1. Best Accounting Software For Small Business Mac 2018
2. Free Accounting Software For Small Business
3. Best Accounting Software For Mac

What Is Enterprise Accounting and Financials?

Most small business operators will be familiar with accounting software aimed at that segment, the most popular of which might arguably be Intuit QuickBooks. While this is great software, it can have trouble when faced with requirements typically handled by larger organizations, including a large user base, increased security requirements, reconciliation across multiple geographies, and especially integration with other enterprise-oriented operational packages, such as asset management or large-scale inventory tracking.

For the purposes of this review roundup, rather than relegate these reviews to midsize businesses only, we'll instead use the increasingly more popular segment description 'SME software'—small to midsize enterprise accounting. And the metric we'll use to determine if a particular accounting system falls into this category is its ability to handle complex business functions.

More than Just Bookkeeping

Best Small Business Accounting Software for Mac 2018 The post will give you Small Business Accounting Software for Mac and PC. The new generation is now running towards developing small business to be self-employed. Zoho Books is a subscription-based accounting software with enough features to meet all your small business needs without the hefty price tag. It can sync with your bank accounts and help you create and send invoices. The time- and expense-tracking features are top-notch. Bottom Line: QuickBooks is the best online accounting application for small businesses, thanks to its depth, flexibility, and extensibility. It's easy to use, well-designed, and built to serve a. The best part is that you get access to all of these modules absolutely free, making this the best free accounting software for small business if you’re in manufacturing or distribution. If you need more functionality, you can always upgrade to a paid version. Best Overall Small Business Accounting Software: QuickBooks Online QuickBooks Online is great for businesses of all shapes and sizes, especially for businesses that are quickly growing and expanding (or expect to do so in the future).

The reason for using this particular approach is simple: Over the past decade or so, business has changed dramatically. With the internet fostering global sales, inventories in multiple locations and countries, and a bewildering mélange of currencies and taxes, even a company with just a few employees can require the sort of financial system complexity once reserved solely for multibillion dollar multinationals. Those multinationals could afford to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on IT and financial system acquisition, implementation, and support on an ongoing basis, but most SMEs cannot.

The goal of SME software is to present a good portion of this capability at a price and usability a modest-sized business can afford. In this review roundup, we test 10 SME accounting systems that, for the most part, exist in the cloud, either as managed services or hosted systems. Many of the financial systems we reviewed are actually parts of larger suites, including additional modules covering a wide variety of functionality such as customer relationship management (CRM), business intelligence (BI), project management, data mining, financial reporting, complex budgeting and forecasting, and any number of other areas. For that reason, we had to limit what we looked at and, for now, we stuck with general ledger accounting. Look for us to examine some of these other modules in more detail in an upcoming roundup covering SME enterprise resource planning (ERP) apps.

SME Customizability

The Best Enterprise Accounting Software of 2018 Enterprise-grade accounting software is complex, which can make choosing the right package for your company an overwhelming task. For a small businesses, we suggest selecting an easy to use accounting software program for your day-to-day accounting needs, such as book-keeping and billing, and relying on a professional accountant to review your books and manage your general and tax reporting.

Because of their modular approach to software delivery, the SME accounting systems we look at here for the most part allow customers to build their own financial systems based on what their operations require. While we examine baseline general ledger capability, these systems often also offer vertical market versions tailored for specific kinds of businesses, such as nonprofit entities, manufacturing companies, distribution businesses, or real estate management, for example. Generally, these are add-on modules that install over the baseline accounting software.

For example, production, warehousing, and distribution businesses all have very different inventory needs, and this becomes even more complex when the business houses inventory of different kinds in multiple locations or countries. One of the areas we examined, but did not test, was a vendor's ability to meet these various inventory complexities, including bill of materials (BOM) processing, kitting (inventorying subcomponents of a finished product), and supply chain management.

Other characteristics of higher-level accounting systems include the ability to handle multiple companies and divisions, frequently with intercompany or interdivisional transactions; multicurrency capability, enhanced security, and features such as self-service payroll where the employee can directly access his or her information and make limited changes such as increasing or decreasing the number of dependents.

Cloud-Scale Accounting

Another important characteristic of SME software is scalability. This is more of an issue with in-house systems than it is with cloud-based accounting, because scalability is mainly limited by the infrastructure upon which the system is running. In your data center that infrastructure limit can be quickly reached, thereby limiting your scale. In the cloud, you've got as much infrastructure as you feel like paying for at any given time.

In terms of SME accounting, scalability can be viewed as the ability to add simultaneous users. As the company grows, and as the financial system grows beyond bookkeeping into other areas of financial and managerial utility, the need to grow its users base quickly and easily is critically important. However, because these are high-end systems, especially when you get into in-house financial and ERP systems, scaling up for more users can mean substantially increased licensing costs, higher maintenance fees, and the need for higher-end hardware (if you're running the system in-house rather than as a managed cloud service).

