Here is a list of easy-to-use accounting software for freelancers, and how to choose the right option for your business.
As a freelancer, it’s not easy to handle accounting if you are a nonaccountant. That’s why you need freelance accounting software that will take care of your financial details to focus on your business’s growth.
However, the best accounting software should have expense tracking, project and time tracking, expense tracking, and above all it should have a low learning curve and be easy to use for nonaccountants.
There are tons of accounting software without monthly subscriptions for small business owners and freelancers. But how do you trust which accounting software to use to handle your client’s information, and sync your baking details?
We’ve narrowed down the list of the best accounting software for self-employed and freelancers with its pros/features and cons.
Table of Contents
How does accounting software improve productivity?
Whether you’re about to start your freelancing career or have been in the business for years, there is numerous advantage to using accounting software.
Here are some benefits of accounting software for small businesses to keep in mind.
- Tax filing Made Simpler
- Templates for Generating Quick Invoices
- Cross-platform integration
- Create financial statements quickly and accurately
- Manage Inventory Through a Single Platform
Also Read:
- Top 5 CRM for Freelancers in 2023
- Top 3 All-In-One CRM For Solopreneurs
- Honeybook vs Quickbooks- Which Is Better?
- Honeybook Review 2023| Best CRM For Freelancers
Best accounting software for freelancers:
1. QuickBooks
Quickbooks is one of the best accounting software for freelancers.
It is cloud-based accounting software and has a very low learning curve. Great features like receipt tracking, automatic bank reconciliation, and expense categorization (by tax category) help self-employers maximize earnings.
Quickbooks Self-employed is amazingly easy to use and helps you to calculate your estimated tax, track your mileage, and find other deductions for easy tax filing.
On top of the tax support, it also helps freelancers to track their income and expenses.
In contrast to other accounting software, Quickbooks does not limit you to a certain amount of billable clients per month. You can send unlimited invoices to unlimited clients with automatic payment reminders too.
Pros
- Best for freelancers and self-employed
- TurboTax integration
- User-friendly dashboard
- Scalable
- Easy Integration with third-party applications
- Cloud-based
- Track miles with a mobile app automatically
Cons
- Comparatively high entry-level pricing
- The cheaper plan does not include bill management or time tracking feature
- Poor customer service
- Only the plus version offers project profitability tracking
2. Zoho books
Next up on our list of best accounting software for freelancers is Zoho Books.
Zoho books is the best free accounting software for freelancers in 2022. Along with bookkeeping basic (mileage tracking, customizable invoice, etc) Zoho books also offers features that most accounting software does not even include in their basic subscription plans.
This accounting platform is part of Zoho’s suite of products which includes CRM ( customer relationship management) toll and email inbox. Zoho is the best CRM platform if you want to manage everything in a single platform.
Honestly, if you’re not impressed by the monthly starting prices of QuickBooks, Zoho Books is a great accounting software alternative. It’s a great option if you need to accept foreign payments in foreign currencies. Most accounting software (Quickbooks) does not support multicurrency with their basic plan.
Pros
- Manage sales tax collections
- Track time and expenses
- Track project profitability
- Easy task automation
- Multicurrency support with multilingual invoicing options
Cons
- Additional charge for receipt capture
- Limited third-party app integration
- Plan-limited invoicing (1,000 per year with a free plan)
3. Bonsai
One of the best all-in-one business solutions for freelancers is Bonsai, for a reason. At the same time, bonsai offers a lot more features than just accounting (read the full review of bonsai).
Read More: Hello Bonsai Review, Is it worth it for freelancers?
Technically, Bonsai is not just accounting software; it’s a kind of CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Still, it’s more of a freelance product suite where you can send proposals, create invoices, track time, manage client relationships, create onboarding forms, and much more in a single platform.
Pros
- Good customer support
- Strong mobile apps
- Best user interface
Cons
- No Bank Reconciliation
- It does not provide a chart of accounts
4. Freshbooks
Freshbooks is best for comprehensive and customizable invoices; trust me, its invoicing features are hard to beat.
This makes it the best accounting software for project-based freelancers and contractors to send invoices, and proposals, track time and receive client payments.
Every FreshBooks subscription plan lets you send unlimited quotes. Freshbook offers automatic recurring and saveable client payment information to save time and get you paid faster. It can also send late payment reminders and automatically add scheduled late fees to clients’ invoices.
Pros
- Free Cloud-based accounting software
- User-friendly interface
- Easy Third-party app integration
- Advanced invoicing features
- Track mileage on the mobile app
- Track working hours and project expenses and add them to invoices
Cons
- A required premium plan for unlimited billable clients
- No expense or income tracking by class
- Must connect the bank account to track checking transactions accurately
- No bank reconciliation with the cheapest plan
- No double-entry accounting with the most affordable plan
