The Top User-Friendly Accounting Software

Accounting is an essential part of any business. It helps you paint a clear picture of what you’ve spent your money on, how much revenue you’ve generated, and your profit. It’s natural to look for an accounting software that meets your needs.

Unfortunately, not all tools are created equally and it can be difficult to find user friendly accounting software. If the software you choose is difficult to use and understand, you’ll end up missing out on many of the insights that would help your business grow.

In this article, you’ll get a comparison of three easy-to-use accounting software solutions. Equipped with that knowledge, you’ll be able to make an informed decision when it’s time to choose the best accounting tool for your business.

Freshbooks

Freshbooks is a well-known and easy-to-use accounting software that was designed with small and medium service businesses in mind. Many of its customers don’t have a dedicated accounting department so people in charge of the books have many other responsibilities. The company understands this and created a user friendly accounting software so you can do what’s necessary without taking up too much time.

When you sign up for Freshbooks, it takes you through an onboarding process that guides you in setting up your account. You’ll fill your business information, industry, etc. which allows the software to show you relevant options and information. After the initial onboarding process, there are helpful next steps which will allow you to get up and running in a few minutes.

The menu options, unlike many other tools in the space use human readable terms. Instead of accounts payable, statement of account, billing summary, or other language that can cause confusion, it opts for menu items such as dashboard, invoices, and expenses so anyone can understand which option to click.

The invoicing aspect is so simple that even someone who’s never used accounting software will know how to use it without additional training. You’re able to choose from multiple templates, customize it to match our brand, and even make it recurring with the click of a button. Creating an expense is also straightforward.

Time tracking, one of the major features of Freshbooks, shows how much thought has gone into creating the user interface. When you click the button to start tracking time, a small window opens that lets you set the time to billable, choose a client, and even attach it to a project. This prevents a lot of manual data entry that would take aware from growing your business.

The last point worth mentioning is the ability to add teammates. There are a number of user levels such as admin, contractor, accountant, etc. Each one has different access levels which allows them to focus on the work they’re doing while keeping sensitive information out of reach. Taken together, these features make Freshbooks one of the most user friendly accounting software solutions available.

Quickbooks

Quickbooks may be one of the most recommended accounting software solutions in the world. That’s due, in large part, to its versatility. Where Freshbooks has a clear emphasis on service based businesses that send out invoices often, Quickbooks can cater to almost any type of organization.

Quickbooks does something that many accounting solutions fail to get right. It merges advanced functionality with a straightforward interface. The main features can be learned within a few hours and the advanced features can be mastered within days.  Menu items include sales, banking, expenses, employees, and more which allows you to access important information easily.

When you want to make a new entry, there’s a visible button labeled new that gives you access to almost all options such as adding expenses, creating invoices, or recording product sales. From within the interface you’re taken to for each of those options, you’re able to create new products, expense categories, customers, clients etc. This saves you a lot of time when it comes to clicking through the application and setting it up to your liking.

On the reporting side of things, you’re able to access a number of premade reports under categories called management and standard. After accessing a report, you can customize it to show information important to you. Once made, it can be saved and will appear under custom reports for easy access.

Under the sales menu option, there are three separate tabs. The first one is an overview, the second one is a customer view, and the last one is a products and services view. The first view gives you insights into all the sales transactions you’ve made sorted by date. The customer view is powerful because you can view who has an open balance and even drill down to identify your best customers. The final view for products and services lets you create new products as well as identify the ones which produce the most revenue for your business.

This has only scratched the surface of what Quickbooks can do. What makes it an easy-to-use accounting software is the fact that no action you want to take is more than a few clicks away from the main dashboard or hidden from view. All your financial information is right at your fingertips.

Zoho Books

Zoho Books is another easy-to-use accounting software. This becomes apparent from the moment you sign up. Like Freshbooks, it walks you through the account set up process and collects relevant information such as business name, address, contact person, and more. It also builds relevant parts of your account by asking you the modules you need to run your business which range from estimates to invoices. The last thing you do is set up tax schedules relevant to your business so when you’re creating orders or invoices, just choose from the list of taxes you’ve already made.

When you’ve logged into the account, the first thing you see on the dashboard are your total receivables, total payables, and a snapshot of your cash flow. The language could be clearer but if you’ve done anything with accounting, this won’t be an issue. It also shows other important information such as top expenses, income and expense chart, and any projects you have in progress.

Moving beyond the dashboard, it has a menu that appears simple at first glance. It only has a few items for you to choose from but when you select, it opens up and reveals more options. This is a good thing because too many visible items at once can be overwhelming. With just a few clicks via the “sales” menu item, you can create customers, projects, invoices, estimates, and more.

One of the best features of Zoho Books and something that makes it one of the top recommended accounting software solutions isn’t even related to accounting. Tips and guides are presented to the user within the application. There should never be a moment where you feel lost because it detects when you’re new and lays out instructions for you to follow without leaving the application.

For example, if you want to track time for a client project for the first time, it presents a diagram of how projects work in Zoho Books and a short video that walks you through setting up your first one. Using the platform for the first time appears complicated because it has robust functionality. The company understands this and has created clear instruction for every feature thus transforming what would otherwise be a challenge for most users into an easy-to-use-accounting software.

Conclusion

There are many accounting software solutions on the market. Some of them are for large enterprises and require multiple accountants to manage. Others are for small businesses but aren’t user friendly. This article has gone through three easy-to-use accounting software solutions that’ll help you stay on top of your finances while freeing up your time to grow your core business.