Is there a Free option similar to QuickBooks?

[moneyhair]

I run a small business (started last year), no employees, and I don't need much, but I do believe some software can help.  For now I am still small enough that it doesn't much matter but one day I hope it will.   Aside from breaking down costs and income as well as how things are going month to month, I am sure a quality or even decent software program might ask me some questions I never thought about or might have options (as I play around with the software) that I can take advantage of.

As I mentioned, this is a new small business and I am still growing so if I have to spend the money, I can, but I am not in a position where that is a great option.  Does anyone here know of trusted software that offers a few or many similar functions to QuickBooks?

thank you in advance for any help.

[wearfannypacks]

Yes! I just started my business and was in a similar position. I hated that being a brand new business I already had mandatory overhead with qb. I've been using it for a few months and it works great.

Solution:
Wave Accounting. My CPA who only does qb, looked over my books and said it was extremely similar. waveapps.com

Cloud based
Free each month
Additional fee if you have payroll.

[moneyhair]

Yes! I just started my business and was in a similar position. I hated that being a brand new business I already had mandatory overhead with qb. I've been using it for a few months and it works great.

Solution:
Wave Accounting. My CPA who only does qb, looked over my books and said it was extremely similar. waveapps.com

Cloud based
Free each month
Additional fee if you have payroll.

That sounds promising.  I will check it out.  Thank you.
If anyone else has suggested software for me to research, please post below.

[Mr. Frugalwoods]

I know folks who use GnuCash for their small business accounting:

http://www.gnucash.org

I'd recommend it if you are savvy with computers and accounting.  It's not the most user friendly interface (putting it mildly) but it's very powerful.

And it is free and open source, which is neat.

[fiftyincher]

I use wave too. Works fine for my very small side biz - and the cost is right!

[moneyhair]

free is always my favorite cost.


anyone else have software ideas?
thank you so much!

[moneyhair]

I know folks who use GnuCash for their small business accounting:

http://www.gnucash.org

I'd recommend it if you are savvy with computers and accounting.  It's not the most user friendly interface (putting it mildly) but it's very powerful.

And it is free and open source, which is neat.

is this one hard to learn if a person is not an accountant?

[Mr. Frugalwoods]

I know folks who use GnuCash for their small business accounting:

http://www.gnucash.org

I'd recommend it if you are savvy with computers and accounting.  It's not the most user friendly interface (putting it mildly) but it's very powerful.

And it is free and open source, which is neat.

is this one hard to learn if a person is not an accountant?

Well... I'm not an accountant and I've managed to use it with a combo of googling, asking questions in forums, and puzzling through the UI. :-)

I did have a good idea of the financial tracking I wanted to to before I started using it, so I wasn't using GnuCash to prompt me for things I wouldn't have thought about.  It's not that sort of system.

The "you get what you pay for" catch here is that it doesn't hold your hand, but it works really well if you can figure it out.

I don't use GnuCash on a regular basis anymore and the place where I was using it now uses Quicken, FWIW.

[moneyhair]

must i link my bank account to all of these software programs?  Can I just enter the information on my own rather than share my bank account info with a free software program??

[JLee]

It's not free, but 75% off - http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/ynab-75-off-via-steam/

[moneyhair]

It's not free, but 75% off - http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/ynab-75-off-via-steam/

I'm not familiar - what exactly is this??

[iamlindoro]

It's not free, but 75% off - http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/ynab-75-off-via-steam/

I'm not familiar - what exactly is this??

It's YNAB.  It's closer to Quicken than Quickbooks, though even that isn't exactly a direct comparison.  It's likely not what you want if you want any business functionality at all.

[Eric]

It's not free, but 75% off - http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/welcome-to-the-forum/ynab-75-off-via-steam/

I'm not familiar - what exactly is this??

It's YNAB.  It's closer to Quicken than Quickbooks, though even that isn't exactly a direct comparison.  It's likely not what you want if you want any business functionality at all.

You Need A Budget is what YNAB stands for.  I think you left that part out iamlindoro.  :)

But I'm pretty sure it's only a personal use thing and doesn't translate well to business use.

[iamlindoro]

You Need A Budget is what YNAB stands for.  I think you left that part out iamlindoro.  :)

Yeah, I pretty much instantly regretted not explaining that better ;)

[moneyhair]

I know folks who use GnuCash for their small business accounting:

http://www.gnucash.org

I'd recommend it if you are savvy with computers and accounting.  It's not the most user friendly interface (putting it mildly) but it's very powerful.

And it is free and open source, which is neat.

is this one hard to learn if a person is not an accountant?

Well... I'm not an accountant and I've managed to use it with a combo of googling, asking questions in forums, and puzzling through the UI. :-)

I did have a good idea of the financial tracking I wanted to to before I started using it, so I wasn't using GnuCash to prompt me for things I wouldn't have thought about.  It's not that sort of system.

The "you get what you pay for" catch here is that it doesn't hold your hand, but it works really well if you can figure it out.

I don't use GnuCash on a regular basis anymore and the place where I was using it now uses Quicken, FWIW.

must I link this software to my bank account for it to work correctly?   or can I just input that date on my own?
thanks