The best accounting software for freelancers and self-employed workers must be easy to use since many don’t have extensive knowledge of accounting and have more valuable things to do than bookkeeping. Moreover, it should have essential general accounting functions, like expense tracking and reporting, and features useful to freelancers, such as tax calculation, mileage tracking, and invoice tracking.
- Zoho Books: Best overall accounting software for freelancers
- FreshBooks: Best for service-based freelancers who track hourly labor
- QuickBooks Online: Best for freelancers who want to outsource to a local bookkeeping expert as the business grows
- Wave: Best free accounting software for freelancers
- QuickBooks Self-Employed: Best for tracking profits and preparing tax returns
Comparison of Best Accounting Software for Freelancers
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Zoho Books: Best Overall Accounting Software for Freelancers
Zoho Books
What We Like
- Customer service by telephone
- Manage sales tax collections
- Track time and expenses and add easily to an invoice
- Track project profitability
Drawbacks
- Additional charge for receipt capture
- Cannot transfer income/expense to Schedule C
- Cannot calculate quarterly estimated tax pa
Features
- Up to 1,000 invoices under the free plan or 5,000 invoices per year in the Standard Plan
- Client portal
- Online and offline payments
- Mileage and expense tracking
- Project tasks for individual tasks in a project
- Manual journals and reports
- Invoice customization
FreshBooks: Best for Service- or Project-Based Freelancers Who Track Hourly Labor
FreshBooks
What We Like
- Excellent project management tool
- Track mileage on mobile app
- Customer service by telephone
- Track hours and expenses and add to invoices
Drawbacks
- Requires pricey premium plan subscription for unlimited billable customers
- No expense or income tracking by class
- Receipt capture doesn’t generate new transactions
- Must connect bank account to track checking transactions accurately
Features
- Unlimited invoices, expenses, and estimates
- Sales tax tracking
- Recurring billing and client retainers
- Double-entry accounting reports
- Project management
QuickBooks Online: Best for Freelancers Who Want to Outsource Bookkeeping When the Business Grows
QuickBooks Online
What We Like
- Manage sales tax with automatic sales tax rates based on the customer address
- Includes receipt capture to generate transactions from uploaded receipts
- Track time and expenses and add to customer invoices (requires Essentials)
- Track miles with mobile app automatically
Drawbacks
- No customer service telephone number
- Must subscribe to expensive Plus version to track project profitability
- Cannot calculate quarterly tax payments or transfer information to Schedule C
Features
- Class and location tracking
- Access to vast network of certified public accountants (CPAs) and bookkeepers with ProAdvisor certification
- Sales tax calculation per invoice
- Integration with numerous third-party services in ecommerce, restaurant management, and payroll
- Excellent bank reconciliation features
Wave: Best Free Accounting Software for Freelancers
Wave
What We Like
- Forever free for unlimited users
- Easy to use
- Straightforward to set up
Drawbacks
- Not scalable
- Doesn’t separate income and expense by class or location
- Limited customer support
Features
- Receipt scanning
- Free accounting and invoicing
- Bill and invoice recording
- Clean interface
QuickBooks Self-Employed: Best for Tracking Profit & Preparing Tax Returns
QuickBooks Self-Employed
What We Like
- Inexpensive and easy to use
- Calculate quarterly estimated tax payments
- Transfers income and loss information to TurboTax (requires the TurboTax bundle)
- Mobile app tracks miles and saves receipt images
Drawbacks
- Invoice functionality is very limited
- No telephone number for customer service
- Doesn’t track assets and liabilities for a balance sheet
Features
- Separating income and expenses as to business and personal
- Reports that make Schedule C filing easier
- Mileage tracking
- Credit card statement imports
How We Evaluated Accounting Software for Freelancers
We evaluated freelancing accounting software based on the needs of most freelancers.
10% of Overall Score
The price of the software is considered in the evaluation but we didn’t place a heavy weight in this criterion. Since freelancers don’t need advanced accounting features, we believe that most freelancers would benefit greatly from the lowest or lower tier plans of most software products.
20% of Overall Score
General accounting features are still important, especially the software’s ability to manage accounts payable (A/P), accounts receivable (A/R), and cash. As much as possible, the software must-have features to track outstanding obligations and receivables. However, simple invoice and bill tracking will suffice for some freelancers. We also considered the tax and reporting features since most freelancers would be more concerned about tax compliance.
30% of Overall Score
Project accounting has the highest weight in the evaluation because most freelancers handle project-based transactions with clients. We like to give more credit to software programs that allow freelancers to assign expenses and income by project, assign billable expenses to projects, and manage project costs.
20% of Overall Score
Ease of use is a top concern since most freelancers might not have the time to learn complicated software. An easy-to-use software is a big plus in our evaluation. However, we also considered the availability of support channels since some freelancers might need assistance in using the software.
10% of Overall Score
We included user ratings from popular review websites to capture the overall impact of the software to actual users.
10% of Overall Score
A mobile app is important for freelancers who work across different devices. The mobile app must also have the same features as the desktop or web-based app for accessibility.
*Percentages of overall score
Features to Look For in Freelance Accounting Software
As self-employed individuals providing services to multiple companies, freelancers have different requirements for accounting software than most businesses. For example, since freelancers don’t generally have employees, they don’t value integrated payroll when evaluating accounting software. Other features are especially important for freelancers, such as the ability to track time and expenses to bill clients.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can I use QuickBooks as a freelancer?
Yes, QuickBooks Self-Employed at $15 per month is designed exclusively for freelancers. However, you may wish to use QuickBooks Online Simple Start for $30 per month if you send many invoices to customers.
What is the simplest bookkeeping software?
While not as feature-packed as QuickBooks Online, many freelancers love FreshBooks for its simplicity and great customer service.
Bottom Line
While Zoho Books is our highest-rated accounting software for freelancers, QuickBooks Online might be better for freelancers who want to outsource bookkeeping through the QuickBooks ProAdvisor network. FreshBooks is great for project or service-based freelancers, whereas Wave is a totally free alternative. Finally, for freelancers who only want to compile their income and expenses and file a tax return, QuickBooks Self-Employed may be optimal.