Small business owners have suffered badly in the past year. A lot of dependencies was seen on the tools and technologies that could help the small and medium businesses to improve their business operations with time. These tools will give you a comprehensive view of all your spending and expenses and will help you to make better financial decisions.

Most of the online and cloud-based systems today are going for these tools as business owners know that the task of financial bookkeeping is not simple for any business. They need to keep a record of all the bills they have paid and all the revenue that is being generated by the business. Thus, every business, small or larger, needs a good accounting tool that is able to provide information in seconds that will help you to answer questions based on the input that you have supplied to them.

So here are the top three accounting tools that have been carefully selected from a list of top 10 tools identified earlier.

XERO

XERO is one of the top-performing web-based and cloud-based applications. It is also one of the easiest and affordable accounting tools for small businesses. Its high performance has made it the primary accounting solution for more than 16 000 accounting businesses. Its powerful features, such as integration with the third-party payroll system, allow businesses to collect payments in a simple process. Some of its key features, pros and cons of the application include:

Key Features

• Users can customize the tools with the help of the add ons.
• Efficiently manages payroll activities
• Users can send invoices and quotes to their clients.
• Can work with multiple currencies.
• Enables users to store files online.

Pros

• It is cloud-based.
• Supports payroll integration with Gusto
• Supports third-party app marketplace
• Simple inventory management features
• Cost-effective- free 30 days trial and unlimited users
• Highly scalable- can grow with the business

Cons

• Users need to learn how to use it first.
• It does not support Exchange Traded Products.
• Very basic requisition/purchase/inventory side, which needs further improvements.
• The pricing has increased and now no longer include built-in payroll with its plans.
• The absence of the Debtor Chasing’ features, so the business needs to manually follow up on the unpaid invoices.
• Poor customer service.

ZOHO

ZOHO offers a cloud-based accounting software application which is one of the top-performing applications presented by the ZOHO suit for growing businesses. One of them is the accounting application. Smart algorithms, easy to use interface, and quick and convenient processing are some of the factors that makes this application one of the top-performing one in the market. The best part is, ZOHO accounting tool is a cloud-based platform that is now preferred by most accounting professionals.

Key Features

• The application allows its users to create customized invoices and get paid faster.
• It can create professional quotes and convert them into invoices in just a click.
• The client portal feature empowers the customers to view all their transactions in a single place.
• Users can generate bills to track all the payments.
• The tools also helps to keep a track of every billable project with the help of time sheets.

Pros

• Easy to understand and configure.
• Automation features save a lot of time.
• Feature to add receipts to the expenses.
• The bank reconciliation option is great.
• The dashboard is very well designed.
• The Android application is highly useful.

Cons

• Payment plans are inconvenient.
• Limits are set on the number of contacts.
• Bad automatic matching.
• The process to create manual vouchers is too long
• Absence of the payroll module

QuickBooks

QuickBooks is said to be one of the best accounting applications in the market. It has become one of the most widely used tools by tax professionals and bookkeeping people. The tool is cloud-based can also be accessed with the help of a mobile device. The tool offers several customization options that can be used to receive payments, capture an image, review reports, and track all business activities.

Key Features

• It gives consolidated customer and supplier data.
• It is able to track sales and expenses for the business.
• The tool is able to easily create and manage sales and invoices.
• Its users are able to easily calculate the service tax and VAT for the business.

Pros

• Highly scalable
• Mostly used by the accounting professionals
• Integration with the third-party applications
• Cloud-based application
• Also present as a mobile application
• Easy to learn and use
• Affordable prices

Cons

• To add more users, you need to upgrade your plan.
• Syncing problems with the banks and credit cards.
• Lack of business and industry-specific features

Now that you are familiar with the top three accounting applications available in the market choose the one that best suits your business. Accounting tools are greatly helping businesses of all sizes today by automating their accounting activities.