Many freelancers find themselves spending long hours doing their accounting by hand but aren’t sure if it’s worth the cost to spring for accounting software. Fortunately, there are many affordable accounting software for freelancers available, including some forever free options.
In this shopping guide, we’ve rounded up the six best accounting software for freelancers of all kinds.
Besides pricing, there are many different features to consider when trying to decide on the best accounting software for freelancers with your needs.
| Starting price | Forever free plan | Expense tracking | Native time tracking | Inventory management | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FreshBooks | $19/mo. | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try FreshBooks |
| Xero | $15/mo. | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try Xero |
| Wave Accounting | $0/mo. | Yes | Yes | No | No | Try Wave |
| Zoho Books | $15/mo. | Yes | Requires integration with Zoho Expense | Yes | Yes | Try Zoho Books |
| QuickBooks Online | $30/mo. | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Try QuickBooks |
| Sage 50 Accounting | $58.92/mo. | No | Yes | No | Yes | Try Sage |
Our star rating: 4.1 out of 5
FreshBooks is often billed as a more affordable alternative to QuickBooks, and it’s easy to see why: FreshBooks includes comparable features but starts at nearly half the cost. The more affordable entry-level plan will appeal to freelancers that just need basic accounting features, and the invoice creation tool is especially helpful for freelancers. Higher-tier plans include features like mobile receipt capture, recurring billing and accountant access.
For more information, read the full FreshBooks review.
Our star rating: 4.4 out of 5
Xero Accounting’s cloud-based double-entry accounting software features native inventory management features, making it a great choice for product-based businesses. Not only can you keep track of your stock levels and see what’s selling, Xero will also automatically populate invoices and orders with items you sell. Xero’s pricing plans are also affordable, which will appeal to solo operations that won’t break the bank.
For more information, read the full Xero review.
Our star rating; 4 out of 5
If you’re on a serious budget, try Wave’s free accounting and invoicing plan. For the most part, the platform makes money through standard payment fees and add-ons like mobile receipts and payroll, although these services aren’t mandatory if you want to use the accounting and invoicing features. Each Wave account comes with unlimited invoices, clients, bank accounts and credit connections — all absolutely free.
But if you need more than the basic features you can get with Wave’s free plan, you can upgrade to Wave Pro, which costs $16 per month. Wave’s paid plan offers more expansive features at a below-average starting price, unlimited receipt scanning and unlimited users included.
For more information, read the full Wave Accounting review.
Our star rating: 4.7 out of 5
Zoho Books offers a comprehensive selection of accounting features combined with six different transparent pricing plans that offer lots of scalability. While the entry-level plans offer pretty basic features, the more expensive plans get way more advanced with tools for sales approvals, workflow rules, inventory controls, advanced analytics and more. Zoho Books also integrates with Zoho’s dozens of business apps, making it possible to build an entire Zoho software stack.
Zoho Books also offers the following add-ons:
For more information, read the full Zoho Books review.
Our star rating: 4.6 out of 5
QuickBooks offers some of the most advanced accounting features on the market, and many freelancers will greatly appreciate its tax preparation report. Even the most basic QuickBooks account includes invoice creation, payment acceptance, expense tracking, mileage tracking, cash flow forecasting and basic reports. However, its prices are above average compared to most other accounting software for small businesses, so not every freelancer will have a budget for it.
For more information, read the full QuickBooks Online review.
Our star rating: 4.6 out of 5
While you might associate Sage with enterprise software, it also offers multiple tools targeted toward midsize businesses, including Sage 50 Accounting. Sage Accounting has an extensive knowledge base to help new business owners get up to speed on all things accounting. If you can’t figure things out on your own, then give the well-reviewed customer service department a call.
For more information, read the full Sage Accounting review.
Many freelancers use invoices to charge their clients, making this an absolutely essential feature of any accounting software for freelancers. The software should allow users to choose from multiple email templates and customize them to their needs. It should also let users create a proposal or estimate, which they can then convert to an invoice after approval.
Time tracking is extremely helpful for any freelancer who charges their clients per billable hour or who has part-time employees that they pay by the hour. Some accounting software includes built-in time tracking, while others rely on integration with third-party tools for this feature. If you use a payroll platform, then the time tracking data should be easy to import into that as well.
If you must track expenses and mileage so your clients can reimburse you later, then definitely look for accounting software that offers this feature. Some software confines this feature to more expensive plans or forces you to pay an extra fee for mobile receipt capture, so be sure to account for that in your budget.
While freelancers’ accounting may be less complex than that of a large corporation, it’s still important for them to have a clear picture of the financial health of their business. That’s why you should look for accounting software for freelancers that generates reports automatically. The platform should also come preloaded with a selection of reporting templates to choose from.
Not all freelancers sell products, but if you do, then you definitely need inventory tracking to manage your stock levels to see what’s selling and what’s not. If you get accounting software with inventory tracking already included, that will make it extremely easy to generate invoices for each item sold and to log each transaction in your books.
Many freelancers are on a tight budget, so it’s important to keep that top of mind when shopping for the best accounting software for freelancers. Fortunately, there are multiple budget-friendly picks, including some forever free options like Wave Accounting. Each platform takes a different approach to what features are included in each pricing tier, so get specific about your must-haves since that can have a big impact on your budget.
Most accounting software for freelancers offers free trials, and those that don’t encourage you to schedule a demo call with the sales team. Take your time testing out each software to see if it meets your needs and if you can do without the features on the most expensive plans. If you’re still not fully sold by the time your free trial ends, try a month-to-month subscription first so you’re not locked into an annual contract with an accounting software that might not meet your needs.
To choose the best accounting software for freelancers, we consulted user reviews and product documentation. We considered factors such as pricing, customer support and user reviews. We also considered features such as invoicing, time tracking, expense tracking, mileage tracking, inventory tracking and financial reports.
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