The Best Accounting Software for US Businesses

Zoho Books is the best overall accounting software for US businesses, offering core plans between $15–$60 per month alongside real-time inventory and automated expense tracking

In second place is QuickBooks, an especially great option for businesses looking for advanced reporting and analytics tools. That said, it’s not quite as easy to use as Zoho Books.

We’ve recommended five accounting software platforms in total, which suit a variety of businesses. No matter what type of business you run, accounting is a core part of it. The right accounting software can help you accurately keep track of incomings and outgoings, and submit timely tax returns.

The Best Accounting Software: Summary

Here’s a quick summary of the best accounting software systems for US businesses:

1. Zoho Books: Best Overall Accounting Software

• Price: From $0/month
• Free trial: 14 days
• Company overview: A cloud-based double-entry accounting software that automates core financial workflows, tracks day-to-day business operations, and maintains tax compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

Zoho Books is our top-rated accounting software due to its affordable core plans ($15–$60/month), real-time inventory tracking, and built-in fixed asset depreciation calculation. It also offers easy-to-use invoicing and expense management tools.

Zoho Books offers excellent inventory management features, allowing businesses to track inventory levels in real time. The system also calculates the depreciation of fixed assets, a feature not offered by competitors QuickBooks or FreshBooks. This makes Zoho Books well-suited to businesses that sell physical products.

When it comes to invoicing, Zoho Books offers easy-to-interpret templates and lets businesses set up recurring invoices and automate payment reminders, cutting down on manual work. The same can be said for expenses, with the platform offering automatic mileage calculation, receipt data capture and transaction rules to automate categorization for recurring expenses.

How much does Zoho Books cost?

Zoho Books costs $0 per month under its free plan, which offers a generous amount of features, including invoice creation, sales receipts, automated payment reminders, bank reconciliation, and more.

For more advanced features, Zoho Books offers the following paid plans:

• Standard ($15/month): Includes progress invoicing, sales tax tracking, recurring expense setup, transaction period locking, journal templates, and custom reports.
• Professional ($40/month): Includes sales and purchase order tracking, multi-currency transaction recording, project profitability, and inventory tracking.
• Premium ($60/month): Includes basic revenue recognition, profit margins, fixed asset management, cash flow forecasting, and custom domain setup.
• Elite ($120/month): Includes advanced revenue recognition, dashboard customization and advanced inventory control (like warehouse management and batch/shipping tracking).
• Ultimate ($240/month): Includes KPI tracking, 50+ pre-built data visualization, report collaboration, report embedding in sites/apps, and multi-source data analytics.

How did Zoho Books perform during hands-on testing?

Based on 57 hours of hands-on testing across 555 tasks, Zoho Books proved to be the easiest accounting software to use for non-experts.

Part of what made it easy to use was the clear sidebar dropdown menus and the email-inspired layout of quotes and invoices, which made for simple editing. We also liked that the system gave us prompts when an error was detected.

However, we did have trouble with a few tasks. For example, we couldn’t send out bulk reminders to clients, and the search function on Zoho Books also wasn’t great, since it required an exact match to come up with search results.

2. QuickBooks: Best for Reporting and Analytics

• Price: From $20/month
• Free trial: 30 days
• Company overview: Developed and marketed by Intuit, QuickBooks automates core accounting tasks, manages payroll, tracks income and expenses, and simplifies tax preparation.

QuickBooks is the top choice for reporting and analytics tools, as businesses can create custom reports from scratch – something FreeAgent and Zoho Books don’t allow. Plus, QuickBooks reports can be exported into a wide variety of formats, including Excel, PDF and Google Sheets, more than all competitors except Xero.

There’s also a great set of tools for financial forecasting and analysis. QuickBooks offers a cashflow projection tool, for example, that can also alert businesses about potential cash shortfalls or surpluses. Xero’s equivalent tool doesn’t do this, but FreeAgent’s and Zoho Books’ equivalents do.

On the automation side of things, QuickBooks has an AI tool, Intuit Assist, something Zoho Books doesn’t offer, which can create invoices based on existing handwritten notes, PDFs, photos or emails. Other tool automation features include automatic categorization of expenses and transactions through bank feed integrations, and automatic assignment of tax categories.

How much does QuickBooks cost?

