Free Accounting Software Options in 2021 : Our Top 7 Picks

Wave is a company focused on providing free small business accounting software and financial services. It was founded in 2009 in Toronto, Canada, and today the company manages more than $244 billion in income and expense transactions, which includes $16 billion in annual invoicing.

Overview

Wave is fantastic web-based accounting software that’s free to download and use. What’s more, there are no “premium” upgrade options. However, as we’ll see, not every available feature is actually free.

Wave charges for accepting online payments and processing payroll. If you opt for the payroll option, you can do your taxes yourself or let the Wave app handle them for you. Unlike some other free bookkeeping programs, the fully automatic option is only available in select states and costs US$35 per month + $4 per employee. For the other states, or if you prefer to file your own taxes, the price is $20 per month + $4 per employee.

Without paying a dime, you get access to basic bookkeeping features, such as managing income and expenses, unlimited bank accounts, credit cards, users, and invoices. You can sync all your bank accounts and credit cards with Wave bookkeeping software, which speeds things up greatly when creating financial reports.

With Wave’s free business accounting software, you can create invoices, accept online payments from customers, and generate reports for accounts receivable. There are also automated options, such as invoice status (sent, viewed, paid) and payment reminders, as well as the option to set up recurring billing for regular customers. The charges for credit card transactions are 2.9% + 30 c per transaction, or 1% for ACH transactions.

When it comes to keeping track of your own payments, however, things get a bit less rosy. You cannot keep track of unpaid bills, but you can record payments you’ve made through checks or credit cards by manually entering them into Wave.

As befits the best free bookkeeping software on the market, Wave software also allows you to create key financial statements such as profit and loss statements and balance sheets.

The user interface is well thought-out and intuitive, while also looking very professional. It’s an easy to use program, and our only complaint here is the lack of a dedicated back button. Third-party software integration could also be a lot better, with native support for only PayPal, Etsy, Shoeboxed, and Zapier. Impressively, the latter allows integration with over 1,000 add-ons.

Unlike other free accounting software for home or business, most of which have one unified app, Wave has separate invoicing and receipts apps for iOS and Android, which both sync with your main Wave account seamlessly. However, people have complained about many bugs and expressed irritation at the lack of an all-in-one app, which is currently in the works.

When it comes to customer support, Wave has a comprehensive help center, but not much else to help you out. According to Wave reviews, support through email and the on-site form is slow, while phone support is only available for payroll and credit card processing, which means they are for paying customers only.

Final Thoughts

Wave is possibly the best free accounting software for small business in terms of the number of completely free features it offers. However, the poor customer support and mobile apps, as well as the lack of options for tracking accounts payable, hold it back from being a default recommendation for your accounting software of choice.

GnuCash is a personal and small business accounting program that features a double-entry bookkeeping system. It was first released in 1998 as part of the GNU Project and was initially designed for Unix platforms, with the Windows version coming later.

Overview

GnuCash is open-source accounting software that’s truly free. There are no premium options or charges, but this program is also missing some of the more-advanced features present in other software. As with other open-source software, its development is mostly funded through donations.

GnuCash gives you access to the main accounting features you’d expect from any desktop bookkeeping software: tracking accounts payable and accounts receivable. When managing unpaid customer balances, you can create invoices and track due dates, run reports, and input customer payments. Compared to some other accounting software with free download options such as Wave, GnuCash has a more robust accounts payable system. In addition to tracking your unpaid bills, you can also pay them directly from the app, which updates your balances automatically.

You can generate balance sheets, income, and cash flow statements using the existing editable templates, or you can create new templates from scratch.

However, unlike Wave, GnuCash is very limited when it comes to user and bank accounts. It only supports one user at a time and you cannot add bank or credit cards accounts directly.
You can import transactions manually from QIF, OFX, or HBCI files, but the process is manual, slow, and clunky.

Speaking of clunky, GnuCash won’t win any best free money management software awards when it comes to design and user-friendliness. Sporting a very retro and basic look while requiring familiarity with double-entry bookkeeping systems, it’s definitely not a user-friendly option for people without a background in accounting. Luckily, there is ample documentation available. Being an open-source accounting app, it’s customizable if you know a bit of programming, so it’s a very versatile tool for people who are well-versed in accounting and know some C.

When it comes to mobile apps, GnuCash is also bit a hit-and-miss. Currently, it only supports Android, and while you can import your data manually, there is no automatic syncing option between the app and the desktop software. Third-party software integration is also very limited, but you can import Intuit Quicken QIF files.

Free nonprofit accounting software often has less dedicated customer support than its paid counterparts. GnuCash reviews are generally favorable when it comes to customer support, but being an open-source app, things work a little differently than with most of its competitors. There is extensive documentation on the wiki and you can also get help through mailing lists. Your best bet for quick help, though, is finding someone on IRC chat.

Final Thoughts

GnuCash is great personal and small business software for all your accounting needs. It provides robust accounts payable and receivable systems, as well as excellent report features comparable with the best free small business accounting software around. The main downsides are the dated user interface, Android-only app, limited user accounts, and inability to link bank and credit card accounts.

Zoho Books is an extremely popular cloud-based accounting solution. While it’s not exactly free accounting software, it’s one of the most affordable options available. What Zoho brings to the table is full accounts payable and accounts receivable capabilities, a beautiful and intuitive interface, as well as a variety of useful tools and integrations.

Overview

Zoho is one of the few accounting software solutions on our list that isn’t actually free. Its affordable pricing structure and number of outstanding features included in its packages are only some of the reasons we included this gem in our review. You can try out Zoho’s services for free via its 14-day trial, after which you’ll need to subscribe if you wish to continue using its services.

