The 3 Best Free Accounting Software of 2023

The bottom line: Zoho Invoice is our favorite free accounting software. Even though it's technically an invoicing product, Zoho Invoice lets you scan receipts, track expenses, generate reports, accept payments—all tasks that most accounting software programs charge you for. 

Plus, Zoho's full-fledged accounting software, Zoho Books, has a free plan for businesses that earn less than $50K USD per year. Coupled with Zoho Invoice, Zoho Books is a well-rounded and completely free solution for freelancers on a budget.

But if Zoho isn't the right fit for you, there are other free bookkeeping software picks for you, like Wave, that offer a great option as well. We review the best free bookkeeping apps and software choices below.

Don't be fooled by Zoho Invoice's name. This software does much more than send invoices (though you shouldn't overlook its stellar invoicing features—Zoho Invoice is actually our top pick for billing and invoicing software).

While it's not quite as fully featured as Zoho Books, Zoho's accounting-specific product, Zoho Invoice has more than enough features to recommend it—and, obviously, they're entirely free: 

• Professional, customizable invoices with multi-currency and multi-language support
• Automatic recurring invoicing and customer payment reminders
• Estimates (easily convertible to invoices)
• Expense tracking, receipt scanning, and time tracking

Thanks to its its built-in time tracking (which syncs easily with invoices), estimate-to-invoice conversion, and client portal for straightforward collaboration, Zoho Invoice is ideal for freelancers who frequently collaborate with customers.

With a stellar (and again, free) bookkeeping and invoicing app, it's also good for freelancers on the go.

If you want more extensive accounting features, Zoho Books has a free plan for businesses with under $50K USD in annual revenue. If that describes your business, we highly recommend adding Zoho Books to your Zoho Invoice plan.

Otherwise, pricing for Zoho Books starts at $15 a month, which makes it a solid alternative to much pricier accounting solutions like QuickBooks Online. But if you're fine with basic invoicing and transactions, it's honestly hard to beat Zoho Invoice.

Even if Wave weren’t completely free, we’d still be blown away by how much it offers. It’s one of our top accounting software picks for small-business owners, and for good reason. With Wave, you get perks like these:

• Automatic bank account and credit card syncing for accurate, up-to-date financial records
• Unlimited bank account and credit card connections
• Easy, customizable income and expense tracking
• Crucial accounting reports and general ledger
• Invoicing and billing reminders
• Automatically generated journal entries
• Customer support (email only)

Wave’s easy-to-read dashboard shows you your most important financial info at a glance. Its billing, invoicing, and expense tracking features make it perfect for freelancers, but the software can work for larger businesses too, especially since Wave doesn’t limit the amount of users you can add (unlike competitors like QuickBooks Online). You and the rest of your financial team can jump on your account to check numbers and enter information, free of charge.

Square's specialty lives within the realm of Square's other products. It integrates amazingly with Square POS, making it easy to keep track of business payments in a unified place while allowing for automatic invoice generation upon in-person transaction. Square Invoices offers just a few basic accounting features for free: 

• An unlimited number of users can send out invoices
• Send invoices and digital receipts through email or text
• Schedule recurring invoices and automatic payment reminders.
• Reporting and cash flow management tools.
• Sign with an e-signature
• Square payments integration

We know, we know — that doesn't look like much, especially when compared to Wave and Zoho Invoice. But what few things Square Invoice does, it does quite well.

Its interface is straightforward and user-friendly, which is crucial for first-time business owners with limited financial knowledge. If you like Square's user-friendly interface but want more features, its paid plans start at $20 and offer things like greater customization (for invoices), project organization, and the ability to send batch invoices.

QuickBooks is easily one of the most popular financial, tax, and accounting software options in the world. And while QuickBooks Desktop (especially the fairly comprehensive, comparatively affordable QuickBooks Pro Plus) is still an option for those who prefer desktops, QuickBooks Online is Intuit’s cloud-accounting software solution.

The basic Intuit QuickBooks Online plan includes typical features like invoicing, billing, and receipt scanning along with more comprehensive tracking than many competitors:

• Mileage tracking
• Sales tax tracking
• Automatic tax deduction categorization
• 1099 contractor payment tracking
• Thorough reporting, including accounts receivable

QuickBooks also has the absolute best mobile accounting app you can find. The app can do basically everything the software can (a rarity for any software provider, no matter the industry). If you work on the go, QuickBooks's app, which includes mobile mileage tracking, might make it a good fit.

Intuit QuickBooks's online reporting and tracking features come at a price, though: its cheapest small-business plan starts at $30 a month and restricts you to one user plus an accountant. The priciest plan, which includes 25 users, starts at $200 a month.

At $15 a month, QuickBooks Self-Employed is a cheaper financial management option. However, QuickBooks Self-Employed targets freelancers with just a few clients and limited expenses. Instead, it's primarily an invoicing, mileage-tracking, and tax-tracking plan. That means it helps sole proprietors who file Schedule C forms maximize their tax returns, but it's not a fully featured bookkeeping or accounting app for other business owners.

If you're having trouble narrowing down your free bookkeeping options, enter some basic information about your business's accounting needs. We'll get back to you with a list of up to five accounting providers we think work best for you.

If you want a free small-business accounting solution with nearly as many features as the best paid software, we recommend Zoho Invoice. Zoho Invoice's automatic invoicing, simple customer portal, and multi-currency support are just right for freelancers who want basic accounting with stand-out customer collaboration tools.

But if Zoho Invoice isn't your thing, a few other options could work even better:

• Wave Accounting has unlimited features that even most paid software can't match, including unlimited invoices, users, bank account transactions, and businesses. 
• Square Invoices also offers unlimited invoices on its user-friendly platform. It's perfect for those who don't have accounting software and a great option for Square POS users.

Want affordable payroll to match your free cloud-based accounting solution? Check out our piece on the best free payroll software for small-business owners.

We analyzed each software brand's value based on the number of features offered for free, customer service, business reputation, scalability, paid options, and user-friendliness, among other factors.

Disclaimer

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.