5 best cloud accounting apps for private sector

QuickBooks Online

Overall the best software for business is QuickBooks Online. It starts from $10/monthly, has three plans to choose from. It saves your time with bank account automation and user-friendly interface. It is widely used by accountants and accounting firms and has integration with over 150 business apps. This software has one of the best customer support and users had very pleasant experience with customer service representatives. However, as any system QuickBooks online has its limitations. Most of the accounting software offers to its users’ mobile app, and you can do your accounting transactions when you away from your notebook or desktop. QuickBooks online has its own mobile app too, but it is limited: on iPad, you can view customer information, send invoices, add photos and accept e-signatures. No editing. On iPhones and Android devices, you can view customer data, send invoices, mark them as paid and see customer balances.

Xero

Xero is similar to QuickBooks, has a clean interface, it is user-friendly, has good customer service and has multiple integrations. Its Canadian version starts at $20/monthly and has three available different plans. It works perfectly not only on notebooks and desktops but also on any mobile devices. The only one drawback of Xero is that your accountant less likely to use it. Although a large number of accountant switched to Xero, QuickBooks is still more popular among accountants.

FreshBooks

If you are doing a lot of your business on the go, then the best app for you would be FreshBooks. It is the best value for your money with starting price of $12.95/monthly with unlimited invoices, expenses and time tracking. It has four plans to choose from and the price includes access to both the software and the mobile app. It is easy to use, with light and fast installation. It has very handy “Create new” button, which lets you create an invoice, expense or start time tracking, and it has a top bar with outstanding balance and it greets you with different motivational phrases. Overall, it is user-friendly and very intuitive which allows you to save your time.

Wave Accounting

Best free accounting software is Wave Accounting. Although it has visible ads, it is absolutely free. This software is the best fit for businesses that are starting out or are planning to stay small. It is perfect for self-employed (freelancers, entrepreneurs, consultants and very small businesses). It is very easy to use, fast to create an account and connect your bank accounts. You even can invite your accountant and share it with your partners. It has time-saving features like automatic billing and invoicing which includes a free subscription. You can also set up reminders to keep up with paid and unpaid bills. Wave Accounting automatically sync your bank data like QuickBooks and all you need to do is to assign a correct account to your transactions. Its dashboard has all the critical information you need, like your income, expenses, bank and credit card accounts, payables, receivables and more. However, Wave Accounting has its limitations as well. It has no customer support in the free version, no payroll (paid option will cost $15 per month).

Zoho Books

If your business is growing, then instead of paying for paid version of Wave Accounting, you might also consider another system called Zoho Books. It is a stronger alternative to Wave Accounting in paid version when your business has fewer than 10 employees. It costs $24/month, but offers the following features: better expense tracking than Wave Accounting, powerful inventory management, automated billable hours using a built-in time-tracking tool, it has way more advanced reports, it integrates with Google Apps, Dropbox, Google Drive and others. Another big winner of Zoho is customer support. It has its own mobile app, and it helps a lot if you are doing your business on the go. It is available for iPhone, iPad, all Android devices and Windows-based phones and tablets. The downsides of Zoho Books are poor third party apps integration, and lack of payroll in case if these features are important for your business.

This article does not cover full list of cloud software but rather compares most popular accounting software in the market available for using by the private small and mid-market companies.