Top 10 Online Accounting software

Last updated: May 19, 2023

Online Accounting software allows to manage finances, expense tracking, invoicing, reconciliation, accounts payable, bookkeeping and more.
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QuickBooks Online puts you in control of your finances, your time, your business—and where you work. From setup to support, QuickBooks Online makes your accounting easy. With simple tools to get you started, free support, and a money-back guarantee, QuickBooks Online is the effortless choice.
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Xero is accounting software for small business. Like alternatives, Xero allows to manage invoicing, reconciliation, accounts payable, bookkeeping and more. Share access to your latest business numbers with your team & your accountant – so everyone is up to speed. Xero accounting software lets you work anywhere.
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Sage Business Cloud is the right, proven solution for mid-market customers with international ambitions and multi-national requirements. Sage Business Cloud technology is available on all leader platforms in the market with End-to-end process integrity and data consistency in your Webtop across the enterprise.
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FreshBooks is an online invoicing software as a service for freelancers, small businesses, agencies, and professionals. The product includes a myriad of other related features, such as time tracking, expense tracking, recurring billing, online payment collection, the ability to mail invoices through the U.S. Post, and support tickets.
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Zoho Books is an online accounting software with time tracking that allows you to easily manage the money flowing in and out of your business. Manage your customers and invoices, while keeping expenses in check. Record, monitor and reconcile your bank accounts and transactions, and collaborate with your accountant in real-time. Most importantly, Zoho Books helps you make better, more informed decisions and stay on top of your business.
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Half a million customers use Wave's online small business software to do their invoicing, accounting and payroll. Smart cloud apps for smart business owners. Wave makes it easy to be your own boss. Just do what you're good at, and lean on Wave's smart online software for help with invoicing, accounting and payroll.
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FreeAgent is accounting software for small businesses and freelancers, recommended by 99.5% of our users. From expenses and time tracking, to estimates and invoices, FreeAgent helps you take care of business day-to-day. Keep track of your cash flow and project profitability, and see who owes you money on your FreeAgent overview screen. No need to sweat. Set up and configure multiple sales tax rates for your country and the countries you do business with.
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Tally's Accounting Software is the trusted name worldwide to simplify and manage your financial accounting, inventory management, banking and other business needs.
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Online Accounting Software made simple. VAT is automatically updated & can be submitted directly to HMRC. Get paid faster and improve cashflow wherever you are. Share directly with your accountant for easy management
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Kashoo mobile and online accounting software for small business. Cloud based system for invoicing, expense tracking & bookkeeping. Kashoo is a complete double-entry accounting software solution that you and your accountant will love! Running your business gets a whole lot easier when you can access your books anywhere and anytime.
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Small business accounting software from Less Everything, because your job title isn't accountant. Track all of your business expenses with LessAccounting, quickly and easily. You can put your expenses into categories, add notes to them, mark them as paid or due, and even upload a picture of your receipt with each expense. Send online invoices to any of your contacts, and track payments when you receive them. You can also set up invoices to reoccur whenever you need, and you can even accept payments for invoices via Paypal. You can customize your invoices with our powerful template engine as well.
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Bench is the online bookkeeping service that provides you tax-ready financial statements from professional bookkeepers.

Latest news about Online Accounting software


2023. Accounting AI automation startup Trullion lands $15M



Trullion, a startup providing accounting software, has raised $15 million. It connects corporate controllers, CFOs, and external auditors on a single platform, providing a unified source of truth for financial leaders. Trullion offers various tools such as lease accounting, revenue recognition, and audit automation tools that can algorithmically extract data from lease contracts and generate audit-ready reports for financial stakeholders. The platform also manages customer relationship management software, billing, and contract data and presents a dashboard with all data sources in one place.


2023. Accounting and financial compliance startup Wafeq raises $3M



Wafeq, a startup that provides accounting and e-invoicing SaaS solution focused on clients in UAE and Saudi Arabia, has raises $3M. Wafeq is a ratified provider in Saudi Arabia, and the UAE (e-invoicing is not mandatory there yet). The startup is in the process of seeking approval from the Egyptian Tax Authority too. Alameddine said the North African country offers massive opportunities for the startup as it is home to millions of small medium businesses.




