Top 5 Best Accounting Services for Small Businesses

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How awesome is it that in today’s world that virtually anyone can be an entrepreneur?

Anything and everything can be built into a successful business if the owner has the passion, drive and the initiative anything from home building to flower shops- everyone loves flowers!!

Of course, there are challenges to face. You must send emails, advertise your business, create a website while trying to stay organized and keep things running smoothly enough so that you can focus on the one thing that every business needs – customers.

To help you as a small business owner I’ve slimmed down the long list of accounting services available so you don’t have to get stuck in the weeds and take time doing it yourself. I’ve chosen to focus on a few key issues that I deem to be vital.

Summary:

  • Freshbooks – for invoicing and freelancers
  • Wave Apps – free to start (but I stopped using this service which I explain in my video)
  • Quickbooks – what I use now

First is price. Money, after all, can make or break a business very quickly if it’s not spent in the right way. The 5 services that I’ve chosen are relatively inexpensive and yet still offer many features.

Second is ease. It must be easy to use and to navigate through. These services are as simple as a long stem rose vs. an extravagant wedding arrangement.

Last and most important to me was it must provide a strong SaaS, Software as a Service. Accounting services that come equipped with a good SaaS provides an ongoing service to the business owner allowing them the one thing often overlooked in business owning and that’s strategy. SaaS accounting services gives the owner a broader much larger pool of options to choose from. The business owner can then strategize and fine tune their records to better fit their business.

With this all being said let’s finally get down to the nitty gritty of each of these services I’ve chosen so that you can start cutting, watering and arranging your own flowers.

Wave Accounting – https://www.waveapps.com/

Signing up and starting with this service is incredibly easy and very fast. The base package is totally free and they don’t strong arm you with a “free” for now contract linking your credit card to them for the next 20 years. So, you can cut ties and part ways with no mess, but if you want more the base monthly fee is $15.00/per month plus $4.00 per employee and if you have more than 10 employees you’ll receive a price break.

The central dashboard feature is very nice and provides a clear path as you navigate between features. Overall the site is very clean looking with very little “extras” getting in the way while trying to focus on the task at hand.

Wave has partnered with myBestHelper –https://www.mybesthelper.com/ putting their SaaS, Software as a Service, to good use. MyBestHelper is a site where you can look for anything from a nanny, babysitter, housekeeper and even senior care. It links to your wave account allowing you the super cool option of counting those providers as an employee to simplify your home life as well.

Wave also has third party integration to link your wave account easily to PayPal, Shoeboxed or Etsy. You’ll be creating those table centerpieces even sooner.

ZoHo Books – https://www.zoho.com/us/books/

You get to try ZoHo Books for a 14 days trial. After that its inexpensive considering all its features. They have 3 packages to choose from. Basic is $14.00/per month. The Standard is $19.00/per month. But I’d go with the last option which is $29.00 per month. With this package, you get the inventory control feature which I believe is very important. This is one of the reasons I choose ZoHo Books as one of the 5 best accounting services. Not all accounting services offer this. ZoHo Books also offers the option of a timesheet feature which is a bonus as well.

This is an easy and clean site with a central dashboard feature which is very nice. It provides you with a snapshot overview of your business so you can see at a glance just where you stand.

ZoHo Books also has a great SaaS benefit connecting you to WePay, an online payment service that integrates with ZoHo Books and allows you to receive payments directly to your bank account.

Xero – https://www.xero.com/us/

The price of Xero is very affordable. It offers a 30-day free trial to get acclimated to their service which is nice since it allows a business to run through an entire monthly pay cycle as far as payments and income. They offer 3 different packages. A starter package of $9.00/per month, a Standard package of $30.00/per month and Premium at $70.00/per month. For businesses with 10 or more employees they also offer larger plans.

The central dashboard available in Xero is awesome and I love it more than any of the top 5 accounting services that I’ve chosen due to the fact that it’s layout is very familiar like most email services are set up. It feels very comfortable and easy to use. So, the roses in this option are beautiful.

Xero has an added feature that is very valuable. They offer a budget manager option to help you keep your business in line with expenses and spending. They also offer an “invite a user” option for your accountant, bank manager, director, coaches and employees.

Kashoo – https://www.kashoo.com/

You can’t get any simpler when it comes to signing up and rates. Kashoo gives you a 14-day free trial to try and easy to understand packages. A monthly subscription is $19.95 or you may choose to simplify even more by signing up a year at a time at $199.95.

The site is easy to maneuver and offers some very nice extras, even check printing. On the right side of your homepage it has a wonderful ledger broken down into categories for your bank account, unpaid bills and even your taxes with a current total, again keeping things simple. They even have a tech support button to so you can ask questions at any time. Love that. Kashoo also offers mobile apps so you can track you finances and update at any time. Now does that smell like roses or what?

Cheqbook – http://cheqbook.com/

This service has all the bells and whistles at an extremely affordable price. For a mere $9.87/per month, $19.87/per month, or $37.37/per month you will be able to manage every aspect of your business down to every nickel and dime.

Cheqbook has truly pulled out all the stops and thought and brought to you everything that you’d possible need or want in an accounting service. Income Expenses, Fixed Assets, Costs of Goods Sold, Payroll and Employee Costs, Equity to Long Term Liabilities are only a few of the subgroups available listed under the charts and accounts section. But that’s not all each of the above groups are even broken down further such as Gas and Fuel Expenses, Postage and even Uniforms all templated in the simplest most efficient way.

As a cool added feature Cheqbook will keep you in the loop with anything new happening in their software world by providing you with their Facebook feed.

Now that bouquet of flowers smells darn sweet!

In today’s world with the internet and technology it can be hard to sift and sort through it all sometimes but if you can you’ll likely find some gems for accounting services like the 5 I listed above.

I chose each of these services based on cost of their service, how easy they are to use, and integration or SaaS. I felt like these 3 things were important in running a small business.

Now the fun begins so get out there and build that house, sell that art, cater that meal or plant those flowers!

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