacct?

Sage Intacct offers a range of automation features, such as automated journal entries, bank reconciliations, and inter-company transactions, which can help businesses reduce errors and increase efficiency. It provides powerful reporting and analytics tools that enable businesses to gain insights into their financial performance and make data-driven decisions.

Features

Features of Sage Intacct include: 

• Reporting and analytics provide financial statements, custom reporting, and dashboards
• Functional platform offers customization, user, role, and access management, performance & reliability, and output document generation
• Integration helps enterprise to import and export data from connected software

Pros and cons

Sage Intacct Pros	Sage Intacct Cons
Scalable & flexible	Poor user pricing (G2)
Dashboards and customized reporting	Lack of visibility of the vendors and invoices (G2)
Comprehensive system	Steep learning curve (G2)

Pricing

Sage Intacct website doesn’t have the pricing listed. However, users can request the pricing through the website. 

Quick Read: 10 Best Finance Software

8. SAP Business One

SAP Business One streamlines business operations, including financial management, sales and customer management, purchasing and operations, inventory and distribution, and reporting and analytics.

Why should one choose SAP Business One?

One of the key advantages of SAP Business One is its ability to streamline processes and workflows across multiple departments and functions, from finance and accounting to sales and customer management, procurement and inventory management, and reporting and analytics.

Features

Features of SAP Business One include:

• Purchasing and Inventory control to manage the entire order-to-pay cycle, including receipts, invoices, returns, and payments, to optimize purchasing procedures and keep costs under control
• Business intelligence utilizes analytics and reporting tools to produce accurate and timely reports based on corporate-wide data
• Mobility allows instant access the most pertinent information to help you run your business from anywhere, at any time, with SAP Business One mobile app 
• In-memory platform optimizes decision-making across your organization with an in-memory platform

Pros and cons

SAP Business One Pros	SAP Business One Cons
Designed for small and medium enterprises	Not low-cost solution (G2)
Robust program that scales as the organization grows	Smaller businesses can not take full advantage of the various features (G2)
Covers all aspects of business, including financial and non-financial	The non-availability of data entry features (G2)

Pricing

Pricing is not mentioned on the official website. However, users can contact them and request a quotation from the SAP team based on their needs and wants from the bookkeeping software.

Quick Read: 6 Best Cash Flow Management Software

9. BlackLine

Blackline is a cloud-based accounting and bookkeeping software that helps companies solve financial close management,  account reconciliation, and various other bookkeeping tasks. The software uses automated workflow to streamline processes while improving the efficiency of overall finance operations.

Why should one choose BlackLine?

BlackLine’s automation tools can streamline and accelerate financial processes, enabling your finance team to focus on more strategic tasks. It also integrates with various ERP systems, making it easier to adopt without disrupting the existing infrastructure.

Features

• Reporting and analytics offers custom reports and dashboards
• Integration helps sync data in various systems to ensure 360-degree visibility of entire financial data. 
• Reconciliations automate reconciliation, matching transactions, and identifying discrepancies to ensure data accuracy and compliance.
• Task management helps users organize, track, and manage tasks related to the financial close process, improving visibility and accountability.

Pros and cons

BlackLine Pros	BlackLine Cons
Auto certification	Longer implementation time (G2)
Easy to perform multiple reconciliations	Unwanted columns in the list of tasks (G2)
Constant improvement and additions	Complicated user interface (G2)

Pricing

BlackLine doesn’t mention its pricing on the official website. However, you may request a quote based on your requirements.

Quick Read: 10 Best Business Budgeting Software

10. Acumatica

Acumatica is designed to help businesses manage their finances. It integrates with other applications and services, such as payment gateways, inventory management systems, and CRM tools, to provide a complete business solution.

Why should one choose Acumatica?

Choosing Acumatica as your ERP solution can benefit your business. One of the main advantages is its flexibility and scalability, allowing you to customize the software to suit the needs of your business and add or remove modules as your needs change.

Acumatica’s customizable dashboard lets you view and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) in real time, providing insights into your business’s financial health and overall performance. 

