Business is all about numbers. More importantly, how the numbers are presented. Dealing with numbers is a job that requires skill and nuance. Stock analysts and accountants are more valued due to their skills in dealing with the figures. The company’s profit and loss reports linked up with investor stock value. A misrepresentation of the value leads into several problems including, devaluation, brand loss and other legal issues. It is essential that the books of a company are kept clean and clear. There are consultants like PwC, Morgan etc. does the bookkeeping. But for start-ups that are gearing to make money, these consultants are quite bulky on their books. It is to their benefit, there are free invoicing and accounting tools to help those new and budding entrepreneurs to see the price in the pudding.
Freshbooks (Freshbooks.com)
This accounting software runs on a cloud. It is stamped as “User friendly” tools by Forbes. It helps you save billing time, get paid faster and grow your business. Users using this software spend less time on paperwork as this is completely automated. Estimates reveal that customers double their revenue in the first 2 years by using this software. As this is hosted over a cloud, you can invoice your clients either from your office or on the go. It provides a trial version for 30 days, but is priced as low as $19.95/month.
TurboCash (turbocash.net)
This unlike Freshbooks can be downloaded on the computer. It is not on cloud which means it does not require internet connectivity or let you worry about the confidentiality protection of your financial figures. For businesses, this matters a lot as the cloud is still compromised. It allows to generate billing invoices, stock reports, track debtors and creditors, perform taxation, accounting, creates balance sheets and income statements. It can be managed by multiple users and multiple accounts. It is a free tool, but works on a donation model of as low as $25.
Wave (waveapps.com)
This is one of the popular entrepreneur accounting tools with over 1 million customers worldwide. It tracks $50+ billion income and expense. It is an integrated accounting and invoicing tool that is making waves across the accounting community. It is based on cloud and can be made available over mobile platforms. It is designed to serve the start-up businesses and SMEs by integrating a small scale payroll, taxation, VAT, expense reporting, balance sheets and invoicing. It can also be used to manage personal finances as it is easy to use and is 100% free.
QuickFile (quickfile.co.uk)
This is made for the layman in accounting. It is aimed at quicker accounting than a more detailed reporting of the account statements. It is simple and powerful and can support upload of months’ worth of account data. The integrated feature with payment options for PayPal and credit card makes it more viable. It offers backups of the files created. It provides the advanced reporting feature displaying various reports that you solicit. Above all it is completely free to use.
Invoicera (Invoicera.com)
This is adjudged as the best online accounting and billing software for SMEs. It helps to chart a transparent billing and invoicing on a different scale of timelines. It’s present user base is around 2.5 million and growing. It is catered to serve freelancers, individual business owners and enterprise businesses. Its most elegant feature is that it helps you connect your other business apps to use with it. It hosts a task management tool that helps you track the time and cost spent on a project. This makes the enterprises find it more useful. It is a subscription based tool for $19.95/month.