The goal of CFO services for small businesses is to make sure you are profitable. CFOs help with budgeting, forecasting, cash flow management, financial analysis, and business decisions. Creating an invoice in FreshBooks takes less than a minute, and you can add an online payment option to get paid quicker. Snap a photo of your lunch receipt to keep track of your expenses out of the office, and if you’re billing your customers for your time, you’ll appreciate the time-tracking capability.

While all bookkeeping and accounting applications offer invoicing capability, if you want custom invoices that look professional, find the application that will do both. Though often confused for each other, there are key differences between bookkeeping and accounting. At its core, bookkeeping is about recording financial data, while accounting is about interpreting financial data.

Resources for Your Growing Business

Build a marketing strategy that draws clients to your unique brand, while becoming familiar with the clients that you’re bringing in, and predict how they could support future business bookkeeping goals. Merritt is one of the lowest-priced bookkeeping options on our list. The team at Merritt works in QuickBooks, which is helpful for easy handoff to your accountant and in case you decide down the line to bring your bookkeeping in-house. The five most basic accounts in bookkeeping are Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Revenue, and Expenses. Most business accounts and cash accounting activities can be categorized into one of these areas.

The savviest small-business marketers are the ones who figure out exactly who their customers are and advertise directly to them. Certification is also available within certain software products, too — for instance, you can get certified in QuickBooks. There are two pieces of the business plan that deserve a little extra consideration. Botkeeper is best for accounting firms that want to scale by automating bookkeeping tasks.

Popular Accounting Software for Startups

Talk to businesses in your area to see what they are currently paying for bookkeeping services. Talk to people in your network who are also bookkeepers and ask what they are charging. In doing so, you can get a good idea as to the range bookkeepers charge for services. However, if you choose to use Wave Payments, you’ll have to pay a small fee for credit card processing, which is the same fee you’d pay with any application.

For example, when money comes from a sale, it will credit the sales revenue account. Making sure transactions are properly assigned to accounts gives you the best view of your business and helps you extract the most helpful reports from your bookkeeping software. Another type of accounting method is the accrual-based accounting method.

Side Note: What is the Difference Between a Bookkeeper and an Accountant?

Get the complete breakdown on QuickBooks Online pricing and plans. PayScale, a site that tracks salaries and rates, puts the average hourly rate for a bookkeeper around $17 per hour ($10 on the low end and $24 on the high end). You might business startup accounting and bookkeeping services also want to look into freelance and for-hire contractor sites, such as UpWork or Fiverr, where people list their rates. Find bookkeepers that are similar in your skill set and experience to help gauge what you should be charging.

Otherwise, monthly pricing starts at $399 and weekly pricing starts at $549 per month. The best rule of thumb for startup accounting is to hire a professional accountant to help you manage your business’s finances. However, there are several accounting software options available to help you manage your startup finances whether or not you choose to hire an accountant. Being able to monitor your startup’s financial health helps you make data-backed decisions for the betterment of your startup. Invoices are documents that list products and services businesses provide to their clients.

While all of our top eight accounting software applications for self-employed business owners offer double-entry accounting, invoicing capability, and cash management features, they also contain a lot more. Some include a desktop timer that lets you track the time spent on any job. Others have an inventory feature that can manage product sales and inventory levels. We reviewed multiple accounting software options using a detailed methodology to help you find the 9 best online bookkeeping services for small businesses. Our ratings considered everything from pricing and customer reviews to the number and quality of features available and what our panel of experts thought about the services available. Zoho accounting software is part of the suite of products for businesses offered by Zoho.

Being able to accurately assess your startup’s financial performance starts with good bookkeeping. Online bookkeeping services provide a fast, easy, and cost effective way to manage your business’s financial transactions and utilize data to make meaningful decisions about your startup. Many small business owners would be well-served by a good bookkeeping software application that records financial transactions properly and produces basic financial statements. Bookkeeper360 integrates with third-party tools, such as Bill, Gusto, Stripe, Shopify, Xero, Brex, Square, Divvy and ADP.