QuickBooks’ pricing starts at $20 per month for its Solopreneur plan, providing basic features like income/expense tracking, mileage tracking, receipt capture, and quarterly estimated tax calculations. Its other plans include:

• Simple Start ($38/month): Custom estimates/invoices, income and expense tracking, tax categorization, basic reports, and sales tax automation.
• Essentials ($85/month): Everything in Simple Start, plus bill management/bill pay, time tracking, and multi-currency support.
• Plus ($140/month): Everything in Essentials, plus inventory tracking, project profitability tracking, and budgeting.
• Advanced ($340/month): All Plus features, as well as custom user roles/permissions, workflow automation, advanced batch transactions, depth reporting (via Fathom integration), and dedicated support.

How did QuickBooks perform during hands-on testing?

We found QuickBooks slightly more difficult to use than Zoho Books, but most basic tasks were quite easy.

QuickBooks’ invoicing tool was particularly easy to use, thanks to its clear, uncluttered layout. A bonus was the fact that we could view previews before sending off an invoice to a client.

That said, we had some trouble with tasks such as adding sales tax to invoices, since there was no obvious way to do this from the invoice we were working on. We had to go into a separate settings page and the help center didn’t offer instructions to help us along. We had a similar experience when trying to set up payment reminders for clients.

3. Xero: Best for Managing Complex Financial Needs

• Price: From $27/month
• Free trial: 30 days
• Company overview: Founded in New Zealand in 2006, Xero was built from the ground up as a cloud-native platform to challenge traditional desktop accounting software like QuickBooks Desktop.

Xero is the leading choice for complex financial management, providing advanced asset depreciation tracking, custom tax codes, and over 1,000 app integrations.

Xero allows users to input a high level of detail when creating quotes, invoices and client profiles, making it a great option for businesses with complex workflows. For example, you can assign unique IDs and a wide variety of tax codes to invoices and clients, helping you keep track of a large portfolio.

It also offers powerful reporting and financial forecasting tools, vital for established businesses looking to budget and invest, such as its cashflow projection tool. While it can’t issue alerts for shortfalls and surpluses like QuickBooks’ version, it can track fixed assets and their depreciation and/or amortization over time.

How much does Xero cost?

Xero starts at $27 per month under the Early plan. This gives you a range of essential features, including sending quotes and 20 invoices, the ability to accept online invoice payments, bank transaction reconciliation, real-time reports, sales tax, and a 30-day cash flow forecast.

You can also upgrade to the Growing plan for $59 per month, which gives you everything in the Early plan, plus automated bill entry and bill tracking, performance visualization, customizable performance dashboards, a 60-day cash flow forecast, tailored financial health scorecards, smart suggestion budgeting, and auto-reconciled transactions.

Finally, the Established plan costs $97 per month and adds a 180-day cash flow forecast, KPI and ratio analysis, multi-currency support, time/cost tracking for projects, employee expense and mileage claims, benchmarks, and international online bill payments.

How did Xero perform during hands-on testing?

Xero was quite challenging to use compared with other accounting platforms we tested. We found the dashboard quite cluttered and menu headings vague, which made it hard to find tools when first using the platform.

We also felt it could be better organized in terms of layout. Key features, such as quotes and invoices, are housed in different tabs, and we found that there were a lot of unnecessary fields interrupting the workflow and received poor visual feedback when actions were incomplete.

That said, we were able to complete essential tasks, such as creating bills and expenses, quite easily and, as we’ve noted, we were impressed by the level of detail we could include.

4. FreeAgent: Best Value for Money

• Price: $27/month
• Free trial: 30 days
• Company overview: Founded in Edinburgh in 2007 and acquired by NatWest Group in 2018, FreeAgent is designed specifically for freelancers, sole traders, contractors and micro-businesses.

FreeAgent is the best value for money – offering only one plan for $27 per month – but still with essential features like unlimited invoicing and financial forecasting tools.

Features businesses get access to with FreeAgent include a system that alerts users about potential cash shortfalls or surpluses, and a “what-if” scenario creator, which lets you evaluate future outcomes using the “Shortfall Prediction” tool. These are both features that are paid add-ons with QuickBooks, but are included at no extra cost with FreeAgent.

Its invoicing tool includes a timeline feature, which tracks the progress of an invoice until payment. You can also create invoices in up to 25 different languages, which is useful if you work in immigrant communities.

How much does FreeAgent cost?

FreeAgent costs $27 per month, though it’s currently offering 50% off for the first six months – taking the final price down to just $13.50 per month.

Alternatively, you can pay annually, which costs $270 per year. However, with FreeAgent’s current promotion, you get 50% off for the first year, making the price just $135.

Like QuickBooks and Xero, FreeAgent also offers a free trial for 30 days, letting you try out the platform at zero cost before you commit to its paid plan.

How did FreeAgent perform during hands-on testing?

