What Is the Best Accounting Software for Small Businesses in Canada?

Regardless of the sea of Canadian small business accounting software on the market, efficiency is paramount when choosing any solution for your business. To save you time, we’ve scoured the internet for some of the most efficient accounting software to leverage.

Check out 4 of the best accounting software for small businesses in Canada:

Zoho Books

“What is Zoho Books?” is one of the most asked questions about this comprehensive business support platform.

Zoho Books is an accounting solution for small businesses provided by its parent company, Zoho Corporation, which was founded over two decades ago.

Zoho Books helps you keep track of your business finances, easily create invoices, and seamlessly collaborate with your accountant in real time. It also comes as a package with other business solutions including a CRM, human resource management software, and more.

Other features of Zoho Books include but are not limited to,

• Creation of quotes
• Sales orders
• Invoicing
• Organize inventory
• Tax compliance
• Audit reports
• End-to-end accounting
• Integration with other software
• Different price packages, even a free one
• New! Automated tax calculations

One of the major perks of Zoho Books is its highly efficient automation features. Another unique quality is that Zoho Books is natively integrated with other Zoho applications and is a natural choice for those businesses who want to run their entire business on just one technology platform.

Zoho Books offers a free package for small businesses. But there are other packages with additional accounting features that are not free, from the Standard package at C$15 to the Ultimate package at C$290 billed annually.

A more beneficial package for SME owners like yourself is the Zoho One All Employees package. It costs C$50/month (billed annually) and covers all Zoho One applications suite. To put it succinctly, the All Employees pricing package is simply paying less for more — from CRM to human resource to accounting, you get all these solutions and more squeezed into a $50 bill issued annually.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is another accounting software used in Canada that was made specifically to help small businesses meet their accounting needs.

You can access FreshBooks on any device, including iPhones and Android phones. It’s intuitive, making it convenient for business owners with little to no accounting knowledge. Some of the features of FreshBooks include:

• Online credit card payments
• Automatic tax calculations
• Auto bills with bank integrations
• Invoicing
• Language billing (in different currencies, where applicable)

FreshBooks, however, does not have any free packages like Zoho Books. According to Freshbooks’ pricing page, prices range from $8.50 for the Lite package, to $15 and $27.50 for the Plus and Premium packages, respectively.

Intuit QuickBooks Online

Quickbooks Online is an accounting software developed by Intuit specifically for small businesses. It’s popular for being reasonably priced. It also efficiently organizes your business accounts.

QuickBooks made our top 4 list because of the following features:

• Integration with banks and other financial institutions like Paypal
• Calculation of sales tax and an option to export tax reports
• Invoicing with custom reminders
• Sort transactions automatically
• Track income and expenses
• Organized accounts

The cheapest package for QuickBooks is the EasyStart package and it costs $24. But the most popular is the Essentials package which costs $48. QuickBooks also has other packages, Plus and Advanced which costs $72 and $140 respectively. Currently, there is no free package.

One significant challenge users may face is the frequent upward review of product prices, as the company stated in their announcements in 2022.

Xero

Xero is another cloud-based accounting software that small businesses in Canada use. It was designed in 2006 for accountants, bookkeepers and small business owners. Its easy-to-read dashboard and intuitive interface makes it a good tool for anyone without accounting knowledge.

The following are some of the features of Xero:

• Timely payment of bills
• Allows multiple users
• Claim expenses and accept payments
• Financial reports
• Online invoicing
• Analytics to manage your financial health
• Automatic tax calculations

Xero offers no free plans. It has just three packages; the Starter at $18, Standard at $45, and Premium at $58, all charged monthly. Regardless of the package you choose, Xero offers multiple layers of protection to always secure your financial data.

Our Top Pick — Zoho Books

You’re probably wondering why we chose Zoho Books as the best small business accounting software in Canada. Here’s what the software offers you:

1.Robust automation features that help you save so much time

Firstly, you can eliminate accounting busywork like sending recurring invoices. Zoho Books lets you create a recurring profile, and it does the job of sending the invoices for you. Also, it sends automated payment reminders so that you can get paid on time.

Sorting your transactions also becomes easy with Zoho Books automation features. This reduces the chance of missing important transactions.

Additionally, Zoho Books saves your customers’ card details and automatically charges the cards for recurring payments.

2. Get premium value at no charge

There are various price ranges for different packages, but the free version is packed with so many relevant accounting features to meet your business’s accounting needs. Some of these include a customer portal, invoice and client management, expense tracking, automated reminders, and more.

If you already have an accountant, no worries. You can seamlessly add an accountant profile to Zoho Books for free. You don’t have to buy another license. Alternatively, you can edit any custom role and convert it to a new role for your accountant by enabling the “This role is for Accountant users” option.

3. Security is not a concern

When it comes to matters of accounting and business transactions, it’s crucial that you use a trusted and secure solution, and Zoho Books assures that. No one other than the people you authorize can use Zoho Books when you implement it. Check here to see Zoho’s compliance certifications to verify the safety and privacy of your company’s data.

4. You can do your accounting on the go

Even when you take a little vacation from work and leave your employees to manage things, with your smartphone, you can see business transactions with Zoho Books right from where you are. The intuitive Zoho Books dashboard will give you valuable insights into the financial health of your business.

What Does Accounting Software for a Small Business Do?

Basically, you need accounting software to manage the finances of your small business. More specifically, accounting software will help you:

• Record and report all your business’s financial transactions
• Track your business’s accounts, credit cards, and other financial accounts
• Track your business’s expenses and revenue
• Calculate your sales taxes and help you stay in compliance with tax law
• Store receipts and other financial documents

Conclusion

Efficient accounting software is the game changer for your small business. It’ll manage all your business’s finances for you, with even more efficiency, saving you time to focus on rising above your competitors. To save you time researching, we’ve reviewed some of the best accounting software used in Canada and even made a special recommendation for you — Zoho Books.

So, level up your business by implementing effective accounting software like Zoho Books. Speak to our Zoho Books consultant today and get a feel for how Zoho Books can help you.