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  2. FrontRunners
  3. Buyers Guide

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Showing 1 - 25 of 324 products

NetSuite
NetSuite

NetSuite is a cloud-based business management suite that incorporates ERP, financial management, CRM, and eCommerce functionalities into a unified platform, helping organizations automate core processes and gain real-time visibility into operational and fi...Read more about NetSuite

81

recommendations

Sage Intacct
Sage Intacct

Sage Intacct operates within the Sage Business Cloud portfolio as a comprehensive cloud-based financial management software, expertly designed to bring rich financial and operational insights to a variety of businesses. Recognized for its robust accounting...Read more about Sage Intacct

38

recommendations

Striven
Striven

Striven is a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution suitable for many industries and organizations of all sizes. It offers features for accounting, inventory management, human resources, customer relationship management (CRM), project mana...Read more about Striven

28

recommendations

Xledger
Xledger

Xledger is a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that caters to midsize and large businesses and helps them manage day-to-day operations by automating routines ranging from bank reconciliation to invoice entry. It caters to corporates, ...Read more about Xledger

27

recommendations

Tipalti
Tipalti

Tipalti is the world's leading finance automation solution for managing accounts payable, procurement, expenses, card, and global payments. Eliminating 80% of manual work and accelerating financial close by 25%. Tipalti allows you to easily onboard global...Read more about Tipalti

17

recommendations

Aplos
Aplos

Aplos is a cloud-based financial software designed for nonprofits and faith-based organizations. It includes fund accounting, online donation management, standard and customized financial reporting, giving tools, membership management, event registration, ...Read more about Aplos

16

recommendations

AccuFund Accounting Suite
AccuFund Accounting Suite

AccuFund is 100% focused on serving nonprofits and government entities. The complete fund accounting financial management solution, available online or onsite, consists of a strong core system and modules that allow you to expand as your needs evolve. Acc...Read more about AccuFund Accounting Suite

16

recommendations

AvidXchange
AvidXchange

AvidXchange is an accounts payable (AP) automation and payment solution to simplify how middle-market businesses manage AP processes. The platform automates workflows, helping businesses save time, reduce costs, and eliminate paper invoices and checks. I...Read more about AvidXchange

12

recommendations

Stax Bill
Stax Bill

Stax Bill provides businesses with a cloud-based solution to recurring billing and invoicing, streamlining financial and accounting processes, and providing financial reporting solutions. The system is suitable for businesses seeking a recurring billing an...Read more about Stax Bill

12

recommendations

Yooz
Yooz

Yooz is a cloud-based purchase-2-pay (P2P) solution that helps businesses of all sizes to automate the accounts payable cycle, from invoice approvals to vendor communications. With its AI-enabled data capture platform, users can extract, scan and import da...Read more about Yooz

11

recommendations

Vena
Vena

Reduce reporting, budgeting & close times by 50% with Vena—the only Complete Planning platform natively integrated with Microsoft 365. With a familiar Excel interface, AI-powered insights and a centralized database that connects and consolidates your dat...Read more about Vena

9

recommendations

aACE
aACE

aACE is a powerful, comprehensive business management solution designed for companies that have outgrown small-business packages and patchwork solutions or are frustrated by the poor performance of expensive ERP systems. aACE’s core functionality includes...Read more about aACE

9

recommendations

BoldTrail Back Office
BoldTrail Back Office

Cloud-based residential real estate brokerage solution including robust real estate accounting, commission automation, transaction management, and more. Simplify and automate your office to move at the speed of the market. No more manual commission calcu...Read more about BoldTrail Back Office

9

recommendations

Asset4000
Asset4000

MRI Asset4000 is an on-premise and cloud-based fixed asset accounting solution for small, mid-sized and large enterprises. Real Asset Management, the software vendor has now rebranded and is part of MRI Software and continues to provide the best in special...Read more about Asset4000

7

recommendations

Deltek Costpoint
Deltek Costpoint

Deltek Costpoint is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) and management solution designed to meet the requirements of midsize and large enterprise businesses. The solution primarily assists government contractors, professional service firms, and not-for-p...Read more about Deltek Costpoint

6

recommendations

ExpensePoint
ExpensePoint

ExpensePoint is a trusted expense management platform with over 70,000 users across 106 countries, designed to help medium and large businesses streamline expense reporting, compliance, and analysis. Known for exceptional Canada-based customer support, usa...Read more about ExpensePoint

