Best Free Bookkeeping Software Downloads
Free Edition 2010
- License
- buy Download
- Platform
- Windows
Powerful accounting app for small businesses
177 votes- PROS: Clear interface, Thoroughly documented, Includes testing data to start using it
- CONS: Design could be improved
varies-with-device
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
Free Software for Financial Wizards
7 votes- PROS: Free to download and use, Packed with useful features
- CONS: Transactions may be duplicated, Non-profit fund accounting unavailable
Beta 2.0
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
Elohai is a free accounting software for home and small business
23 votes7.01
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
Free accounting software for small business.
30 votes2.4.11
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
Open source alternative to manage home finances
103 votes- PROS: Easy accounting for home or small business, Includes loads of preset categories, Can import data from other accounting apps, Intuitive configuration wizard
- CONS: It takes almost 300 MB in your hard drive
5.23
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Mac
Use this professional business accounting software to help your small business keep track of your finances.
1 vote8
- License
- free
- Platform
- Web Apps
Sales and time tracking, invoicing, and accounting for small business
5 votesv6.0.7
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Windows
Manage your small-business finances quickly and easily
No votes yet3.8
- License
- buy Download
- Platform
- Mac
General ledger and payroll accounting software
2 votes- PROS: Simple and functional, Doesn't take much working out, Suitable for small businesses
- CONS: Doesn't feature any setup wizards for first time spreadsheets, Limited accounting features
7.01
- License
- buy Download
- Platform
- Windows
Accounting software for small business.
10 votesvaries-with-device
- License
- free
- Platform
- Web Apps
Alternative to QuickBooks with 30-day free trial
No votes yet- PROS: Automation, Value
- CONS: Geared towards SMBs, Limited free option
1.8.1
- License
- buy Download
- Platform
- Mac
Bill - Invoice with ease and precision for free
No votes yet- PROS: Quick and easy invoicing, Built in templates, Free to use, Doesn't require any technical skill
- CONS: Paid version doesn't support template customisation, Only suited for very small businesses, Limited in that it only allows for invoicing, Customizing templates is time consuming
varies-with-device
- License
- free
- Platform
- Web Apps
Simple accounting and financial software
No votes yet- PROS: Simple to use , All finances in one place
- CONS: No free version , More suited for small business
varies-with-device
- License
- free
- Platform
- Web Apps
Handy Tool for Office Management
No votes yet- PROS: Makes managing tasks easy, Comes with a mobile app
- CONS: Certain features require extra payment, Layout and design are rather messy
varies-with-device
- License
- free
- Platform
- Web Apps
Free Software for Accountants
No votes yet- PROS: Import and export options are good, Strong multiple payment gateways
- CONS: Not that many features, Only free for thirty days
5.23
- License
- free Download
- Platform
- Mac
Mac accounting software for small business.
No votes yet11.00.07
- License
- buy Download
- Platform
- Windows
Invoicing and accounting system for small companies
829 votes- PROS: Makes accounting and invoicing easy, Includes own e-mail client for invoicing, Lots of instructions to get going
- CONS: Takes a long time to get to grips with initially, Doesn't feature faxing options
1.5
- License
- buy Download
- Platform
- Windows
Get your small business organized and running efficiently
No votes yet
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| # | Name | Version | Votes | Rating | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WinOmega | 11.00.07 | 829 | 8.6 | Windows |
| 2 | Express Accounts Free | 7.01 | 30 | 6.5 | Windows |
| 3 | GnuCash | 2.4.11 | 103 | 6.3 | Windows |
| 4 | Elohai Free Accounting | Beta 2.0 | 23 | 5.9 | Windows |
| 5 | QuickBooks Simple Start | Free Edition 2010 | 177 | 5.6 | Windows |
1. What is accounting software?
Accounting software helps users manage and automate an organization's financial functions and transactions with modules including accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, billing, and general ledger. Integrated accounting applications allow for comprehensive, real-time analysis of an organization's financial status including cash flow and expense management.
