Starting and managing your business solo can be pretty daunting. Whether you are a proprietor or have set up a small business, free bookkeeping software can help you to manage your finances accurately and easily.
Small businesses can benefit from free bookkeeping software because it helps them track finances. As a result, they can clearly understand their expenditures and profitability. Small businesses usually require out-of-the-box bookkeeping software without any significant customization. Therefore, selecting the best free online bookkeeping software works best for them easily.
Best free bookkeeping software for small businesses you must know
Don’t you know which available free online bookkeeping software is best for your small business? Let’s look at the top options below to understand things better in this regard.
So, here we go:
1. Wave
Wave is one of small businesses' most trustable and widely used free bookkeeping software. Most importantly, this accessible and easy-to-use software doesn’t include any learning curve. Above all, Wave's overall suite of bookkeeping features is available for free.
This is one of the most robust and feature-rich free bookkeeping software for small businesses. It is highly scalable and can easily accommodate any business, from sole proprietors to independent contractors.
Key Features of Wave
Here are key features of Wave you must know:
· Easier to customize invoices
You can personalize your invoices by adding your company logo and changing its fonts and colors. You can specify payment methods and T&C to make these look more professional.
· Recurring billing
You can create recurring invoices with waves for your regular clients. This feature allows you to save more time and energy easily.
· Efficient receipt scanning
This software allows you to capture a photograph of your receipts. It will input your captured information into your bookkeeping details automatically. This feature is a great solution to track your expenses.
Pros of Wave
· Wave has an easier-to-access setup and interface.
· You can enjoy unlimited expense and income tracking features.
Cons of Wave
· It doesn’t have any comprehensive mobile application.
2. Zoho Books
Zoho Books is a robust, free online bookkeeping software suitable to meet the needs of a growing business. However, the free plan of this software is restricted to use by a business with specific revenue. For qualified businesses, this software offers a variety of features to improve your bookkeeping activities.
A solid mobile application and user-friendly interface make it a favorite bookkeeping software among small to medium size businesses.
Key Features of Zoho Books
Here are key features of Zoho Books you must know:
· Automatic Bank Reconciliation
This free software also reconciles your credit card and bank transactions automatically. It requires a little effort only to keep your business finances in order.
· Intuitive client panel
Zoho Books offers an easier-to-use and secure client login panel. Clients can use this panel to view and pay their pending invoices easily. They can even collaborate on different projects without any hassle.
Pros of Zoho Books
· You can customize your business invoices for free.
· End-to-end bookkeeping features provide a solid and secure base to track and manage your finances.
Cons of Zoho Books
· Support service of Zoho Books software is limited to email only.
3. WPS Office
WPS Office is another free editing software that offers bookkeeping facilities. You can access a variety of applications for free using WPS Office. These applications include Writing, Presentations, and Spreadsheets. All of these applications are entirely easier to use.
Most importantly, WPS Office is a lightweight application. Therefore, it works seamlessly on all devices, including android, iOS, mac, Linux, and Windows. Moreover, it also allows you to perform different tasks to fulfill your bookkeeping needs effectively.
Using its Spreadsheet application, you can use WPS Office to track your finances and create easier-to-understand reports.
Key Features of WPS Office
Here are key features of WPS Office you must know:
· Complex data analysis
You can use the Spreadsheet application of WPS Office to perform complex data analysis without hassle. You can use built-in formulas and functions to organize and analyze your data more effectively.
· Customizable charts
Besides customizing your finance tables, you can even create customizable charts with WPS Office. This free bookkeeping software lets you add personalized charts to your reports and presentations. You can use these charts to analyze your business data more engagingly. Most importantly, a variety of customizable charts are available in WPS Office. You can use any of these as per your needs and requirements.
· Quick recovery
Have you deleted any of your important documents accidentally? Don’t worry about it because the quick recovery feature of WPS Office lets you recover your deleted files instantly.
Pros of WPS Office
· WPS Office also supports different languages to efficiently support customers from different geographical locations.
· The compatibility features of the WPS Office make it suitable for team collaborations.
· Documents you have stored in the cloud can be accessed from any device and anywhere in the world.
Cons of WPS Office
· The free version of WPS Office lacks pdf editing capabilities.
4. Cloud Books
Cloud books is a free bookkeeping and invoicing software meant to accommodate the needs of freelancers and small businesses. This software has a customer base of more than 2 million users. It offers an amazing range of features covering all aspects of bookkeeping. These capabilities of Cloud Books generally range from time tracking, invoicing, payment needs, reporting, and much more.
Above all, Cloud Books also has an invoice management feature that can benefit you in multiple ways.
So, whether you want to have exceptional invoicing software or free bookkeeping software, Cloud Books can be an effective option to consider.
Key Features of Cloud Books
Here are key features of Cloud Books you must know:
· Reports and estimates
You can access a variety of estimates and reports to track your business finances more efficiently. This software allows you to generate expenses, budgets, and income reports. Consequently, analyzing reports and generating estimates for future projects becomes easier.
· Free invoice management solution
This software also offers a free invoice management solution for small businesses. This software can generate, send and track business invoices quickly.
· Efficient Time Tracking
Time tracking is one of the most incredible features of this free online bookkeeping software. You can not only track the working hours of your employees. It will also let you generate efficient employee reports accordingly to manage your budget in the best possible way.
