Best Cloud Accounting Software for Businesses 2024

To simplify tracking the invoice, Patriot lets you separately mark the ones that have already been sent. If you’re worried you might forget to send the invoice on time, you can set up recurring invoices that go out on a selected date every month. This way, your payments will never be delayed, even if you’re too busy to send the bill to your client yourself. Here, we’ll dive deeper into the details of the top 7 cloud-based accounting software, including their best features, pricing, pros, and cons to help you get an excellent overview of what these tools can do for you.

Why We Chose Zoho Books

But, once you sign up for a FreshBooks plan, check out our Advanced Payments feature, which includes recurring billing. Advanced Payments lets your small business accept credit cards online and accept payments like bank transfers, payments over the phone, and invoice-free payments with Checkout Links. QuickBooks Online is a small and mid-sized cloud accounting software dedicated to contractors, nonprofits, manufacturers, wholesale providers and more.

• Standardize your chart of accounts, business processes, data model, security and compliance controls to unify your business for coordinated decisions and action.
• Xero is best for small businesses where multiple people need to access the accounting software.
• Software that uses remote servers to host data help ensure that sensitive financial information is securely encrypted to keep it out of the hands of cybercriminals and backed up to the cloud automatically to not lose any information.
• We like that Xero has over 50 pre-built report templates, covering financial statements like profit and loss, balance sheet, aged receivables/payables, and cash flow.
• Furthermore, it’s also secure as it uses advanced SSL encryption technology to keep data safe from hackers.
• In short, it’s as good a communication channel as any between your team and your clients, enriched with transparency, which in turn, will make your clients happier.

Key features of a CRM

Cloud accounting offers clear advantages over previous approaches to this critical business function, which explains why it has gained widespread adoption. Our customer support team has won 11 Stevie Awards, which are international awards given out to the absolute best customer support department in the world. While we all think our support team is the best, they have the hardware to prove it.

Take an ERP product tour

• By consistently updating your bookkeeping and account information, you can get real-time reporting functionality from cloud accounting software.
• It doesn’t have a dedicated time-tracking tool, comprehensive mobile access, or inventory management, though.
• ERP solutions are designed for businesses of all sizes – small, midsize, and large.
• This tool also enables you to dive into transactional information and review all data aspects in real time.

Adopt new business models globally, oversee global operations and support M&A activities without additional investments in technology or bolt-on solutions. With a Pro Plan subscription, you can connect your bank account with Wave and automatically import your transactions. Any connections between you, your bank accounts, and Wave are protected by 256-bit SSL encryption.

You select one, customize it by using the filter and display options provided, and let the software pour your company data into it. Once you have a customer record and start creating invoices, sending statements, and recording billable expenses, you can usually access historical activities within the record itself. This ability to review massive amounts of data also allows AI to evaluate broader industry trends and performance to help individual companies make better financial projections. It can spot potential problems coming down the road, whether with suppliers, customers or a certain team within your organization. This helps leaders plan for different possible outcomes so they’re not left scrambling and can help minimize the impact of disruptive events.

• The Multi-Entity Insights reporting module provides analytics for growing businesses whose accounting needs are becoming more complex.
• If businesses need a payroll component, they can add Payroll at a reasonable $40 per month plus $6 per active employee.
• One of the first things you need to check when selecting a cloud-based accounting software is whether it provides automation.
• One of the easier cloud accounting interfaces to navigate, ZipBooks allows you to create records for contacts and items, send invoices, track time, projects, and tasks.
• A cloud-based accounting software works just like any other accounting tool.
• Additionally, it consolidates financials for multi-company environments and generates graphical dashboards for revenue trends, profit margins, and accounts receivable and payable.

However, it doesn’t have a built-in payment gateway, so you’ll need to integrate with third-party services. We also found Zoho apps quite interdependent; if you need more than just Zoho Books and Zoho Inventory, you’re better off getting the Zoho One bundle for full functionality. We used our advanced review methodology to test the most popular online accounting software cloud accounting for features like invoicing, reporting, and payment processing. Cloud-based accounting software is just like traditional accounting software with the exception that all the data is hosted on remote servers instead of the user’s desktop computer. The 100 percent free accounting software is ideal for new small businesses looking for a highly affordable option.

Invite your accountant, bookkeeper, or employees to work in the cloud so your team is on the same digital page. With a few clicks, you can create secure access privileges and change user access at any time. Easy to use, well-designed, and deep, Quickbooks Online will equip you with the most effective accounting tools while being uninhibited by internet speed and cost effectiveness. You might want to give your business partner or provide the accountant with full access to your account, for example, while only enabling the subordinates to track their time and invoice customers. The affordable budgeting, reporting, investment, accounting solution from Quicken is best suited for individuals with side businesses or sole proprietors looking to manage their account balances, investments, bills, and taxes. You can receive payments, review reports, capture receipt images, track business mileage while on the go with the customizable mobile app.

Even better than a trusty computer behind a locked door, top-tier cloud accounting software uses safeguards to protect your information while it’s stored in secured systems. Bonsai is an online accounting platform with built-in project and client management tools, so it’s an excellent option for businesses selling digital services like design, website building, and online marketing. Wave is a great option if you’re looking for a free accounting and invoicing tool.