Book­keep­ing software for small business

Ac­count­ing is a complex but essential part of running a business. Without proper financial oversight, busi­nesses risk serious issues, including com­pli­ance problems with HMRC and other reg­u­lat­ory bodies. Errors in recording trans­ac­tions can lead to financial in­stabil­ity and potential penalties.

Book­keep­ing software sim­pli­fies ac­count­ing, reduces mistakes, and ensures com­pli­ance with UK tax reg­u­la­tions and ac­count­ing standards (such as UK GAAP and IFRS). The right tools help busi­nesses manage invoicing, expenses, and tax filing ef­fi­ciently.

An overview of book­keep­ing software

Which ac­count­ing software is right for you? Our overview table compares all featured programs and their key features side by side. All in­form­a­tion is up to date as of March 2025.

What to consider when choosing book­keep­ing software

There are different types of ac­count­ing software. Some are available as downloads and installed locally, while others run as online ac­count­ing solutions in the cloud. Cloud-based software allows access from anywhere with just a browser and an internet con­nec­tion.

To ef­fect­ively support your business, ac­count­ing software should include these essential features:

• Expense & receipt man­age­ment: The software should allow you to easily upload, scan, and cat­egor­ise receipts for accurate expense tracking. In­teg­ra­tion with tools like Dext or Expensify is a plus.
• Bank in­teg­ra­tion: To ef­fi­ciently manage finances, the software should connect with your business bank account and support automatic bank feeds, including Open Banking con­nec­tions.
• Invoicing & payments: A good ac­count­ing tool lets you create pro­fes­sion­al invoices, send payment reminders, and integrate with payment pro­cessors like PayPal, Stripe, or Go­Card­less.
• VAT com­pli­ance: Since VAT (Value Added Tax) applies to most UK busi­nesses, the software should include automated VAT cal­cu­la­tions and support for Making Tax Digital (MTD) com­pli­ance.
• Inventory man­age­ment: If you sell physical products, look for software with inventory tracking features. Some platforms, like Xero, Quick­Books, or Sage, include this, while others require third-party add-ons.
• Payroll in­teg­ra­tion: If you have employees or work with con­tract­ors, choose software that supports payroll pro­cessing, including HMRC PAYE, National Insurance con­tri­bu­tions, and pension auto-enrolment.
• Order & expense tracking: Many busi­nesses use separate tools for order and expense tracking, but some ac­count­ing solutions include built-in features to stream­line financial reporting.

If your ac­count­ing software includes these functions, it will help you ef­fi­ciently manage your business finances and stay compliant with UK tax reg­u­la­tions.

Here are ten of the best book­keep­ing software options on the market

With so many different offers available, it can be quite daunting trying to choose the right book­keep­ing software for your company. We’ve narrowed it down to the ten best options to make it a little easier for you to make your decision.

Fresh­Books

Fresh­Books, founded in 2003 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is a well-known ac­count­ing software featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, The New York Times, and CNN. Designed for freel­an­cers, self-employed pro­fes­sion­als, agencies, and small to medium-sized busi­nesses, Fresh­Books offers features such as invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, project man­age­ment, payments, estimates, and reporting. Users can try the software free for 30 days before choosing a paid package, with pricing starting at £15/month for the Lite package, £25/month for Plus, and £35/month for Premium.

Quick­Books

Quick­Books Online, developed by the U.S. company Intuit Inc., is a widely used ac­count­ing software with over 7 million customers globally. It offers four pricing packages tailored to different business sizes: Simple Start (£16/month), Es­sen­tials (£33/month), Plus (£47/month), and Advanced (£115/month). Intuit fre­quently runs pro­mo­tions, such as a 50% discount for the first three months, and also provides a 30-day free trial for new users. Quick­Books Online includes features such as income and expense tracking, receipt capture and or­gan­isa­tion, invoicing and payment ac­cept­ance, basic reporting, and inventory man­age­ment (available in Plus and Advanced packages). The platform is cloud-based and ac­cess­ible via a mobile ap­plic­a­tion. While Quick­Books is known for its user-friendly interface and in­teg­ra­tion with third-party ap­plic­a­tions, some users may find its pricing high, es­pe­cially for advanced features, and may ex­per­i­ence oc­ca­sion­al service outages. Ad­di­tion­ally, some workflows need to be adapted to fit the software’s structure, and the number of users per package is limited.

