If you run a small business, are a sole trader or even a freelancer, you’ll undoubtedly need more help with your accounting than you can probably afford. By using a specialist accounting package, your accounts can be organised in a way that’ll help you make sense of them. And if you keep your day-to-day accounts in good order, you could save money on accountants in the long run.
Many of the packages are examples of Cloud Accounting, where the system, and your data, is available anywhere with an internet connection, which means it can be shared easily with your accountants.
Here’s the HB Accountants’ beginner’s guide to the features available with some of the best packages specifically for small businesses.
Sage One
Sage is possibly the best-known accounting package, and is the one we use. Sage One is a cloud-based accounting and payroll software. Sage’s UK products are specifically designed with small businesses in mind and have a number of features that keep you in line with the UK regulations, laws and taxes.
AccountEdge Pro
AccountEdge is a complete small business accounting and management solution for Mac users. It will help you with sales and purchases, payroll, inventory, invoices and managing contacts.
FreeAgent
FreeAgent provides UK freelancers and small business owners with online accounting software. It brings everything together, from invoice and expense management to VAT, payroll and self-assessment tax return filing.
FreshBooks
With FreshBooks, small business owners will be able to track time, log expenses and invoice clients and is accessible from any device (desktop, iPhone, iPad and Android).
Harvest
Claiming to “make time tracking easy (and almost fun)”, Harvest works on your laptop, iPhone and Android. It will analyse data, set budgets, track your project’s progress, track billable and non-billable time and run reports.
Hiveage
This package helps you track time, expenses, mileage, invoicing and accepting payments. The Hiveage dashboard gives you a clear overview of your income and expenses.
Intuit QuickBooks
For small businesses and the self-employed, Intuit QuickBooks helps you track your income and expenses, separating business and personal transactions. It will show you how much to set aside for tax, calculate mileage deduction and will download banking transactions.
Xero
An online package for Macs, PCs, tablets and smartphones, Xero will help you reconcile, send invoices and update you when they’re opened, create expense claims, as well as importing and categorising your bank transactions.
Wave Accounting
With Wave’s software, you can track sales, expenses, bill customers, receive payments, and pay your employees. It will automatically import bank transaction information, scan receipts, generate reports and insights to give you a simple understanding of how your business is doing.
Intacct
Intacct is a package designed for business expansion, with automated processes that can become more complex as your business grows. It allows for multiple users in multiple locations, streamlining the order-to-cash process and securely processing transactions.
Paychex Accounting Online
Paychex claims to provide an accounting package for people with no accounting experience with its intuitive and user-friendly design. It provides true double-entry accounting, bank reconciliation, a full activity stream, financial statements, and import/export capabilities.
Kashoo
Kashoo is an online accounting package enabling small business owners to control the company’s bookkeeping all from one place. It allows you to import bank details, keep track of invoices, expenses, cash flow, payroll, tax reporting, and audits.
Less Accounting
Billed as “accounting software for business owners who dislike bookkeeping”, Less Accounting was built on the premise that all you need is to see who owes you money and bill them, record and categorise expenses, then hand all the information over to the person doing your tax returns.
Working Point
This package was designed for business owners, not accounting professionals. It enables you to do online invoicing and general accounting from any of your devices, with nothing to install and no upgrades to download.
Zoho Books
Easy-to-use cloud accounting software for businesses. Zoho enables you to invoice clients, accept online payments, track expenses, connect to your bank account, share transactions and capture customer feedback and product accounting reports.
If you’re a small business looking for an experienced and trusted Hertfordshire Accountants, contact us for more information.
