The post Capterra Value Report: A Price Comparison Guide for Accounting Software appeared first on Capterra.

Are you a small or midsize business looking to purchase accounting software? If yes, then shortlisting one platform from the multitude of options available on the market can be a challenging task.

When selecting accounting software for your business, there are multiple factors to consider, including the deployment method and number of user accounts. However, buyers consistently tell us that two of their top considerations are functionality and price. If those are your top concerns as well, you’ve landed at the right place.

Price is a key consideration when purchasing software, but that doesn’t mean you should compromise on the functionality and value you get for money. As a small business owner, you should choose software that is both affordable and fits your specific needs.

Software features vary widely depending on the vendor. While most vendors offer the basic features a small business needs to support its accounting function, some vendors may also provide additional features within the same price range. Before investing in any accounting tool, determine which products offer the features you need while still giving the best value for your money.

In this accounting software pricing report, we’ll compare the prices of top accounting tools that users have rated highly for both value for money and functionality. This information will help you purchase the best software for your small-business needs.

Top accounting software rated on value for money and functionality

The graphic below shows products that have the highest value-for-money and functionality ratings based on user reviews in Capterra’s accounting software directory. Products are arranged in increasing order of their value-for-money ratings (bottom to top) and functionality ratings (left to right).

Note: While products in the top-right zone of the graph rank higher in terms of both functionality and value-for-money ratings, all products in this graph are top rated.

Price comparison for top-rated accounting software

Comparing pricing and functionality for multiple software solutions can prove to be a herculean task. To help small business owners like you, we’ve created a table to highlight how different accounting software products stack up against each other in terms of starting pricing, free trials, and free versions, allowing you to compare these products all in one place.

From the 25 products mapped on the scatter plot, only those with publicly available pricing information on vendor websites are included in the price comparison table below.

Note: Products are listed in alphabetical order, and the pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offering (discounted pricing not considered) found on vendor websites as of April 7, 2022. The cost of these accounting software products may vary based on the number of users, features offered, or other factors.

1. Bench

Bench is an all-in-one financial toolkit that offers a dedicated bookkeeping team, year-end financial statements, and unlimited communication with the in-house research team, among other features.

Starting price: $299 per month (billed monthly). Annual billing options are also available.

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of Bench offer one-on-one income tax consultations, unlimited income tax support, and annual income tax filing for businesses and individuals.

2. Deskera Books

Deskera Books is an online accounting solution that helps businesses manage invoices, bills, bank statements, inventory, expenses, taxes, reporting, approval flows, and more.

Starting price: $109 per user per month (billed monthly). Annual billing options are also available.

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of Deskera Books offer custom forms, multicurrency transactions, email campaign management, inventory management, sales pipeline management, sales automation, and more.

3. FreshBooks

FreshBooks is cloud-based accounting software that lets businesses manage accounting and invoicing; track mileage, time, and expenses; create estimates and proposals; and accept payments.

Starting price: $15 per month (billed monthly); supports five billable clients. Annual billing options are also available.

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of FreshBooks offer accounting reports, bank reconciliation, accounts receivable and payable management, data migration services, accountant access, a dedicated account manager, and more.

4. Holded

Holded is a business management solution that supports invoicing, customer relations, project management, and inventory management. It offers various modules including accounting, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and human resources (HR).

Starting price: Starts at $12.73 per user per month* (billed monthly). Annual billing options are also available.

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of Holded offer features such as predefined user roles, a personalized client portal, and an account manager.

5. Patriot Accounting

Patriot Accounting is a cloud-based account and payroll solution that helps businesses track transactions, send invoices to customers, view financial reports, manage bills and expenses, calculate taxes, and set up payroll.

Starting price: $15 per month for unlimited users (billed monthly).

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of Patriot Accounting offer features such as account reconciliation, estimating, recurring invoices, custom invoice templates, and receipts and document management.

6. Plooto

Plooto is an accounts payable and receivable tool that allows businesses to manage invoices, bills, international payments, CRA payments, and more.

Starting price: $25 per month for unlimited users (billed monthly).

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of Plooto offer features such as client dashboards.

7. QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise is an all-in-one enterprise accounting solution that helps businesses manage inventory, orders, field services, pricing, reporting, and job costing.

