News & World Report, as well as wrote and edited content about education financing and financial literacy for multiple online properties, e-courses and more. Ryan also previously oversaw the production of life science journals as a managing editor for publisher Cell Press. If you’re looking to expand your NCH software, you can upgrade to a more feature-rich version, the Express Accounts Plus Quarterly Plan, for $32.49 quarterly, or $10.83 per month. You can also opt for the Basic package for $99 per annum or $8.25 per month. Our research found that Wave is ideal for freelancers and accountants alike.

What are the important features of free accounting software?

Free accounting software is great—avoiding a monthly cost can seriously whittle down your business’s bottom line. And especially when you’re just starting up, $0 a month can be a non-negotiable budget for accounting software. Software should be able to track sales tax for multiple jurisdictions with varying tax rates.

NCH Express Accounts: Best Free Desktop Accounting Software

• Often, accounting programs that offer invoicing tools will charge a percentage fee when you receive a payment.
• Features include simple invoicing tools that let you customize and send invoices quickly.
• If you’re looking instead for the most basic free bookkeeping software for small business, we like Wave and Square Invoice.
• I’ve tested and reviewed a range of free accounting software to help you find the right fit for your organization.
• If Wave’s free features fall short, you’re also able to upgrade to its Wave Pro ($16 per month) for additional automatic bank transaction imports, unlimited receipt scanning, and advanced customer support.
• If you’re looking for software that can automatically take the money you owe out of your pot and give it to the correct recipients, you might have to pay for that.

Without those, you can’t use the tool to keep track of your company’s money. Lendio’s accounting tool, formerly known as Sunrise, is great for invoice automations. For sole proprietors and bookkeeping and payroll services those who don’t have a dedicated accounting department, Lendio can save you a lot of time and money. We invest in deep research to help our audience make better software purchasing decisions.

The platform has end-to-end accounting resources to handle the more monotonous, frustrating elements of this side of your business — including invoicing and raising sales orders. The program also has a client portal to help you seamlessly connect with your customers. In many cases, they‘re offered in the context of a “freemium” model — they essentially provide the bare essentials as a preview for a fully fleshed-out application. When leveraging a free accounting program, you’re likely settling for less until you can justify springing for the premium option. It’s ideal for freelancers, startups, and small businesses with basic accounting and bookkeeping needs. In this post, I’m going to share 11 top free accounting and bookkeeping software for small businesses.

Popular Features

GnuCash‘s initial setup and somewhat dated-looking interface might turn a lot of potential users off. But if you’re willing to tough out its tricky installation and don‘t need your accounting solution to be particularly pretty, you’re left with a solid application that covers a lot of bases for free. So in some cases, going with a free accounting solution might not be sustainable. GnuCash free accounting software is best for businesses that need to track investments and want software that’s compatible with Linux.

How We Evaluated Free Accounting Software for Small Businesses

GnuCash does require a solid understanding of both accounting and programming. It’s not the most intuitive option, so I wouldn’t recommend it for those without bookkeeping experience. For a free and more user-friendly alternative, Wave is a better choice. What I appreciate most is that it’s completely free to download and works on multiple operating systems like Linux and FreeBSD. Since it’s open-source, you can even customize it to add features beyond the standard version.

You’ll also be able to add unlimited income tracking, expense tracking, and guest collaborators for free. Plus, you’ll be able to invoice and scan receipts for free as well. Free accounting software often has fewer features and less automation than paid accounting software products. But most free options make it easy to generate basic reports — like a balance sheet — and some products automate bookkeeping tasks, like transaction categorizing and matching. Just as importantly, these products help ensure you’ll have all the records you need come tax time.

• NCH Express Account is another free accounting software that can be downloaded quickly to your Windows or Mac desktop at no cost.
• One of its best features is that it can integrate with other Zoho products, such as Zoho CRM, making it a good choice if you’re already using other Zoho software for your business.
• There is a fourth option, the Select option, where you can customize your plan based on what you want and don’t want, but you aren’t able to get a free trial of a Select plan.
• There are two offers namely Akaunting On-Premise and Akaunting Cloud.
• Otherwise, pricing for Zoho Books starts at $15 a month, which makes it a solid alternative to much pricier accounting solutions like QuickBooks Online.

However, the free plan has its limitations in integrations and A/P. Features like bill creation and recurring billing are reserved for higher-tier plans. The integrations are also somewhat restricted, though they might still meet the needs of some users. We provide different levels of support, depending on the plan and/or the add-on features you choose.

Customer Support

Features include easy cash flow tracking, which allows you to keep tabs on all your incoming and outgoing finances. You can generate invoices directly within the software, eliminating the need for a separate invoicing tool. This seamless integration of accounting and invoicing functions also helps you manage your financial records efficiently. The key is to balance the essential features you need with the Accounting For Architects scalability and user-friendliness of the software.

The app can do basically everything the software can (a rarity for any software provider, no matter the industry). If you work on the go, QuickBooks’s app, which includes mobile mileage tracking, might make it a good fit. Plus, Zoho’s full-fledged accounting software, Zoho Books, has a free plan for businesses that earn less than $50K USD per year. Coupled with Zoho Invoice, Zoho Books is a well-rounded and completely free solution for freelancers on a budget. Even if you can’t afford to pay for accounting software, you don’t have to manually track and organize your finances anymore. Instead, start using any of these free accounting software at zero cost.