10 Accounting Solutions for Small Businesses

Sara Angeles for BusinessNewsDaily.com writes:  Looking for an accounting solution for your small business? Business owners need all the help they can get. Instead of being inundated with crunching numbers, balancing incomes with expenses, and figuring out how much to pay whom and how much to pay Uncle Sam, the right accounting solution can do away with the grunt work.

Spreadsheets, handwritten invoices and sticky notes aren't only ancient by today's tech standards, but are also colossal time wasters compared to the many new tools available. Or maybe you've just had enough with clunky software from the days of digital yore. Instead, here are 10 accounting apps, software and Web-based solutions to help you manage financials online, on the cloud, and on the go.

1. QuickBooks Online — Anytime, anywhere accounting solution

QuickBooks, the popular desktop accounting software, is available online for anytime, anywhere access via mobile devices. Users on the go can perform all types of accounting tasks, such as custom invoices with the company logo, expense reports with digital receipts, payroll with tax calculations and deductions, and real-time bank and credit card data. Other time-saving features include tax reports, credit card or wire transfer payments, device syncing and accountant or bookkeeper collaboration.[The Best Accounting Software].

2. Sage One — All-in-one accounting solution

Sage One is an online accounting, invoicing and task-tracking platform for small businesses. It quickly records and categorizes income and expenses, generates accounting reports, links bank and credit card accounts, and automatically applies payments against invoices. Sage One can also send invoices to customers; track pending, sent and overdue invoices; email payment reminders; and accept credit card payments via Sage Payment Solutions or PayPal. In addition, the Sage One platform can also create and manage tasks and provide cloud-based collaboration for teams and customers.
Sage One costs $24 a month. There are no contracts and users can cancel at any time. A free 15-day trial is currently available with no credit card required.

3. FreshBooks — Cloud-based accounting solution

FreshBooks is a cloud-based accounting solution that is accessible on desktop and mobile devices. It combines all the tools small business owners need to manage expenses, send invoices and track time — anytime, anywhere. Users can easily import expenses from a bank account or credit card, or by taking a snapshot of the receipt. It also lets small businesses get paid faster by enabling them to accept credit cards, PayPal or via 12 other payment gateways. FreshBooks also features an easy-to-use and intuitive interface, data encryption and automatic data backups to multiple datacenters to keep information safe and secure.
FreshBooks accounts start at $19.95 a month. Try the service with a 30-day free trial.

4. Zoho Books — Simple online accounting software

Zoho Books is an online accounting software that provides small businesses with all the tools they need to stay on top of their finances. Zoho Books tracks money coming in by creating and sending invoices and money going out by tracking expenses and vendor balances. Users can also connect their bank and credit card accounts, which automatically fetches and categorizes transactions. Additionally, account holders can invite other users — such as their accountant or adviser — and integrate the software with Google Apps, Google Checkout, PayPal, Authorize.Net, and other Zoho business tools, such as Zoho Projects and Zoho CRM.
Zoho starts at $24 a month or at a discounted $240 yearly subscription. A 30-day free trial is also available.

5. Xero — Online accounting for small businesses

Xero is an online accounting system that lets small business owners spend more time running their business and less time managing their books. Designed with small businesses in mind, Xero can handle everything from invoices and customer payments to expense management, purchase orders, payroll, inventory tracking, bank account reconciliation, financial reporting and more. Xero can integrate with a wide range of eCommerce, point-of-sale (POS), customer relationship management (CRM) and other business applications.
Try Xero for free at xero.com.

6. GoDaddy Bookkeeping — Taxes made easy

GoDaddy Bookkeeping, formerly Outright, is a Web-based accounting platform that helps users with tax preparation. It simplifies bookkeeping by automatically organizing sales and expense data into IRS tax categories, which is then used to automatically fill out your Schedule C. GoDaddy Bookkeeping also keeps track of collected sales tax, calculates owed taxes — such as your Quarterly Estimated and Annual Taxes — and sends alerts for upcoming tax deadlines. Other features include customizable invoices that thank customers when payment is received; financial reports that give you insights into profits, losses and expenditures; data backup; and 256-bit data encryption that meet TRUSTe standards to keep your information secure.
GoDaddy Bookkeeping offers a free, limited account that lets users import bank and merchant accounts, use IRS categorization and generate reports. A paid account of $9.99 a month is required to create, send and track invoices and generate tax worksheets and reports.

7. Snap Payroll — Calculate paychecks in a snap

Snap Payroll, by Intuit, is an iOS app that makes it easy to pay employees. All users have to do is enter the hours worked and pay rate and the app calculates the paycheck amount and how much to deduct for taxes. The app is automatically updated with the latest tax changes, so users don't have to spend time keeping up with new regulations and tax rates. Other features include the ability to save employee and payroll information; paycheck history that includes payee name, date and paycheck amount; and offers anytime, anywhere access using an iOS 7 mobile device.
Snap Payroll can be downloaded for free at the Apple App Store.

8. Harvest — Tracking and more

Harvest is a time-tracking app that integrates billing and invoicing tools. Users enter start and stop times to create timesheets, which can be translated to billable hours and generated to invoices. Users can also log expenses, digitally store receipts, create reports and connect to more than 50 business apps, such as Salesforce, Basecamp and Google Apps. The app is conveniently accessible online via desktop or mobile devices.
Harvest plans start at $12 a month with a 30-day free trial.

9. CurdBee — Billing for small businesses and freelancers

CurdBee is a Web application that offers everything small businesses and freelancers need to get paid. With CurdBee, users can create estimates and convert them to invoices; track time; manage expenses; and accept online payments. Users can also create customer profiles, where recurring invoices can be sent as needed or on a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly basis. CurdBee can also generate charts and other reports, allowing users to view their finances at a glance, monitor productivity, and view pending and overdue invoices.
CurdBee offers free and paid accounts starting at $5 a month, or $50 a year.

10. Simple Invoices — Free invoicing

Simple Invoices is an open-source invoice system that gives small businesses everything they need to create, send and track invoices. It offers customizable invoice templates that can be exported to multiple formats, including PDF, Microsoft Word, Excel or plain text. The app can also send invoices via email, set up recurring invoices, and accept payments via PayPal or Eway Merchant Hosted payment gateways. Users can also create estimates, quotes, reports and other types of financial documents.
Simple Invoices can be downloaded for free at simpleinvoices.org. The software can be installed on a Windows device or as a Web-app on a server, or it can be hosted by one of Simple Invoice's service providers.