How to Select Accounting Software
If you are looking for a quick recommendation for accounting software for small and midsize businesses (SMB), see immediately below. In short, I recommend Xero for freelancers, startups, and other small businesses. QuickBooks is likely more appropriate for more established small businesses. Finally, I recommend NetSuite for large and complex enterprises that need the robustness of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.
If you would like a more in-depth explanation of the factors you should consider when selecting an accounting system, read on.
Integrations:
Solutions like Xero, QuickBooks, and FreshBooks will require integrations with other tools for advanced implementations like payroll, sales tax compliance, etc. A solution like NetSuite will accomplish the advanced implementations without a need to integrate with another software vendor.
Cost:
Xero and QuickBooks are much more approachable regarding prices. A small business could implement Xero or QuickBooks for less than $50.00 a month but a NetSuite implementation will likely start above $100.00 per month.
Implementation Timeline:
Solutions like Xero can be implemented in less than a week, depending on how familiar users are with accounting operations and systems. A NetSuite implementation will likely take several months due to the complexity of the system and the setup that is required.
Application Programming Interface (API):
All of the modern cloud accounting systems have functional and well documented APIs.
Intuit (QuickBooks) Developer Site
Open Source:
The are limited options for businesses that want to use open source technology for the accounting system implementation. Odoo is the most maintstream open source options and is more comparable to Netsuite than Xero. Additionally, if you are willing to use an on-premise solution, you could implement GNU Cash or KMYMoney.
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