Xero

Xero, a New Zealand-based company, offers cloud-based ac­count­ing software designed for freel­an­cers and small to medium-sized busi­nesses. It allows users to trans­ition smoothly from Quick­Books by con­vert­ing their existing files.

Xero provides four sub­scrip­tion packages: Ignite (£16/month), Grow (£33/month), Com­pre­hens­ive (£47) and Ultimate (£59/month). Each package includes features such as invoicing, bill entry, bank trans­ac­tion re­con­cili­ation, and payroll man­age­ment (available from the Grow package onwards). Multi-currency support is included in the Com­pre­hens­ive and Ultimate packages.

New users can take advantage of a 30-day free trial, and Xero oc­ca­sion­ally offers pro­mo­tion­al discounts. While Xero is known for its user-friendly interface, secure data backup, and in­teg­ra­tion with various third-party ap­plic­a­tions, some users may find the base-level package re­strict­ive, customer support response times slow, and per­form­ance lagging with a high volume of trans­ac­tions.

Sage Business Cloud Ac­count­ing

The Sage Group, one of the largest UK-based tech­no­logy companies, offers ac­count­ing software designed for small busi­nesses to stream­line financial man­age­ment. This cloud-based software helps with invoicing, payment pro­cessing, and expense tracking, reducing ad­min­is­trat­ive work and auto­mat­ing routine tasks. Users can try Sage Business Cloud Ac­count­ing with a 30-day free trial before selecting a sub­scrip­tion package. You can choose from Ac­count­ing Start at £15 per month, Ac­count­ing Standard at £30 per month or Ac­count­ing Plus at £39 per month. While the software is known for its ease of use, strong customer support, and Excel export func­tion­al­ity, some users report oc­ca­sion­al server overloads, chal­lenges when importing data, and limited com­pat­ib­il­ity with Mac, iPad, and iPhone devices.

Zoho Books

Zoho Books, headquartered in Cali­for­nia, offers cloud-based ac­count­ing software designed for small to medium-sized busi­nesses. The platform helps busi­nesses manage their cash flow ef­fi­ciently and provides essential ac­count­ing features. After a 14-day free trial, users can choose from three sub­scrip­tion packages: Standard (£12/month), Pro­fes­sion­al (£24/month), and Premium (£30/month). Those who opt for annual billing receive two months free. Even the Standard package includes key features such as bank re­con­cili­ation, custom invoices, project man­age­ment, timesheets, expense tracking, sales approval, and recurring trans­ac­tions. While Zoho Books is known for its af­ford­ab­il­ity, ease of use, and mul­ti­lin­gual support, some users may find its third-party in­teg­ra­tions limited compared to com­pet­it­ors, and it lacks built-in payroll services and budgeting tools.

FreeAgent

FreeAgent, a UK-based cloud ac­count­ing software, is designed spe­cific­ally for freel­an­cers, small busi­nesses, and con­tract­ors. It sim­pli­fies financial man­age­ment by offering automated invoicing, expense tracking, bank re­con­cili­ation, and tax pre­par­a­tion tools. FreeAgent is fully compliant with Making Tax Digital (MTD) and supports self-as­sess­ment tax filing directly with HMRC.

Users can explore the software with a 30-day free trial before choosing a paid sub­scrip­tion. FreeAgent pricing is straight­for­ward, with a single all-inclusive package priced at £14.50/month + VAT for the first six months (£29/month + VAT there­after). If you have a business account with NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, or Ulster Bank, you may be eligible for free access to FreeAgent.

Even with its simple pricing structure, FreeAgent includes com­pre­hens­ive ac­count­ing features such as multi-currency support, time tracking, invoice cus­tom­isa­tion, and VAT return filing. However, while FreeAgent is ideal for sole traders and small busi­nesses, it lacks payroll in­teg­ra­tion and may not be as scalable for larger en­ter­prises.

