The Best Accounting Software for Small Businesses in 2023

While most accounting software is easy to use, a general understanding of accounting principles is needed to ensure that financial reports are prepared correctly. There’s good news for business owners who want to simplify doing their books. Business owners who don’t want the burden of data entry can hire an online bookkeeping service.

Even if you aren’t planning on growing any time soon, you need to have a sense of how much money is coming in versus what is going out. On top of that, you need the data used in bookkeeping to file your taxes accurately. As a business owner, it is important to understand your company’s financial health.

How to Do Bookkeeping for Small Businesses (2023 Guide)

Most accounting software allows you to automatically run common financial statements such as an income and expense statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement. Business owners or accountants can then use these statements to gain insight into the business’s financial health. Gone are the days of manually recording transactions in ledgers, as modern technology now offers bookkeeping software that streamlines the process and provides more accurate results. This software keeps a record of all the expenses and revenues, allowing business owners to have a better understanding of their financial standing.

When you do your books, the retained earnings account is one which tracks your company’s profits that you reinvest into the business and don’t keep for yourself or pay out to other owners. We get it, it always hurts a little inside when you have to spend money in your business. However, accounts payable gives you a much clearer view of everything you spend.

General accepted accounting principles or GAAP: What does it mean?

With the development of bookkeeping and accounting technology, bookkeeping tasks have become more automated. However, this doesn’t make it any less important to ensure you set everything up properly from the start. You might do bank reconciliation process costing vs. job order costing daily, weekly, monthly, or less often, depending on the number of transactions going through your business. However, you will probably be required to reconcile your books before submitting tax returns at the very least.

Learn how it works and the critical considerations for property owners. Owning a business presents you with a lot of opportunities, including opportunities to make mistakes. Success is often dependent on avoiding the obvious ones and minimizing other errors whenever possible. Take this list to heart and you’ll be well on your way to operating your business profitably and growing it purposefully.

How to manage bookkeeping for small businesses

Thanks to the ubiquity of apps and services, entrepreneurs are most likely aware of the importance of bookkeeping for their businesses and have several tools already at their fingertips. Bookkeeping is the practice of recording and tracking a business’s financial transactions. This includes business expenses, payments, deposits, invoices, receipts, credits, and more. Many software options allow you to store documents and streamline the documentation process as you go. Bookkeeping is the process of tracking income and expenses in your business. It lets you know how you’re doing with cash flow and how your business is doing overall.

If you’re in need of the easiest ones, however, QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks are the two we recommend. The companies that make small business accounting software have worked hard to present this discipline as simply and pleasantly as possible. Notably, Intuit QuickBooks Online and FreshBooks are among the easiest accounting programs to use. Bank products and services are offered by Pathward, N.A.
All deposit accounts through Pathward are FDIC insured. We make it simple for you to hand off year-end tax filings and payroll processes so you can focus on what you love. Whether you’re self-employed or have employees, we have choices to suit you.

Monitor your employees’ hours with time tracking software.

There are few things worse for employee morale than bouncing payroll checks. A spreadsheet may be all you need if you’re using a single-entry cash accounting method for your bookkeeping. Solopreneurs such as sole proprietors, single-member LLCs, and even those who hire contract help are the best candidates for this streamlined method.

These templates are available for free download for both business and personal use. Bookkeeping is crucial for any small business as it helps to monitor the financial health of the company, make informed decisions, and ensure compliance with tax laws. So, whether it’s done by hand or with the help of software, keeping track of the financial transactions of your small business is a must.

Accurate and timely tax payments

If you have poor credit, it may be difficult to obtain the necessary funding for business expansion or complete capital expenditures. It’s a good idea to learn how to build business credit so that you can secure the best possible outcome. Owners of C corporations (C-corps) and S corporations (S-corps) must pay themselves a reasonable salary and run it through the payroll system like any other employee. However, I suggest that self-employed owners, freelancers, and partners also pay themselves a “salary,” although it’ll technically be an owner’s draw and excluded from payroll. Tim is a Certified QuickBooks Time (formerly TSheets) Pro, QuickBooks ProAdvisor, and CPA with 25 years of experience. As of June 2023, you will have to contact the company directly for a price quote and to discuss specific features your business may need.

They reconcile your accounts and close your books at month’s end to prevent errors. Plus, they’re available for questions during regular business hours. Finally, they generate the reports you need so you’re ready to prepare your taxes or hand them off to your accountant. Wave offers fee-based bookkeeping services, but they lack Intuit QuickBooks Live’s interactive quality. While much of your daily accounting work probably involves paying bills, sending invoices, and recording payments, you also need to keep a close eye on your bank and credit card activity. If you have connected your financial accounts to your accounting service, then this is easy to accomplish.