Pros of Cloud Books
· Multiple users can use the free version of Cloud Books simultaneously for efficient workflow.
· Cloud Books is a free bookkeeping software for small businesses due to its integrated time tracking feature.
Cons of Cloud Books
· It offers more limited accounting features than other software enlisted here.
5. Zip Books
Zip Books is a free bookkeeping software for small businesses who want to upgrade their bookkeeping from spreadsheets. This is a web-based software with a solid range of bookkeeping and accounting features.
Zip Books Starter is a free plan that allows you to use its basic bookkeeping features for free. This starter package also includes key features of bookkeeping and reporting. These include balance sheet reporting and profit and loss reporting.
Key Features of Zip Books
Here are key features of Zip Books you must know:
· Simple Invoicing
Creating and sending invoices has become easier and quicker with Zip Books' bookkeeping and accounting software. Most importantly, it offers you multiple customization options for your invoices.
· Efficient customer management
You can build a customer profile with a few clicks only. Zip Books allows you to use these customer profiles to track transactions and interactions of each customer and vendor easily.
· Time tracking
You can track the time you have to spend on a certain project using the time tracking feature of Zip Books.
Pros of Zip Books
· You can create unlimited invoices without any hassle using this best free bookkeeping software.
· Zip Books software allows you to manage any number of clients and vendors without any hassle.
Cons of Zip Books
· The free Zip Books software only allows you to view and use basic reporting features.
6. GNU Cash
GNU Cash is open-source and free bookkeeping and accounting software. You can download it on a device with any operating system, i.e., Windows, macOS, Linux. It offers amazing capabilities, including scheduled transactions, checkbook-style register, double-entry bookkeeping, etc.
Although this bookkeeping software isn't a long-term solution for growing businesses. However, it works amazingly and can turn out to be the best free bookkeeping software for small businesses and sole proprietors. This program can get them efficiently through their day-to-day bookkeeping requirements.
Key Features of GNU Cash
Here are key features of GNU Cash you must know:
· Double-entry bookkeeping
This is one of the most special features of GNU Cash software. It offers double-entry bookkeeping, which is a standard of accounting in businesses. This feature ensures the accuracy and reliability of your financial data.
· Scheduled transactions
This software allows you to set up your recurring transactions to keep your bookkeeping always updated. This feature is highly beneficial for businesses with regular bills and expenses.
Pros of GNU Cash
· It offers a double-entry feature that ensures a balance of your books.
· This bookkeeping software handles different currencies and internationalized dates.
· This free bookkeeping software is compatible with all operating systems.
Cons of GNU Cash
· Installation of this bookkeeping software isn't as straightforward as others.
7. Sunrise
Sunrise is one of the best free online bookkeeping software that’s ideal for small businesses. It comes up with an intuitive interface. Most importantly, Sunrise offers you a simple way to manage customer invoices, income, and business expenses.
Fortunately, a majority of bookkeeping features of Sunrise are available in its free version.
Key Features of Sunrise
Here are key features of Sunrise software you must know:
· Time Tracking
You can use Sunrise's free bookkeeping software to track the overall time spend on various tasks. This feature can make the process of billing easier.
· Quick reporting
Sunrise allows you to create your financial reports quickly. You can create different types of reports with Sunrise. These generally include invoice aging, balance sheets, Profit and loss, etc. You can even customize these reports as per your needs.
Pros of Sunrise
· Sunrise software offers numerous integrations ranging from Dropbox to Google Drive.
· The customer support service of Sunrise is top-notch.
Cons of Sunrise
· The free account can be used by one person only.
8. Simple Books
Simple Books is the best cloud-based bookkeeping solution that works well with the business model of any organization. This jargon-free bookkeeping platform is pretty powerful. It allows accountants and other users unaware of critical accounting terms to work efficiently without hassle.
Most importantly, you can navigate your system easily. Above all, you can kickstart your bookkeeping journey with the free trial of Simple Books software. Later on, upgrading to its pro version is pretty straightforward to manage your growing business easily.
Key Features of Simple Books
Here are key features of Simple Books you must know:
· Collaborative platform
Multiple users can utilize Simple Books software simultaneously. This software offers a lucrative bookkeeping collaboration feature to let workers of a business keep their workflow moving efficiently. Consequently, you can continue your bookkeeping processes without any interruption.
· Professional and dedicated support
Whether you need help resolving your bookkeeping-related issues or are stuck somewhere with the functionality of Simple Books software. You can get instant help from its dedicated and professional support team.
Pros of Simple Books
· You can enjoy a complete digital experience of bookkeeping with Simple Books.
· This jargon-free bookkeeping software is easier to navigate.
Cons of Simple Books
· Simple Books software offers a limited free plan only.
Final Thoughts
Arguably, multiple free online bookkeeping software is available out there. These software applications vary in terms of features and their compatibilities. You must choose an appropriate free bookkeeping software for small businesses that's ideal for your needs.
The above-mentioned are some of the best free bookkeeping software options you can consider for your business. However, WPS Office would be the best option to consider if you want to use a more comprehensive and easier-to-use productive bookkeeping software. This free tool allows you to create top-notch reports, perform quick analyses, and more.
Download WPS Office today to enjoy all its amazing benefits without even spending a penny.