4

recommendations

Budgyt
Budgyt

Budgyt is a dynamic FP&A platform that simplifies budgeting, forecasting and reporting without sacrificing the granular details. Budgyt delivers user-friendly solutions for complex financial planning needs, making it easy for CFOs and finance teams to inte...Read more about Budgyt

3

recommendations

FUND EZ
FUND EZ

Fund EZ nonprofit accounting software gives visibility into every facet of their organization. The software helps users to create and track budgets across fiscal years, detailing actual vs. budget for multiple projects, programs, grants, funding sources, d...Read more about FUND EZ

3

recommendations

Multiview ERP
Multiview ERP

Multiview Financials is the flagship ERP system developed, sold, implemented, and supported by Multiview Financial Software. Multiview is designed for organizations ranging in size from rapidly growing small businesses to large enterprises across North Ame...Read more about Multiview ERP

3

recommendations

Datarails
Datarails

Datarails is a financial planning and analysis platform that automates financial reporting and planning, while enabling finance teams to continue benefiting from the familiar spreadsheets and financial models of Excel. Automating these time-consuming man...Read more about Datarails

2

recommendations

Spreadsheet Server
Spreadsheet Server

Spreadsheet Server is a modular-based reporting solution that automatically pulls live ERP data directly into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. It is an innovative and comprehensive solution designed to transform the way businesses handle financial reporting....Read more about Spreadsheet Server

2

recommendations

BudgetPak
BudgetPak

BudgetPak by XLerant is a cloud-based Accounting solution that offers stand-alone Budgeting and Forecasting, as well as integrated Financial Reporting. It’s suited for midsize to large organizations in a variety of industries including Property Management,...Read more about BudgetPak

2

recommendations

Connected
Connected

Connected is a hybrid integrated accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) that caters to small and midsize businesses across various industry verticals and helps them to integrate their data and processes across departments and locations and manag...Read more about Connected

5.0

(3 reviews)

2

recommendations

JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
JD Edwards EnterpriseOne

JD Edwards EnterpriseOne is a cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and supply chain management solution that provides ERP applications and tools for finance, consumer goods, human resources, distribution and manufacturing sectors. The system prov...Read more about JD Edwards EnterpriseOne

2

recommendations

Focus X
Focus X

Focus X is an all-inclusive enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that helps you connect every aspect of your business operations. From production to supply chain, customer relationship management to inventory and human resources, it records and stores...Read more about Focus X

2

recommendations

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FrontRunners Logo

Your Guide to Top Small Business Accounting Software, September 2022

Software Advice uses reviews from real software users to highlight the top-rated Small Business Accounting products in North America.

Learn how products are chosen

Explore FrontRunners

“Usability” includes user ratings for Functionality and Ease of Use.

“Customer Satisfaction” includes user ratings for Customer Support, Likelihood to Recommend and Value for Money.

Reviews analysis period: The reviews analysis period spans two years and ends the 15th of the month prior to publication.

Buyers Guide

This detailed guide will help you find and buy the right small business accounting software for you and your business.

Last Updated on January 27, 2025

What is small business accounting software?

Small business accounting software is software used by small businesses to track incoming and outgoing financial transactions as well as financial statements and cash flow. While traditionally small businesses have tracked financial information on tools such as spreadsheets, these manual methods are time-consuming and less accurate. Spreadsheets also do not offer the automation and notification capabilities of a dedicated tool.

With small business accounting software, users can eliminate the need to create a spreadsheet and manually enter each transaction detail. Instead, they gain the flexibility of integrating with third-party tools such as point-of-sale software to automatically input data. These tools can also generate branded invoices, send notifications upon certain financial transactions or milestones, and provide an overview of the business’ budget.

Given all this, it can be tricky for small businesses to identify the right accounting software for their needs. We developed this guide to help buyers understand exactly what these products offer, so they can select the solution that is the best fit.

What are common reasons small businesses seek accounting solutions?

Thousands of small businesses contact us every year looking for help selecting the accounting solution best suited to them. Some of these buyers are just getting started, while others are looking to replace an outdated or problematic system.

Small businesses most commonly purchase an accounting system because they are:

  • Seeking to upgrade to a software system with more advanced features.

  • Seeking to automate functions that were previously done manually.

  • Looking to generate better financial reports.