Features

• General Ledger includes journal entries and audit trail
• Accounts receivable facilitate invoice customization & AR automation
• Accounts payable involves payment processing of purchase orders
• Tax management ensures timely payment of taxes while proving compliance

Pros and cons

Acumatica Pros	Acumatica Cons
Flexible online cloud-based platform	Format of pages (G2)
Powerful and simple interface	Third-party integrations and customizations add complication (G2)
Better web-based ERP experience	Heavy and resource-expensive auditing (G2)

Pricing

The company hasn’t disclosed the pricing on its website. They encourage potential buyers to request a quote to provide customized pricing based on their requirements and business needs.

Quick Read: 10 Best Business Management Software

What is bookkeeping software?

Bookkeeping software does the heavy lifting of managing and tracking financial transactions. It involves streamlining and automating various accounting tasks, such as tracking income and expenses, creating financial statements, and handling tax obligations. 

Bookkeeping platforms provide real-time access to financial data, improve accuracy, and allow leadership to make better decisions. An intuitive interface and user-friendly features of the software cater to users with diverse levels of accounting knowledge.

Some bookkeeping solutions are designed for small businesses, while others cater to larger enterprises, offering advanced functionality and integration with other business management systems.

Types of bookkeeping software

Listed below are several types of bookkeeping platforms available on the market.

• Cloud-based bookkeeping software allows users to access financial data and reports through the Internet.
• Desktop bookkeeping software installs on a computer and manages financial data locally. It’s typically more powerful than cloud-based software. However, it requires more technical expertise to maintain.
• Mobile-based bookkeeping software provides the tool’s access through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. They offer a convenient and efficient way to manage their finances on the go, improving accessibility, real-time updates, and time-saving automation.

Importance of bookkeeping software

A bookkeeping tool streamlines financial management and provides real-time visibility into a company’s finances. It lets businesses make informed decisions about budgets, expenses, and cash flow. It helps businesses produce better cash flow forecasts and keep a company’s financial health in check.

Moreover, bookkeeping platforms help organizations ensure compliance with accounting standards like Generally Accepted accounting principles (GAAP) and tax regulations (GST), reducing risks of penalties and legal issues.  As a business grows, your bookkeeping needs will evolve. Choosing software that can scale with your needs and provide businesses with various other benefits is best.

Quick Read: A Comprehensive Guide of Budgeting and Forecasting

Benefits of using bookkeeping software

Below are some key benefits of using bookkeeping software in an organization.

• Efficient bookkeeping. Automation capabilities help eliminate manual data entry and save time. It minimizes human errors while ensuring data is accurate and up-to-date.
• Easier accessibility.  With bookkeeping software, organizations can access real-time financial data and make informed business decisions. You can customize the bookkeeping tools based on needs and scale the solution as your business expands.
• Comply with regulations. Bookkeeping software helps you comply with taxation laws. Organizations can generate relevant reports and calculate taxes in a better way. 
• System integrations. Businesses use various software like CRMs, payroll, and solutions to track inventory. Bookkeeping software integrates with these tools to create a more connected business software stack. 

Features of bookkeeping tools

Bookkeeping platforms typically offer a range of features to help businesses manage their financial data and streamline accounting processes.

Below are some of the common features.

• Financial transactions allow users to record financial transactions such as income, expenses, and payments
• Invoicing enables businesses to create and send invoices to customers, as well as track payments and outstanding balances
• Reconciliation automatically reconciles expenses with accounting records, helping to ensure the accuracy
• Accounts payable and receivable features track accounts payable and receivable, allowing businesses to manage outstanding invoices and payments
• Financial reporting generates balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements, empowering businesses to gain insights into their financial health

Factors to consider when choosing bookkeeping software

Below are some factors you should consider when selecting bookkeeping software:

• Evaluate the features and functionality. Ensure the software meets the specific needs of your business. For example, you may need software with inventory management capabilities if you have inventory.
• Ease of navigation. If the software is too complicated to use, it may result in errors or decreased efficiency.
• Integration options. Look for software that integrates well with other systems, like banking or payroll systems, to save time and reduce errors by automating data transfer.