2. The benefits of accounting software
- Cost savings: Outsourcing has been the traditional approach for managing small business accounting, which adds to the operational expenses of the business. An accounting solution helps small businesses bring the accounting functions in-house, thereby reducing the total price tag.
- Improved process efficiency: Accounting involves a lot of paperwork and manual data entry, which is time consuming and can be prone to human error. By digitizing financial paperwork, an accounting solution helps small businesses reduce the time it takes to process financial transactions such as expense management, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. Moreover, an accounting solution ensures that there is no error in calculations or discrepancy in records.
- Easier tax compliance: Tax management for small businesses also involves a lot of documentation and paperwork. Small businesses need to make sure that all their tax forms are submitted on-time in order to avoid penalties due to delayed filings. Accounting software uses the financial and accounts information stored in the system, thereby making this process easier and free from human errors.
3. Typical features of accounting software
- Accounts payable (AP): Automates invoice capture, approval management, and authorization processes. The transaction information is reflected in the accounts payable and general ledger tables.
- Accounts receivable (AR): Tracks customer credits related to payments and purchases. This information is reflected automatically on the general ledger.
- Bank reconciliation: Matches 'credits' and 'debits' in an account to help businesses spot and correct discrepancies and missing entries in a record.
- Financial reporting: Provides a graphical representation of data in accounting systems. These reports include sales reports, AP/AR, and cash flow analysis.
- General ledger: Lists the accounts payable and accounts receivable information in a table. It also summarizes assets, equity, expense, and revenue information for each account.
- Billing and invoicing: Creates invoices based on customer records, prints and sends them to the customers, and records the information in the accounting system.
- Expense tracking: Records the total expenses incurred in a business. Most products allow users to submit expenses by uploading bills from a mobile app.
- Project accounting: Tracks different accounting attributes for a client-facing project, such as incurred costs, expenses, billable hours, and client payments.
4. The cost of accounting software
Most of the products in the market are priced on a 'per user, per month' basis, and can be broken down into three pricing tiers based on their starting price:
Price ranges:
- $0 - $2.50
- $2.50 - $4
- $4+
*The pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offering that was found on vendor websites on August 1, 2018.Sinhronizovani crtani online sa prevodom.
The list above includes pricing for the base plans of accounting products. An enterprise, or premium product, which is priced higher, may include some additional features such as multi-currency support, bill management, sales quotes, purchase order management, and recurring invoicing.
5. Considerations when purchasing accounting software
- Data security: Accounting systems handle sensitive client and financial information, which makes them a target for hackers. That's why security should be a prime consideration when selecting an accounting solution. Small business should ensure that their solution adheres to the necessary security standards, such as Extended Validation (EV) SSL and 256-bit Encryption.
- Third-party integrations: Accounting software cannot work in isolation: it needs an ecosystem of other business applications. For example, integration with customer relationship management (CRM) software automatically pulls transactional records after a payment is received from the client. Integration with an HR and payroll solution allows users to pull the information related to the payroll-related costs. Buyers should evaluate integration capabilities before making a purchase decision.
6. Relevant accounting software trends
- Small businesses continue on the path of automation: In an attempt to reduce paperwork and minimize human errors, small businesses are looking for new ways to automate their accounting functions. The most recent development in this area is OCR (optical character recognition) technology, which allows users to scan physical documents and store their content in a digital format. As advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning improve the accuracy of OCR, adoption of this technology can be expected to increase further.
- Small businesses want visual represenetation of financial reports: Since around 65% of learning happens via visual content, buyers find visual representation of financial reports an important consideration while shortlisting their accounting solution. This is also driving small business accounting vendors to include stronger visualization capabilities in their reporting modules.
Sources
Products evaluated for the pricing calculation were taken from the Capterra Top 20 report. The pricing ranges exclude freemium versions of these products. The features highlighted have been identified based on their relevance and the percentage of products in the Capterra database that offer them.
The following sources were used for this document:
- Top 5 Tech Trends for Small Business, Capterra (Date accessed: August 1, 2018)
- Small Business Accounting Trends for 2018, Capterra (Date accessed: August 1, 2018)
- Visual Learners, Study Style (Date accessed: August 1, 2018)