Xero, QuikBooks, FreshBooks, Wave, or other for small business accounting?

[RelaxationSpecialist]

Finally opening a small side business as a commercial aviation aftermarket parts supplier! YEA! Looking for thoughts on accounting software. Since I know so many of my fellow Mustache-ians own their own businesses, thought I would outline my needs and hear any thoughts you may have. Any questions would be appreciated too, as it will help me realize I may need less of a plan or more! :)
 

- create & issue items like purchase orders, repair orders, sales orders, billing invoices, ect...

- track income and expenses by client/part and overall

- quarterly and end of year tax documents

- would like a solid app to use with an iPhone when on the go

Does not need to have payroll features as I am the only employee. Ease of use would be nice, as my only experience with "tracking" is with YNAB for personal expenses.

Thanks for the help! 

[MoonLiteNite]

I used quickbooks like 10 years ago and it was amazingly good, at the time. I do not know about these days.

From what i have seen on ads and "how to" videos the FreshBooks looks awesome, easy, and simple. I have a feeling they charge per a mouth and per account size? So you might be paying a pretty buck or two for it.

[tomorrowsomewherenew]

Small business accountant here!

You want Quickbooks. There are two options--desktop (data held on your computer) or online. Online is a subscription based service but it is reasonable. There are 3 "levels" of Quickbooks Online. I don't know a whole lot about your business, but you can read through the features and see which one will work for you. If you don't feel competent using it, see if your accountant will come out and show you the basics. Additionally, the online version has a separate log in/user for your accountant to use (preparing taxes, making entries, etc).

[RelaxationSpecialist]

I used quickbooks like 10 years ago and it was amazingly good, at the time. I do not know about these days.

From what i have seen on ads and "how to" videos the FreshBooks looks awesome, easy, and simple. I have a feeling they charge per a mouth and per account size? So you might be paying a pretty buck or two for it.

Yes, the monthly charges seem to add up quickly the more you ask them to do. Luckily, all 4 companies have great customer service for narrowing down what i may need and what I don't.

[RelaxationSpecialist]

Small business accountant here!

You want Quickbooks. There are two options--desktop (data held on your computer) or online. Online is a subscription based service but it is reasonable. There are 3 "levels" of Quickbooks Online. I don't know a whole lot about your business, but you can read through the features and see which one will work for you. If you don't feel competent using it, see if your accountant will come out and show you the basics. Additionally, the online version has a separate log in/user for your accountant to use (preparing taxes, making entries, etc).

The accountant log in at no extra charge is a huge plus for Quickbooks! There is another company out there called Quantum Control that is tailored for the business I'm going into, but, the costs are high high high for a small business, especially for a frugal business owner!! ;)

[tomorrowsomewherenew]

The accountant log in at no extra charge is a huge plus for Quickbooks! There is another company out there called Quantum Control that is tailored for the business I'm going into, but, the costs are high high high for a small business, especially for a frugal business owner!! ;)

Unless you will be doing taxes yourself, you want a program which your accountant will already know how to use. That's probably going to be Quickbooks, and sometimes, Peachtree.

[catccc]

I hate SaaS, but I like web based, so I'm going to go with Wave here, because it is free and sufficient.  I am an accountant, and DH uses Wave for his small biz. When I was in public, yes, most of my accountants used QB.  But if your accountant can't navigate wave, I suggest you get a new accountant.  It's pretty intuitive, and your accountant should like that it is true double entry bookkeeping.

[AK]

My business was started a few weeks ago and I was looking around for accounting software too. I ended up choosing QuickBooks Online because

1) It was easy to use and web based.
2) My accountant could sign-in and review the transactions and do my taxes from them.
3) invoicing is included.
4) File attachments can be added to checks, expenses, journal entries and other records. For someone who wants to be paperless and in the cloud, this is a really nice feature.
5) There are addons you can purchase that integrate directly with the app.

You can track income/expenses per client and vendor.
It ships with reports that are configurable and can be scheduled to be ran and emailed to you when you want such as quarterly or annually.

[Fuzz]

Freshbooks isn't actually accounting--it's not true double entry bookkeeping--but it's pretty good for invoices and all you need if you're a freelancer.

I started out with Quickbooks but switched to Xero. I dislike QB, but most accountants and bookkeepers use it. You could use QB online.