2022. Accounting platform Osome raises $25M



Osome, Singapore-based financial admin platform, that helps business owners with administrative tasks like payroll, accounting and tax reporting, has raised a $25 million Series B. Over the last year, Osome has launched an accounting platform to provide tax and financial reports, expenses and invoice management. It also runs a hybrid accounting service, called the Accounting Factory, that combines machine learning with human accountants and is meant to replace accounting software like Xero and QuickBooks. Osome currently serves more than 11,000 businesses in Singapore (where it is is headquartered), Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. It also offers business incorporation services in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, and integrates with e-commerce platforms like Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Lazada, Etsy and Shopee.


2021. “Autonomous accounting” platform Vic.ai raises $50M



Vic.ai, a startup that has built an AI-based platform it claims can “automate” enterprise accounting, has raised a $50 million Series B. Vic.ai says it can do this by learning from historical data and existing processes to deliver more automation in accounting processes, thus saving time and reducing errors and duplicates. Vic.ai's Artificial Intelligence performs cost-side accounting autonomously by learning from your data and your accounting team, and then gradually taking over the wheel.


2021. Zoho Books gets a Free Plan



Zoho has introduced the free plan of Zoho Books, designed to meet the accounting needs of small businesses, startups, and freelancers. Zoho Books’ free plan aims to transform the finance workspace of small businesses by providing a modern cloud accounting platform to replace traditional or spreadsheet accounting, eliminate the risk of data loss, and reduce manual effort and errors. The free plan will help you go paperless, automate your accounting tasks, and take your accounting wherever you go. With this free plan, you can create, customize and send up to 1,000 invoices per year, collect payments online or offline, and automate your payment reminders. You will also be able to upload expense receipts and monitor expenses by category to stay within your budget. With the client portal enabled, your customers will be able to view their outstanding invoices, comment on transactions, pay you online, and leave reviews.


2021. Pennylane raises $18.3M for its accounting service



French accounting startup Pennylane has raised a new $18.3 million funding. The startup has been developing an accounting platform that improves accounting for both clients and their accountants. Focused on small and medium companies, the company has already attracted hundreds of clients, as it says 1,000 executives are currently using Pennylane. Pennylane lets you connect your account with third-party services that already hold valuable information, such as Stripe, Payfit, Qonto, Zoho, Sellsy, etc. Data is then synchronized regularly so that you can check outstanding invoices, pay your suppliers and see where you’re standing when it comes to inbound and outbound payments.


2021. Docyt raises $1.5M for its ML-based accounting automation platform


Docyt, a startup that wants to make the life of small and medium business owners (and their accounting firms) a bit easier by using machine learning to handle a lot of the routine tasks around collecting financial data, digitizing receipts, categorization and — maybe most importantly — reconciliation, has raised a $1.5M. At first glance, it may seem like Docyt competes with the likes of QuickBooks, which is pretty much the de facto standard for small business accounting. But, actually the service is a partner to the likes of QuickBooks. When SMBs start growing out of their accounting systems like QuickBooks, Docyt is extending the life of QuickBooks for such business owners by automating most of Quickbooks tasks.


2021. Ageras nabs $73M for its accountancy marketplace and bookkeeping software



Denmark-based startup Ageras, which has built a dual-purpose platform, providing both accountancy software and a marketplace for small and medium businesses to find accountants, has closed a round of $73 million. Ageras today follows a fairly typical labor marketplace model: SMEs seeking accountancy services submit their requirements in three areas — accounting, bookkeeping or auditing — and in return they receive three leads to contact. Alongside this — and to further diversify the business model — the company has expanded into building accounting software


2021. Accounting automation startup Indy raises $42.4M



French startup Georges, building an accounting automation application for freelancers and small companies, is raising a new round of funding of $42.4M. The service is also getting a new name - Indy. Indy first started with a product specifically designed for freelancers, self-employed people, doctors, architects, lawyers, etc. It can help you replace your accountant altogether. You first connect the service to your bank account. Indy then imports all your transactions and tries to tag and categorize as many transactions as possible.