  • In need of specific features (e.g., project or job accounting).

  • Frustrated with their current accounting software (e.g., it is not user-friendly).

Common Features of Small Business Accounting Software

There are several different applications for buyers to choose from, which can be purchased either as a standalone application or along with other related applications, as part of an integrated software suite (more on this below). Make sure the system you purchase covers all the functionality you’re going to need.

Here are some of the most common small-business accounting applications:

Application

Function

Best for...

Accounts payable / accounts receivable (AP/AR)

The fundamental bookkeeping application, which tracks what is owed to a company by its customers (accounts receivable) as well as what the company owes its suppliers, also known as its liabilities (accounts payable).

All small businesses (especially those without a dedicated bookkeeper); this is an essential accounting function.

Financial reporting

Reporting applications allow businesses to export data from their accounting system in a structured manner that communicates financial history as well as financial projections. Some may include compliance-related functionality for government or industry audits (e.g., in banking and financial services).

Any small business with seasonal or otherwise dynamic cash flow that needs to be tracked closely. Also, businesses that need to provide financial reports to stakeholders or to regulatory institutions for compliance.

Budgeting & forecasting

Budgeting applications allow small businesses to model potential financial outcomes and to compare actual profit and loss to planned budgets, which helps with decision-making about workforce, spending and growth. Some systems have dashboards that display information visually.

Small businesses that are currently growing or considering expanding.

Fixed asset accounting

Fixed asset applications focus on tracking assets that aren’t easily converted to cash: For a small business, assets will typically be “tangible,” such as land, buildings or equipment. These applications calculate the value of such assets over time, allowing for depreciation due to wear and tear.

Small businesses with substantial tangible assets, or any business that, for tax purposes, may benefit from reporting depreciations to assets.

How is small business accounting software priced?

Most small businesses will want to consider cloud-based accounting solutions. Because these systems are hosted online by the vendor, they eliminate the need for you to have a dedicated IT team for managing and maintaining your own server. Conversely, an “on-premise” deployment means the software is hosted locally, on your company’s own servers (which you are responsible for maintaining).

Choosing a Web-based system drastically reduces upfront investment and installation costs. In addition, these systems typically offer monthly subscription pricing, which makes them scale well for fast-growing companies that need to add additional user licenses or features down the road. On-premise systems, on the other hand, come with a steeper, one-time fee to use the software in perpetuity.

At present, some businesses may still see savings with an on-premise system, especially if they already have the necessary hardware to host the software on-site. While on-premise solutions usually require purchasing an expensive perpetual license up front, this may still be the cheaper option if you use the same system over an extended period of time. However, keep in mind that with on-premise solutions, you might also pay additionally for upgrades, customizations and maintenance.

What should you consider when purchasing accounting software for your small business?

With so many options and feature sets to choose from, selecting the right accounting solution can quickly become an overwhelming task. To narrow things down, here are three key factors for small businesses to keep in mind while evaluating different products:

Best-of-breed vs. integrated suite options. Because accounting encompasses so many functions, from fund accounting to billing and invoicing, many entry-level products are actually “best-of-breed” solutions. This means they focus on only one of the core applications listed in the table above. “Integrated suites,” meaning solutions combining multiple applications in one software package (often billed as “professional” or “enterprise” editions), have much greater functionality, but are also are much more expensive.

So before you begin shopping, start with a clear assessment of exactly which functions you need. The “Best for...” column in the chart above provides recommendations as to which applications are best for which types of businesses.

Automation capabilities. Many small businesses we speak with say they’re replacing their accounting system in order to reduce the inaccuracies that come with manual entry and to automate more of their processes. Small businesses should pay particular attention to the degree of automation that a system provides as they evaluate accounting software for small business. If your company is growing, it's especially important to track everything in a system that can verify entries for accuracy and automate recurring functions to ensure that nothing slips through the cracks.

Integration with other programs. While small businesses may not have as many integration requirements as larger companies, your accounting software’s ability to sync with other programs could still be a factor. Consider whether your desired accounting system can integrate with any of your company’s current stand-alone applications—for example, if you have a payroll system designed to support small businesses, or a retail point-of-sale (POS) system that will need to integrate with restaurant accounting software functionality.

Moreover, integration with banking institutions and credit cards can make it much easier to keep track of your company financials in real-time. Accounting software can sync with your online accounts automatically, so you don’t have to enter transaction information manually.