We found FreeAgent generally quite easy to use. We had no trouble creating invoices and estimates, thanks to FreeAgent’s clear, pre-built templates. FreeAgent’s comprehensive end-of-year reports and tax reminders were also particularly suited to accounting beginners, since they were clear and simple.

However, we did have trouble with a few tasks. For example, we couldn’t locate features like payment reminders, customization options for invoice reminders and currency settings, and the search bar didn’t produce any results to help us find these features when we tested it.

5. FreshBooks: Best for New Businesses and Freelancers

• Price: From $23/month
• Free tiral: 30 days
• Company overview: Originally founded in Toronto, Canada, in 2003 as a simple invoicing tool, FreshBooks has grown into a full-featured double-entry accounting platform.

FreshBooks is the best accounting software for new businesses or freelancers since it’s easy to use, offers 24/7 customer support and is affordable, with plans costing between $23–$70 per month.

When it comes to features, FreshBooks’ invoicing tool is easy to use, and we liked that we could change settings directly from the page we were working on. FreshBooks’ mobile app also lets businesses easily track expenses on the go and comes with a mileage-tracking function for more accurate tracking and tax deduction calculation.

While FreshBooks’ reporting tools aren’t as advanced as those of its competitors, it offers enough for a small business just starting. There is a range of pre-built reports, including profit and loss, sales tax, and balance sheets, as well as expense reports and invoice summaries that help users keep track of their financial performance without the need for advanced accounting knowledge.

How much does FreshBooks cost?

FreshBooks costs from $23 per month for its Lite plan, offering up to five billable clients, unlimited estimates, unlimited and customizable invoices, automated recurring invoices, deposit acceptance, online card/digital wallet payments, unlimited time tracking and expenses, instant payouts, and more.

Next, FreshBooks’ Plus plan is $43 per month and gives you everything in Lite, plus unlimited proposals, client retainers, double-entry accounting reports, bank reconciliation, accountant access, automatic receipt data capture, and direct email receipts to your account.

You can also get the Premium plan for $168 per month, which adds automatic bill receipt data capture, project profitability, and accounts payable.

Alternatively, you can contact a FreshBooks consultant to get a tailored plan specifically for your business. This gives you the features available in Premium, plus lower credit card transaction fees, customized onboarding services, access to dedicated phone support, and more.

How did FreshBooks perform during hands-on testing?

We found FreshBooks easy to use. During testing, we were particularly impressed by the layout of its quotes and invoices, since we could edit settings directly on the page we were working on, and buttons for converting quotes to invoices were placed in highly visible spots. The overall menu layout and signposting were also very clear.

That said, we encountered issues when using FreshBooks’ emailing tool. It wasn’t clear how to send messages to clients and we didn’t get much of a warning before messages were sent off, which could lead to accidental sends.

Buying Guide: How to Choose Accounting Software

When choosing an accounting software system for your business, it’s important to weigh your needs against cost, features and ease of use, among other factors.

Here’s what we recommend you consider:

Features

How the features match up against your business’s needs is probably the most important aspect of choosing accounting software. You should ask yourself what you want to use the software for. Is it for simple bookkeeping (i.e. tracking outgoings and incomings) and tax returns? Or do you want a system that can generate financial projections to help you plan for the future?

Costs

Cost is always going to be a factor when choosing software. Luckily, most accounting software providers have plans that start in the $20-$25 per month range and don’t charge per user, making them accessible for businesses on a budget. That said, always evaluate features against price, since you might find the same tools for slightly less with a competitor.

We also recommend looking at the price of upgrading, to make sure the accounting software you choose is one you can afford to have grow with you.

Ease of use

Ease of use is an important factor when choosing a small business’s accounting software. Most business owners/operators aren’t professional accountants, so we recommend prioritizing software that’s easy to use, especially if it’s your first time using accounting software.

If you do have prior experience and are looking to switch accounting software, then ease of use won’t count for much, especially if you’re focused on gaining access to more advanced features.

Mobility and accessibility

This probably isn’t the first factor to come to mind, but it’s important to consider how and where you work, and whether your accounting software adapts to you. If you’re busy and on the go, we recommend choosing software with a solid mobile app that has virtually all the features the desktop app has, so you can manage accounting from anywhere.

You should also think about your clients. Do you want/need to be transparent about your finances with them? If so, we recommend choosing accounting software with a client portal, where clients can view and interact with data.

Integrations

Accounting software probably isn’t the only type of business software you’ll be using. It’s not necessary for all your business software to integrate, but if you use technology, such as payroll software or an online store, choosing an accounting platform that can integrate with other systems will make sure no data gets lost.

Methodology: How We Test Accounting Software