Another limiting factor in SME accounting scalability is the underlying database. Most entry-level accounting apps use a proprietary database or a third-party offering with an inexpensive licensing fee. Either model, however, can limit the number of users. On the other hand, true enterprise financial systems are likely to use expensive databases, such as IBM DB2, Oracle, or SAP, any of which can dramatically drive up licensing, implementation, and maintenance costs. In between these two extremes, you'll find apps using Microsoft SQL Server (though this one is quickly approaching high-end database territory in terms of both feature and licensing complexity), MySQL, or PostgreSQL. While the accounting staff probably doesn't need to know what the underlying database of their accounting app is, it's definitely something your IT department needs to know and factor into their long-range planning—and that's regardless of whether the overall system is housed on-site or in the cloud.

Fortunately, your IT department won't have to work alone when it comes to implementing these SME accounting systems. That's because, for the most part, SME accounting systems are not offered for customer installation but rather only through value added resellers (VARs), most of which will make installation part of the package. None of the apps we tested are off-the-shelf retail boxed products, whether they're eventually housed on-site or in the cloud. However, while these services can drive up costs, they can also be highly valuable.

Depending on the complexity of your business, installation, feature selection, onboarding, and even ongoing support, can all save significant time, at both the implementation stage and if anything ever goes wrong. Good planning and coordination between your staff, the reseller, and your accountant are difficult must-haves but can pay big dividends down the line.

Evaluating SME Accounting

In our reviews, we tested using a fully functional testing account provided by the vendors, except when a cloud-based or hosted account wasn't available. In these few instances, we installed the in-house version with the help of the vendor or a designated reseller. Many of the accounting apps we tested include mobile access. With these apps, we tested available remote operations by using an iPad Air, a Lenovo Android tablet, and a Microsoft Surface 3, in addition to a desktop PC (which was our primary test platform).

Best Accounting Software For Small Business Mac 2018

When testing these systems yourself, remember that, while SME accounting systems are extremely powerful apps, the one you choose should fit as closely as possible to the way your business runs. That means you need to put in some real work to understand the workflows in your business—not just various accounting practices but also how your inventory is truly managed, for example, or how billing occurs for different kinds of customers. Meet with key business process owners and walk through all of the major workflows of your business before deciding on an SME accounting platform. You need to be aware of where data is generated, what it's used for, and how it might interact with other apps beyond the accounting system. The better you understand these nuances and the closer you can match the app's capabilities to what you need, the more successful your implementation will be.

Featured Enterprise Accounting Software Reviews:

• Oracle NetSuite OneWorld Review

  
  MSRP: $999.00
  

  Pros: Solid customer relationship management features. Broad enterprise resource planning features apply to wide variety of businesses. Excellent drilldown capabilities from several system views. Simple reporting. Custom process workflows. Easily navigable, hierarchical dashboards.

  Cons: Confusing help system. Difficult to configuring system for specific roles. Broad but complex feature set.

  Bottom Line: Oracle NetSuite OneWorld is written for the cloud, focusing on ease of use and modularity. It is a solid financials platform that can be easily expanded to meet other business needs simply by buying additional functionality through the cloud.

  Read Review

• Acumatica Review

  
  MSRP: $1000.00
  

  Pros: On-premises or cloud deployment. Robust amount of costing methods. Works on many databases. Solid reporting. Non-user-based pricing accommodates growing companies. Browser-based app makes it easy to use mobile devices. Navigation is easy.

  Cons: Estimating licensing costs can be difficult. Standard report filters may need customizing. Reliance on third-party add-ons needed if implementing ERP for companies outside the manufacturing/distribution vertical. Unusual pricing structure.

  Bottom Line: Acumatica's intuitive design, enterprise scalability, and flexible pricing model help make Acumatica an excellent choice for enterprise resource planning, general ledger accounting, and inventory management.

  Read Review

• AccountMate Review

  
  MSRP: $3125.00
  

  Pros: Many report export options. Great transaction drilldown. Extensive online training and help functionality. Solid audit trail report capability

  Cons: . No HR or POS modules for ERP implementations. Limited graphics and charting. Task shortcuts need to be configured. No true dashboards. No process flowchart navigation.

  Bottom Line: AccountMate is a solid entry in small to midsize business (SMB) financials, inventory management, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Though it's missing some sophisticated features that other products have, it's still very usable and configurable.

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• Cougar Mountain Denali Summit Review

  
  MSRP: $275.00
  

  Pros: Easy navigation. Two of the three bundles include Crystal Reports. Available as a single purchase or per-month payments. Can be purchased directly or through a reseller channel. Fund Accounting edition available.

  Cons: Crystal Reports costs $495 extra, even for the most basic bundle. Report filters and data entry screens are not particularly intuitive. Not much charting or graphics capability within most modules.

