Free Small Business Accounting Software: Top 10 Must-Have Programs

If you own a small business, it is possible to manage its accounting aspect with the use of free small business accounting software. You could refer to our top ten list of accounting software when deciding on which application to use.

10. Invoice Expert XE

Invoice Expert XE is a free version of Invoice Expert and is limited to 100 products and customers only. It has many useful features such as its comprehensive customer and inventory management features, invoice creator, and accounting report capabilities. It also has a simple and easy-to-use interface.

9. NCH Express Invoice

If your small business has less than five employees, NCH Express Invoice might just be for you. This application lets you create an invoice then later print, email or fax it. Although it is designed for invoice creation, it has also features for accounting and monitoring salesperson performance, and can be integrated with another application called Inventoria for maintenance of inventory data in your business.

8. TAS Basics

TAS Basics is a free giveaway application of TAS Software. It has some useful features such as its ability to manage multiple bank accounts and maintain customer and supplier records, cash flow reporting and VAT accounting, as well as account payable and accounts receivable monitoring. However, it also has limitations such as its inability to make sales orders and invoices.

7. Adminsoft Accounts

Although developed by a single developer instead of by a team like most free small business accounting software applications, Adminsoft Accounts still has a good set of features. This program has a double-entry system of accounting, supporting both accounts receivable and accounts payable. It also has other accounting features such as general ledger, purchase order processing, payroll, stock control, invoice creator and others.

6. xTuple PostBooks

Another open source application with comprehensive features that can be useful for small businesses is xTuple PostBooks. This program has features for managing your accounting transactions such as general ledger, accounts receivable and accounts payable monitoring, bank reconciliation, invoicing and many others. It can also help keep track of your sales, expenses, purchasing, inventory and distribution among others.

5. Wave Accounting

Free and newly developed, Wave Accounting has slowly become a popular choice among many small businesses. Some of its good features are its unlimited invoicing capabilities and seamless collaboration among business partners and accountants. Additionally, it has most of the basic accounting features for recording and reporting.

4. VT Cash Book

For small businesses with simple accounting needs, VT Cash Book free small business accounting software may be suitable for you. Among its useful features is its simple interface for recording income and expense. However, it does not maintain supplier and customer records and has no purchasing and invoicing tools. But it does have an option for bank reconciliation and can help you in preparing VAT returns. It also supports multiple bank accounts.

3. FreshBooks

FreshBooks is a free application with comprehensive accounting features. It keeps record of your products, services and customers. It also lets you create invoices and dispatching more easily. Furthermore, it has a document and report-sharing capability and can also be integrated with smartphones.

2. GnuCash

GNUCash is a free accounting software application for personal or small business use. It is designed to have powerful features that are easy to use. Among its capabilities is its ability to keep track of your stocks or inventory, multiple bank accounts and income and expense for a particular period. It also has an intuitive checkbook register that ensures balanced book of accounts and accuracy in reporting. Its other features include supplier and customer records, bills payment, invoicing and reporting.

1. TurboCASH 5

Another accounting application for small businesses with a good feature set is TurboCASH 5. It is an open source application with features that include invoice creator, stock control, customer and supplier management, VAT accounting and general ledger among others. It is also capable of providing numerous financial reports including income statement and balance sheet. Additionally, it supports multiple companies and multiple users.

The free small business accounting software applications listed above are just some of the free and open source accounting applications with a good set of features. If you are using another free application that is more powerful that those listed above, please also share it with us.