2021. Pennylane raises $18.4 million for its accounting service



French startup Pennylane has raised $18.4 million (€15 million) for its accounting service that combines automated processes with human accountants. Pennylane is both a software-as-a-service company that helps you deal with your financial data and an accounting firm. By working with accountants directly, it means that you can talk with your accountant through the company’s platform. It becomes a single source of information for financial data. The startup wants to improve the experience for both its clients and its accountants.


2020. Accounting outsourcing startup Osome raises $3M



Osome, a Singapore-headquartered business assistant app that digitizes accounting and compliance tasks, has raised $3 million. The startup currently has about 4,500 SME clients across Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Osome’s platform uses machine learning-based tech to automate administrative, accounting, payroll and tax-related work. Depending on subscription tier, it also gives businesses access to chartered accountant services.


2019. Zoho Books introduced free plan



Government of India via GSTN has selected Zoho Books, our cloud accounting software, to offer it for free to businesses with an annual turnover of less than ₹1.5 crore. Zoho Books is a smart end-to-end accounting solution that digitises your business finance and ensures that your business is tax compliant. With the Government offering this scheme, you have an excellent opportunity to digitise your accounting using Zoho Books. You can skip manual data entry, automate repetitive tasks and know how well your business is doing at a glance. You don’t have to worry about data loss as your financial data is stored securely in the cloud. Zoho Books also enables you to collaborate online with your accountants and financial investors, and receive timely financial advice.


2019. Georges raises $11.2 million for its accounting automation tool



Georges, a French startup wants to help freelancers, doctors and lawyers when it comes to accounting. With Georges, you can get rid of your accountant altogether and switch to a software-as-a-service product. The product is dead simple. First, you connect Georges with your professional bank account. The company leverages Bankin’ to connect to the vast majority of French banks. After that, Georges automatically tags revenue and expenses to calculate your annual revenue, VAT, etc. It’s not perfect so you still have to manually categorize some transactions. But it’s still much faster than entering each transaction in an accounting application. Once everything is tagged properly, Georges generates paperwork and sends it to tax authorities. The company competes with more traditional software solutions, such as BNC Express. With a bit of machine-learning, Georges could quickly become much more efficient than those legacy tools.


2017. Xero integrated with spending tracker Curve



Accounting software provider Xero has partnered with Curve, fintech startup that lets you consolidate all your bank cards into a single card and track your spending. The goal is to remove much of the friction involved in filing expenses. The integration gives users an option to connect the Curve app to Xero so that spending on one's Curve card can be automatically added to the accounting software without the need to enter each expense manually.


2017. Zoho Books gets document hub and receipt auto-scanning



Online accounting app Zoho Books adds some usefull features for working with documents. The Auto-scan option in Zoho Books lets you scan your documents, and capture the details automatically, so they can be converted into an expense, bill, or purchase order. If you’ve already scanned them, you can upload them directly and our software will extract the key data for you. The Documents feature comes with its own unique email address, so you can get your files into Zoho Books just by emailing them. Once you receive a file, you can move it to one of your folders or create a transaction from it, and the inbox gets cleared. The documents are automatically stored in one secure hub as soon as you upload them, which means you have one common place to view and manage your documents.


2015. Cloud accounting service for freelancers FreeAgent raises $5M



FreeAgent, the UK-based cloud accounting software for freelancers and micro-businesses has raised $5 million in funding. FreeAgent launched in 2007, hewn from the frustration that managing company finances was just too damn hard for most small businesses and freelancers. Today’s FreeAgent news also comes at a time when the cloud-based accounting software market in the U.K. remains ripe for further consolidation. In late 2013, Iris acquired KashFlow for a rumoured £20 million, leaving a plethora of accounting SaaS startups on the table. Along with FreeAgent, these include Clearbooks and Crunch, the latter also primarily targeting freelancers and micro-businesses, albeit with a model that also includes an accountant.