Kashoo

Kashoo, launched in 2008, is an easy-to-use ac­count­ing software designed spe­cific­ally for small business owners rather than pro­fes­sion­al ac­count­ants. It offers essential features such as invoicing, expense tracking, and double-entry book­keep­ing, ac­cess­ible via a web browser and dedicated iPhone and iPad ap­plic­a­tions. Users can start with a 14-day free trial, and the sub­scrip­tion costs around £24 per month, with discounts available for annual packges. Kashoo supports banking in­teg­ra­tion with over 5,000 financial in­sti­tu­tions and allows per­mis­sion-based sharing, enabling col­lab­or­a­tion with employees, business partners, and ac­count­ants. The software is praised for its af­ford­ab­il­ity, ease of use, and unlimited user access. However, it lacks automatic payment reminders, and its mobile app does not include all features of the web-based version. Ad­di­tion­ally, Kashoo is not well-suited for medium to large busi­nesses and has limited third-party in­teg­ra­tions.

Work­ing­Point

Work­ing­Point is an af­ford­able online book­keep­ing software designed for small busi­nesses and freel­an­cers, offering two sub­scrip­tion packages: Lightning (around £7/month) and Thun­der­storm (around £15/month). Both packages include essential features such as double-entry book­keep­ing, standard financial reports, cash man­age­ment, and bill and expense tracking, while the Thun­der­storm package provides ad­di­tion­al premium features like cus­tom­is­able accounts and multi-user access. Users can try the software with a 30-day free trial. While Work­ing­Point is praised for its user-friendly interface and cus­tom­is­able business dashboard, it lacks a mobile ap­plic­a­tion and built-in payroll services. Some users have reported initial nav­ig­a­tion dif­fi­culties and oc­ca­sion­al slow per­form­ance. Ad­di­tion­ally, PayPal trans­ac­tions may not be fully in­teg­rated, and the platform is more suitable for in­di­vidu­als or very small busi­nesses rather than larger en­ter­prises.

Expensify

Expensify, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, offers expense man­age­ment solutions for in­di­vidu­als and busi­nesses of all sizes. In­di­vidu­als can use a Free package that includes unlimited receipt scanning and expense tracking. For busi­nesses, Expensify provides two paid packages: Collect (£8 per user per month) and Control (£14 per user per month). These packages offer ad­di­tion­al features such as expense approval workflows, in­teg­ra­tion with ac­count­ing software, and corporate card re­con­cili­ation. Busi­nesses can also benefit from a 50% discount for annual sub­scrip­tions and ad­di­tion­al savings when using the Expensify Card. All packages include a 7-day free trial. Expensify’s standout feature, SmartScan, allows users to take a photo of a receipt, auto­mat­ic­ally ex­tract­ing important details like dates and amounts. The platform in­teg­rates with popular ac­count­ing software, making it a seamless solution for managing business expenses. However, some users report slow receipt scanning, limited cus­tom­isa­tion options, and oc­ca­sion­al customer support issues.

Odoo

Odoo is a com­pre­hens­ive, open-source man­age­ment software suite designed for busi­nesses of all sizes, including freel­an­cers, small en­ter­prises, and large cor­por­a­tions. Founded in 2005, Odoo provides a modular approach, allowing users to select and integrate specific ap­plic­a­tions based on their business needs. The ac­count­ing app is available for free, offering essential features such as bank syn­chron­isa­tion, invoicing, bill and expense man­age­ment, and AI-powered invoice di­git­isa­tion. There are also two paid package options, which are the Standard package for around £20 per month and the Custom package for around £30 per month. Users can explore ad­di­tion­al func­tion­al­it­ies through a 14-day free trial. With over 7,000 apps, Odoo is highly scalable, making it a flexible solution for growing busi­nesses. However, some users report that bug fixes take time, customer support can be in­con­sist­ent, and the learning curve can be steep for advanced features. Ad­di­tion­ally, while the ac­count­ing app is free, costs can increase with the addition of multiple apps and extra users.

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