As a small business owner, the more you can stay organized, improve daily operations, control business expenses, and generally make life as an entrepreneur run a little more smoothly, the more proficient and prolific your business will become. Below are some top-rated apps and programs available to help you manage your business’s financial situation.
Mint
Though it’s intended mainly for individual users, this financial tracking app is effective for businesses too. Aside from tracking bills and cash flow, Mint also has Quicken MyBusiness, a tool for small businesses that helps categorize expenses, and gives you up-front information for tax filing.
QuickBooks
With the ability to connect to your bank account, PayPal, Square, credit cards, and more, you can use QuickBooks to track sales and expenses, view financial statements, pay employees and vendors, track unpaid invoices, maximize tax deductions, and more. With QuickBooks Online, you can access QuickBooks on both iOS and Android phones and tablets.
FreshBooks
For businesses and freelancers alike, cloud-based FreshBooks helps you create personalized invoices, with an option to automatically bill clients for recurring invoices, and generate customizable business reports, such as profit and loss statements. You can also automate tasks like organizing expenses and receipts, tracking your time, and following up with clients.
Wave
Created for businesses with nine or fewer employees, Wave is an accounting software platform that has the ability to track sales and expenses; manage invoices, customer payments, and payroll; scan receipts; and generate accounting reports. With Wave’s free apps for iOS and Android, you can send invoices on the go, and get notified when an invoice is viewed, becomes due, or gets paid. Also available through the platform is a free personal finance software to help small-business owners manage their finances in one place.
Truebill
Once you connect your accounts to the Truebill app, it will generate a report of where your money is going, categorizing and charting subscriptions and expenses. An added bonus with Truebill is a feature that compares your bills and subscriptions to average service levels, and with your initiation, will call providers and negotiate on your behalf.
Xero
Intended for small and mid-sized businesses, this accounting app (accessible by both desktop and mobile platforms) can handle payments and expenses, asset management, bank account reconciliation, invoicing and purchase orders, sales tax calculations, and multi-currency accounting.
PlanGuru
If you’re looking for a forecasting program to help with strategic planning and analysis, PlanGuru might be a good fit. It’s pricey, with business plans starting at $99 per month, but with an analytics dashboard, Excel add-on, a budget and forecasting platform, and training, it might be worth the cost to keep business spending in check.
Expensify
This simple expense tracker uses multiple platforms to keep tabs on expenses and mileage by reading and importing expenses from linked bank accounts and credit cards. And with the ability to scan and upload receipts, expenses can easily be submitted to employers.
InDinero
This bookkeeping service halts the need to invest in big bookkeepers and implements tax services for small businesses. It also helps with forecasting by syncing with bank accounts and credit cards to predict future cash flow determined by current trends and previous expenses.