  Bottom Line: Cougar Mountain Denali Summit is aimed squarely at midsized businesses and it sports a wide variety of expansion modules. Its design can be a little lackluster in places, but for most businesses it provides a serviceable financial platform.

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• Open Systems Traverse Review

  
  MSRP: $175.00
  

  Pros: Deep dashboard drilldown. Full suite of ERP creation modules. Good documentation and Help screens. Available in-house or hosted. Includes Working Trial Balance report. Screen, forms, and reports customization. Easy hosted mobile access.

  Cons: No Flowchart/Process navigation. Setting up data entry and reports is somewhat complex.

  Bottom Line: While Open Systems Traverse is one of the oldest players in the space, it actually shows its age in areas like UI design. Still it's a solidly capable mid-tier financial platform that's well worth a look.

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• SAP Business One Professional Review

  
  MSRP: $82.00
  

  Pros: Extensive customization available. Underlying SAP HANA database allows for complex business analytics. Microsoft SQL Server also available. Includes Crystal Reports for custom reporting. Can handle multiple currencies. Benefits administration module. Excellent documentation.

  Cons: Initial configuration and installation usually requires partner or expensive Value Added Reseller (VAR). Extensive customization necessary. Only supports Mozilla Firefox browser; testing failed. Ancillary system applications such as HR have pared-down feature sets.

  Bottom Line: SAP Business One Professional has good features and flexibility overall, but is designed as an 'old school' enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform. It may be too complex for many users especially small to midsize businesses (SMBs).

  Read Review

• Sage 300 Review

  
  MSRP: $75.00
  

  Pros: Mobile access from multiple operating systems using Google Chrome. CRM available in the 300 product line. Easily changeable dashboard widgets. Customizable, ribbon-based navigation menus.

  Cons: Payroll and inventory unavailable as 300 components. No hard timetable for adding modules. No flowchart/process navigation. Limited dashboard widgets on screen. Missing drill-down or navigation capability.

  Bottom Line: Sage 300 is a mid-range accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solution that is easy to use. But its functionality and expansion modules are limited, and it lags slightly behind the competition in drill-down and customization features.

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• QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Review

  
  MSRP: $900.00
  

  Pros: Easy-to-navigate process menus. Familiar user interface (UI) for current QuickBooks users. Huge user community. Simple forms and report customization. Large number of standard and contributed reports. Excellent import capabilities. Excellent integration with Sales and Purchasing.

  Cons: Offers only Average Costing if acquired without Advanced Inventory feature. No Economic Order Capabilities. Basic Low Inventory warnings. Scalable only up to 30 users. Proprietary database. No true central documentation. Mobile access only with an add-on service.

  Bottom Line: QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is a good next step for companies that have gotten to large for Intuit's more small business-focused cloud-based versions. However, there are some scalability and back-end integration issues you'll want to consider before making the move.

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• Microsoft Dynamics GP Review

  
  MSRP: $5000.00
  

  Pros: Exceptional functionality. Numerous optional components can bring it up to true ERP capability. Base software (Starter Pack) is very well-provisioned. Available on-premises or as a managed cloud service. Large variety of available mobile applications. Huge number of customizable reports.

  Cons: Outdated user interface (UI) isn't user-friendly. Workflow isn't intuitive. Will probably require extensive (and expensive) configuration and customization from Microsoft partners/resellers. Modular approach can result in an expensive system if many subsidiary journals are required.

  Bottom Line: Microsoft Dynamics GP puts functionality rather than user-friendliness at the top of its feature list.

  Read Review

Best Overall: QuickBooks Pro 2017

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Free Accounting Software For Small Business

QuickBooks is offered by Intuit, a giant in the personal finance industry. It’s widened its scope to address small business needs as well, and it’s an extremely popular choice.

QuickBooks offers literally hundreds of templates for almost any report you could conceivably need. Invoicing? You got it. Accounts payable? Not a problem. Inventory? Check. Time tracking? Yes. QuickBooks will manage your contacts and handle tax issues, forms and returns. It will create a budget for you and do your payroll — although the payroll feature is an add-on that costs a little extra. QuickBooks does pretty much everything except drive you to work.

One downside and a common complaint from users is that its numerous features make it a complicated program to master. This wouldn’t be so bad if it offered solid customer support, but that’s not the case here. Phone support is available, but it’s not free.

Best Accounting Software For Mac

You can buy the QuickBooks disc for a “one-time” cost or download the super-duper version for some more dough, but you’ll probably end up footing the bill for upgrades in future years (and the upgrades cost almost as much as the original software). And some of the software’s features and reports just aren’t necessary for small businesses, so you might end up with a lot you can’t use. QuickBooks Pro accommodates up to three users, but the second two will cost you extra, too. It’s only compatible with Windows.