Wave
Free accounting and invoicing; paid payroll and payments.
Buyer's guide
Accounting software
For most small businesses the answer is QuickBooks Online or Xero, and the deciding factor is which one your accountant already works in. Everything below that is Wave or FreshBooks; everything above it is an ERP decision, not a software one.
23 products, grouped by the size of business they are built for rather than ranked against each other — Wave and SAP S/4HANA are not competitors, and a list that puts them in the same order is not telling you anything. Each links to our full review.
Sole traders and freelancers
One person, invoices and expenses, no payroll or inventory.
At this size the job is getting paid and surviving a tax return. Anything with a general ledger you have to configure is working against you.
FreshBooks
Invoicing-led, built around billable time and client work.
ZipBooks
Light bookkeeping with a free tier.
Kashoo
Simple double-entry books for very small operations.
Small businesses
Roughly $100k–$5M, a handful of staff, payroll, maybe inventory.
This is the crowded tier, and the honest answer is that the four below are more alike than any review admits. The deciding factor is usually which one your accountant already works in.
QuickBooks Online
The default in the US; the widest pool of accountants who know it.
Xero
The main alternative; strong bank reconciliation and app ecosystem.
Zoho Books
Sensible if you already run other Zoho products.
Sage Business Cloud Accounting
Sage’s small-business cloud entry.
Growing and mid-market
Past $5M, multiple entities or locations, a real finance function.
The tier where businesses outgrow small-business software and buy their first proper ERP. It is also where implementation cost starts to exceed licence cost, which no pricing page will tell you.
Sage Intacct
Cloud financial management; strong multi-entity consolidation.
NetSuite
Oracle’s cloud ERP; the common landing place for scaling companies.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
SMB ERP for businesses already in the Microsoft stack.
Acumatica
Cloud ERP priced on resources rather than per user.
SAP Business One
SAP’s small and mid-market ERP.
Epicor ERP
Manufacturing and distribution focus.
SYSPRO
Manufacturing and distribution ERP.
Enterprise finance
Large, multi-national, or heavily regulated.
Selection here is a project with a budget and a steering committee, not a shortlist. These reviews are for orientation before that starts.
SAP S/4HANA Finance
SAP’s in-memory finance core.
Oracle ERP Cloud
Oracle’s enterprise cloud suite.
Workday Financial Management
Strongest where HR and finance share one system.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance
The enterprise tier above Business Central.
Infor CloudSuite Financials
Industry-specific cloud financials.
Unit4 Financials
Built for services, public sector and non-profits.
FinancialForce
Native to Salesforce; services organisations.
Specialist tools
Bought alongside a general ledger, never instead of one.
Worth separating out, because these get compared against accounting systems they are not competing with.
BlackLine
Close and reconciliation automation on top of an existing ERP.
Every product, in one table
No pricing column, deliberately. Most vendors here quote per deal rather than publishing rates, and above the small-business tier implementation routinely costs more than the licence — so a single figure would mislead more than it helped.
| Product | Built for | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Wave | Sole traders and freelancers | Free accounting and invoicing; paid payroll and payments. |
| FreshBooks | Sole traders and freelancers | Invoicing-led, built around billable time and client work. |
| ZipBooks | Sole traders and freelancers | Light bookkeeping with a free tier. |
| Kashoo | Sole traders and freelancers | Simple double-entry books for very small operations. |
| QuickBooks Online | Small businesses | The default in the US; the widest pool of accountants who know it. |
| Xero | Small businesses | The main alternative; strong bank reconciliation and app ecosystem. |
| Zoho Books | Small businesses | Sensible if you already run other Zoho products. |
| Sage Business Cloud Accounting | Small businesses | Sage’s small-business cloud entry. |
| Sage Intacct | Growing and mid-market | Cloud financial management; strong multi-entity consolidation. |
| NetSuite | Growing and mid-market | Oracle’s cloud ERP; the common landing place for scaling companies. |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central | Growing and mid-market | SMB ERP for businesses already in the Microsoft stack. |
| Acumatica | Growing and mid-market | Cloud ERP priced on resources rather than per user. |
| SAP Business One | Growing and mid-market | SAP’s small and mid-market ERP. |
| Epicor ERP | Growing and mid-market | Manufacturing and distribution focus. |
| SYSPRO | Growing and mid-market | Manufacturing and distribution ERP. |
| SAP S/4HANA Finance | Enterprise finance | SAP’s in-memory finance core. |
| Oracle ERP Cloud | Enterprise finance | Oracle’s enterprise cloud suite. |
| Workday Financial Management | Enterprise finance | Strongest where HR and finance share one system. |
| Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance | Enterprise finance | The enterprise tier above Business Central. |
| Infor CloudSuite Financials | Enterprise finance | Industry-specific cloud financials. |
| Unit4 Financials | Enterprise finance | Built for services, public sector and non-profits. |
| FinancialForce | Enterprise finance | Native to Salesforce; services organisations. |
| BlackLine | Specialist tools | Close and reconciliation automation on top of an existing ERP. |
Common questions
- What is the best accounting software for a small business?
- For most US small businesses it is QuickBooks Online or Xero, and the deciding factor is usually which one your accountant already works in rather than any feature difference. Below roughly $100k in revenue, Wave or FreshBooks will do the same job for less.
- When should a business move from accounting software to an ERP?
- Usually when consolidation, inventory or multi-entity reporting starts being done in spreadsheets alongside the accounting system. That workaround is the signal, not revenue — a single-entity $20M business may never need one, and a $3M group with four entities often does.
- Why does this comparison not show prices?
- Because most of these vendors do not publish them. NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Workday and Infor all quote per deal, and for the mid-market and up, implementation routinely costs more than the licence. Any table quoting a single figure for these products is guessing.
- Is the cheapest accounting software worth it?
- At the sole-trader end, yes — Wave is free and genuinely sufficient for invoices and expenses. The cost of being under-specified shows up later, at the point where you need payroll, inventory or a second entity and have to migrate mid-year.
Still choosing?
All software reviews ↗Picking the system is the easy half. The harder question — whether the problem is the software at all, or the way the numbers are being produced — is what we do. If you need someone to run the books rather than advise on them, the directory lists practices checked against the IRS register.