2015. Cloud accounting service Xero raises $111M



New Zealand-based online accounting software firm Xero has raised a $110.8 million round of capital to grow its business in the North American market. Prior to today, Xero had raised over $240 million from investors. Xero provides online accounting software for small/medium businesses and accountants. While many small businesses were still using rudimentary accounting systems or even Excel spreadsheets, Xero knew the future was in the cloud. By giving small businesses, accountants and bookkeepers a way to do accounting online and from mobile, has revolutionized how they work.


2015. Online accounting service Bench raises $7 Million



Bench, the service that matches bookkeepers with businesses, has closed a $7 million Series A round. Bench started out as 10sheet, an algorithm-meets-human platform where SMBs could sign up to have all their transaction paperwork sent directly through the 10sheet system and then looked over by a human bookkeeper. Then the company rebranded to Bench and implemented a system in which every customer would be matched directly with their own Bench bookkeeper. The technology still pulls in transactions from corporate cards and checking accounts, but also provides a one-on-one service to communicate with your assigned accountant.


2015. Xero launched cloud payroll service in US



Cloud accounting startup Xero announceding a new product that will extend it further into the back-office by offering up cloud-based payroll and tax software. Xero Payroll was designed to target the more than 5 million small businesses in the U.S. that have fewer than 20 employees. For those employers, many of which outsource it to third-party providers, payroll can end up being a significant expense, between $200 and $500 per month. In addition to the cost of outsourcing, there is also the potential for human error and fines based on incomplete or incorrect information. The product provide SMBs with the same type of cloud-based platform that it’s created for accounting, but make it available to help employees get paid and electronically file state and federal payroll taxes.


2014. Zoho Books became available on iPad



Zoho announced the availability of the new Zoho Books iPad app. This native app is optimized for iPad, iPad Air and iPad Mini. iPad app features all the major functions from the web version so that you can run your business on your tablet from anywhere. An interactive dashboard for you to get important insights into your business as soon as you open it. Get information on your receivables, payables and cash flow. Learn how your business is faring and what part needs attention. Zoho Books for iPad also provides business expense management, time tracking, timesheets, estimates and different reports.


2014. Intuit acquired cloud integration service ItDuzzit



Intuit continues to build out its cloud platform for SMB by acquiring itDuzzit — the startup that provides tools for businesses to integrate different web and mobile apps with each other (something think IFTTT for enterprises). The idea here is that Intuit will add itDuzzit to its QuickBooks platform, which provides accounting and increasingly many other adjacent services to businesses. ItDuzzit competes against the likes of Zapier and Cloudwork. The dozens of apps that can be linked up using the itDuzzit include the likes of Asana, Box, Coinbase, Freshbooks, PayPal and Shopify, with promises of further apps to come. What it essentially means is that while Inuit may not have its own hand in each of those pies (yet), it will give its customers an easy way of using them on its platform and with Intuit software regardless.


2014. Zoho Books app for Windows 8.1 released



Zoho launched Windows 8 version of its accounting app for growing business Zoho Books. It allows to send instant invoices to your clients and record payments, track expenses you’ve incurred and categorize them by type, identify and cut down on unnecessary expenditures, get instant insights into your business with interactive graphs and charts rather than drowning in information overload, organize contacts (capture important details like currency, email, phone, and billing address in a single place), maintain items in your product/price list.


2013. Xero Launches New Features and Plans for a Payroll Solution

Xero, the cloud-based accounting solution for small business, has added a collection of new features. They include Xero Touch - a new version of its Apple mobile operating system recently updated for iOS7. It allows users to check bank transactions, invoice, check with an accountant and more directly from a smartphone. Xero Files is a new drag and drop application. It lets you add invoices, transactions, expense receipts, fixed assets, contracts and just about any other kind of files into Xero. You can then attach them to related files and documents making them easy to find, the company says. Xero Purchase Orders now allows you to put together purchase orders for your business in the same way you can already put together invoices on Xero. Pricing starts at $19 per month for small businesses depending on the number of invoices and payments being processed.