There are three different subscription plans available with Zoho: Basic, Standard, and Professional. The Basic plan will set you back $9 per organization per month. It allows two users (one user + accountant), lets you make transactions for up to 50 contacts, and helps you create five automated workflows. 

This plan also includes unlimited invoices, recurring transactions, projects and timesheets, budgeting, and Zoho Sign integration. The number of contacts, invoices, and users available with the basic plan makes this solution outshine competitors’ free online accounting software for small businesses. It even outperforms some paid plans as well.

The Standard plan costs $19/organization/month and boosts the number of contacts to 500, users to three, and workflows to 10. Additionally, it adds bills, reporting tags, vendor credits, purchase approval, and Twilio integration. The priciest plan available is the Professional plan, which makes a $29 dent per organization every month. This allows the creation of transactions for an unlimited number of contacts and increases the number of users to 10. Furthermore, on top of everything included in previous plans, it also comes with purchase and sales orders, inventory management, and a custom domain for your organization.

So, which features does Zoho have that justify its place on our top free accounting software list? As we’ve mentioned, Zoho offers full functionalities for both accounts payable and accounts receivable. Turning estimates or sales orders into invoices can be done in only a few clicks. Sending invoices is equally easy, with an option to send automatic payment reminders for customers. 

With Zoho Books you can set up a variety of payment options for customers: cash, check, or online. You can also create professional quotes for customers and use the client portal, where they can have a clear view of all their invoices and transactions.

The feature that truly separates Zoho from the competition, though, is its Automated Workflows. These are automatic actions, similar to scripts, that you can set up to occur after specific triggers. These include recurring payments, notifications, and reminders after specific chargers and so forth.

Another extremely useful tool is the ability to scan bills and receipts. The software automatically reads the documents for required information and fills in the transaction forms by itself. On top of all this, Zoho lets you create projects and timesheets, advanced reporting, tax liability tracking, and has an integrated payroll feature for Texas and California only. Besides all these features and integrations, Zoho offers the most customer support options among the providers we’ve reviewed so far. While most business accounting software that is free offers only email support, Zoho support agents can be reached via email, live chat, and phone.

Final Thoughts

Zoho Books is definitely one of the best cloud-based accounting software solutions for small businesses. Its neat interface, huge number of integrations, and plethora of useful tools make it an invaluable solution that’s sure to save you huge amounts of time in your day-to-day. While not free, Zoho’s affordable pricing won’t place a significant strain on your budget, and it’s definitely worth considering subscribing to instead of choosing accounting free online software.

Sage Group is one of the longest-standing companies on the market. Founded in the UK during the ‘80s, it quickly spread to the US market as well. One of the many services it now offers is Sage Business Cloud (formerly Sage One), its cloud-based accounting service. This is the second provider on our list that isn’t actually a piece of free accounting software. However, the recent updates to its interface, numerous new features, automation, and cheap marketing make it a worthy addition to the list.

Overview

Sage offers two accounting packages: Sage Business Cloud Accounting and Sage 50cloud Accounting. The first is the regular cloud-based accounting package, while 50cloud offers integrated software and cloud-based accounting services. Here, we’ll focus on the former, as it’s cheaper and has everything a small business owner might need.

Sage offers a 30-day free trial period during which you can test the service out, with full features available. After the trial period ends, you can choose from two subscription plans, both of which bring many features rarely found among even the best free business accounting software. Sage’s accounting software is billed monthly, meaning you can choose to stop using its services at any time.

The first plan, Accounting Start, costs $10 a month. This plan is for entry-level accounting. It covers one user, supports the creation of invoices and expense tracking, and allows automatic importing of business transactions through the bank. Furthermore, it comes with a contact management integration and sales tax calculations. This plan is ideal for anyone looking for basic accounting capabilities. If you require more robust features, you should subscribe to its pricier plan.

The second plan, simply called Accounting, costs $25/month. While far from being free, it has all the capabilities you might want – most of which you’ll be hard-pressed to find among the best free online accounting software options. The Accounting plan includes accounts payable capabilities, advanced reporting, cash flow statements, and purchase invoices, and it allows you to generate quotes and estimates. And it comes with an unlimited number of users – an invaluable addition.

Sage used to possess a pretty uncomely interface. It was confusing and hard to navigate. But recently it has reworked its user interface, creating a modern-looking, intuitive interface that’s a pleasure to use. One significant downside is that Sage only offers cash-based accounting with its basic plan. For paid software, we see more providers offer full accounting packages with all of their plans, and that’s what we’d like to see here as well.

Smaller businesses can perhaps completely rely on the Account Start plan, but the full might of this software can be found in the pricier Accounting plan. Features that differentiate this plan from free online personal accounting software include advanced reporting capabilities, inventory, analysis types for categorizing data, support for 30+ currencies, and the ability to create both estimates and quotes.

Sage’s customer service has a stellar reputation. Its support officers are helpful, respectful, and quick to respond. However, it has recently shut down its phone support, which is somewhat understandable due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, the main way to contact support staff is through in-software live chat. You can also consult its comprehensive help center and knowledge base, reach out via social media, or consult the company’s lively community forums.

Final Thoughts

Is Sage worth taking over free accounting software providers out there? We definitely believe it is. The number of features included far outshines free options available. However, we did find the basic plan insufficient for advanced accounting needs. If you’re ready to put money down for accounting software, we recommend going with the pricier plan.