Starting price: $199 per user per month (billed monthly). Annual billing options are also available.

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise offer advanced inventory management, and bill and purchase order workflow approvals.

8. QuickBooks Desktop Pro

QuickBooks Desktop Pro is an accounting software solution that allows businesses to manage and track accounts payable and receivable, expenses, project accounting, and payroll using a single integrated suite.

Starting price: $29.20 per user per month (billed annually).

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of QuickBooks Desktop Pro offer automated pricing rules, advanced inventory and fulfillment tools, custom reports creation, and more.

9. QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online is a web-based accounting solution that offers bookkeeping, payroll processing, invoice management, bank reconciliation, expense tracking, financial reporting, tax management, and more.

Starting price: $12 per month (billed monthly).

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of QuickBooks Online offer features such as bills and payment management, time tracking, and inventory tracking.

10. QuickBooks Online Advanced

QuickBooks Online Advanced is an accounting solution that helps businesses manage finances, process invoices and payments, calculate tax deductions, capture payment receipts, track employee expenses, automate accounting workflows, and more.

Starting price: $180 per month (billed monthly).

Features available at a higher price: QuickBooks Online Advanced has a single plan that offers all the core accounting features.

11. Sage Business Cloud Accounting

Sage Business Cloud Accounting is a cloud-based accounting and invoice management solution. Its key features include invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliations, stock management, and accounts payable and receivable management.

Starting price: $10 per month (billed monthly).

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of Sage Business Cloud Accounting support unlimited users and allow businesses to send quotes and estimates, forecast the cash flow, and manage purchase invoices.

12. Striven

Striven is a business management platform that assists with accounting, CRM and sales management, project management, task management, inventory management, and more.

Starting price: $20 per user per month (billed monthly), plus a hosting fee of $99 per month.

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of Striven offer features such as unlimited charts of accounts and unlimited inventory locations.

13. Synder

Synder is an eCommerce accounting software tool that offers real-time analytics, automated accounting and reconciliation, and invoicing.

Starting price: $14 per month (billed annually). Monthly billing options are also available.

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of Synder include reporting, multicurrency transactions, and product mapping.

14. Xero

Xero is an accounting solution that helps bookkeepers and accountants track and pay bills, claim expenses, connect bank accounts, accept payments, run payroll, and reconcile bank statements.

Starting price: $12 per month (billed monthly).

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of Xero offer features such as multicurrency support and bulk reconciliation of transactions.

15. ZarMoney

ZarMoney is online accounting software that offers features such as accounts payable and accounts receivable management, user permissions, dashboards, and inventory management.

Starting price: $15 per user per month (billed monthly).

Features available at a higher price: Advanced versions of ZarMoney include custom features, specialized training, a dedicated account representative, and priority support.

How did we choose these products? We didn’t—you did

To find your ideal software match, you need information you can trust—so you can save time, stay on budget, and focus more energy on growing your business. It’s why we vet and verify all our user reviews and recommend only the tools endorsed by people like you.

In other words, our product recommendations are never bought or sold, or based on the opinion of a single individual—they’re chosen by your peers, reflecting the views and experiences of our independent base of software reviewers.

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At Capterra, we objectively select and rank products based on a methodology developed by our research team. Some vendors pay us when they receive web traffic, but this has no influence on our methodology.

To be considered for this list, products have to:

1. Have at least 20 unique product reviews published on Capterra within the past two years, as of April 7, 2022.
2. Meet our definition of accounting software: “Accounting software enables accounting professionals in any type of organization to manage accounts and perform various accounting and financial operations such as record keeping, financial reporting, billing, and invoicing.”
3. The top 25 products that met the above criteria were mapped on a scatter plot as per their value-for-money and functionality ratings.
4. From these 25 products, only those with publicly available pricing information on the vendor website were included in the price comparison table. Therefore, the price comparison table is a subset of the scatter plot.

Note: The pricing included in the price comparison table is for the base product plan found on vendor websites as of April 7, 2022. This data may have changed since publication and may not reflect current conditions. For further information on pricing for a particular product, please see the vendor website.

The post Capterra Value Report: A Price Comparison Guide for Accounting Software appeared first on Capterra.