2010. LessAccounting makes small business bookkeeping easier

There are plenty of web accounting services however LessAccounting seems to be a strong contender for a simple, easy-to-use accounting system owing to its intuitive user interface and the fact it integrates with your bank’s data which, according to the developers, can cut down the time you spend doing the books by up to 80%. LessAccounting runs in your web browser – there’s no additional software to install – and works across all operating systems. The app is available via a monthly subscription, which costs $30, and with this you can do unlimited transactions and have as many members as you want – there are absolutely no restrictions (unlike other similar systems which work off a tiered subscription, where you often have to pay more to get more). All of LessAccounting’s features can be accessed from the lefthand side menu, and they are categorised to make navigation easier. You can access this menu no matter where you are in the application, which avoids flicking back and forth between pages to do something else.


2009. FreshBooks - online billing for small business



There are a lot of online billing services on the Web and each offers its own mix of usability and applicability to a business. But if you're looking for something simple that will make it easy to monitor your billing cycles, FreshBooks is a good place to start. FreshBooks makes it simple to manage clients, projects, and most importantly, invoices. The tool generates recurring invoices and automatically bills customers. And it's relatively affordable: you can pay nothing if you need basic invoicing or pay up to $149 per month if you want more employees to access the account. Aside from being able to import from and export to QuickBooks and CSV files, the tool automatically integrates with payment processing solutions like PayPal and its design makes completing your invoicing tasks quick and easy.But the most useful feature is its tracking. If you're using a crude system for billing, you probably have some trouble remembering when or if you were paid. FreshBooks eliminates that issue and provides a menu pane showing outstanding payments and historical payments so you know when money is coming in. And if you're worried about the look of your invoice, you can customize it any way you'd like and even input your company logo.


2008. Intuit launches QuickBooks Online Edition



Intuit is the biggest player in the accounting software space, its QuickBooks product having massive following in the SMB space with over three millions users. QuickBooks Online Edition (QBOE) is its response to the growing popularity of web-based and online accessible offerings. Available now for several years, QBOE has had slow, but steady, uptake. QBOE does some of the major things that businesses need. It's got full double-entry accounting, allowing for correct balance sheets, profit and loss statements and trial balances to be run from it. The starting point for QBOE is the home screen. Unlike other online accounting apps which try and depict a "dashboard view" is where their business is at, the QBOE home screen is more a process diagram, showing a workflow style diagram that allows the user to dive into different functional area of the accounting system. The Basic edition covers the bare essentials - accounts receivable, expense tracking and check printing, arguably quite limited functionality for $10 a month. The Plus version adds estimates and invoice customisations, time tracking, recurrent billing, budgeting and online billing to the mix.


2008. Accounting on the go: Quickbooks for iPhone and Blackberry



Quickbooks, one of the leading accounting packages for small businesses, has just released web interfaces for Blackberry and iPhone. The iPhone version, seen to the left, sports a very slick UI and allows easy, at-a-glance access to all of your financial information, entered into Quickbooks Online. At first glance, the web app provides a simplistic view of things. Features included are looking at who owes you, who you owe, vendors, employees, and bank accounts. Despite the initially simplistic look, as you drill down, you uncover a whole new level of detail. Even though this seems to be a killer app for referring to your financial information, I have to point out some points where they have missed the mark. First off, a standalone app, available through the App Store would have been nice for the iPhone, but it's not completely necessary. The largest oversight here is not being able to edit or add data. In my opinion, this would be one of the primary usage scenarios for this app. That said, this is version one of this app and we may see this sort of functionality being added at some point down the line.  If you are already a Quickbooks Online user, these new web interfaces for Blackberry and iPhone are nice perks. I'm not sure that the introduction of these apps would be the deciding factor in jumping to Quickbooks Online, but it might help the decision.