Guide to the Best Accounting Software for the Canadian Market

By now, we don’t need to convince you of the importance of accounting for your small business. After all, it allows you to keep track of your assets, liabilities, accounts receivable, income, bills, and expenses. In turn, this allows you to plan better and have a deeper understanding of the financial health of your business.

More often then not, to enjoy these benefits, you’ll need the right accounting software. The problem is that there are so many platforms and solutions available that it’s difficult to know where to begin looking and finding the right product.

Fortunately, we’re here to help and in this post, we’ll look at some of the best accounting software for Canadian businesses.

Freshbooks

Established in Canada in 2003, Freshbooks is a cloud-based accounting and invoice solution for businesses of any size. It aims to simplify accounting which, in turn, makes it easier for business owners to plan and manage their finances. As a result, one of its main benefits is its ease of use, so any business owner can use it irrespective of how much accounting experience they have.

The platform has a robust feature set and includes income and expense tracking, accounting, invoicing, payments processing, estimates, client management, and more. Pricing starts at $9.50 per month for its Lite plan that allows 5 billable clients. It goes up to $30 per month for its Premium plan for unlimited billable clients. It also offers a Select plan with custom pricing and features.

Pros:

• Supports multiple platforms.
• Good security.
• Integration with many other platforms.
• Canadian-specific tax calculation.

Cons:

• Some missing features, especially in the mobile app.
• Pricing is based on the number of clients a business has.

Zoho Books

Established in India in 1996, Zoho books now also has a presence in the United States and has grown to become one of the most popular accounting software platforms for the Canadian market. Although it has a similar feature set compared to other accounting platforms, it has innovative automation features that help business owners automate bank feeds, transaction categorizing, invoicing, and other workflows.

Some of its other features include quotes and estimates, expense tracking, inventory management, reporting, sales and purchase orders, and many more. Pricing starts at $15 CAD per month for the Standard plan for a maximum of 3 users. It goes up to $40 CAD per month for the Premium plan for 10 users.

Keep in mind, though, these prices are billed annually and increases when billed monthly. The platform also offers a free plan for businesses with revenue less than $50,000 CAD per year, which makes it ideal for smaller businesses.

Pros:

• Automation.
• Intuitive and easy to use.
• Reasonably affordable

Cons:

• Limited integration features compared to other offerings.
• No payroll features.

Quickbooks

No accounting software comparison would be complete without mentioning Intuit’s QuickBooks, one of the most popular accounting platforms, not only in Canada but also globally. Apart from that, it’s also one of the best accounting solutions for small businesses because it’s fairly simple to set up and implement and offers all the tools and features any small business could need to manage its finances.

Here, some of its features include invoicing, expense and bill tracking, income tracking, estimates, profitability tracking, multi-currency support, and more. Unlike many other platforms, Quickbooks also features a desktop application which makes it the obvious choice for businesses who want an on-site solution.

Pricing starts at $10 per month for the EasyStart plan which includes most features small businesses would need. It goes up to $30 per month for the Plus plan that includes more advanced features like inventory and profitability tracking. Quickbooks also offers a 30-day free trial, but then the plans’ pricing goes up.

Pros:

• Multi-platform support, including desktop.
• Good reporting features.
• Reasonably affordable.
• Easy to fix mistakes and errors.

Cons:

• Lacklustre payment processing.
• Limited inventory management.
• No payroll features included as standard.

Xero

Founded in New Zealand in 2006, Xero is a popular accounting solution not only among small business owners but also bookkeepers and accountants. The platform is known for its intuitive and easy-to-use features including a dashboard that can give business owners insights into the financial health of their businesses at a glance.

Other notable features include invoicing, inventory management, payments processing, expense tracking, quotes, reporting, bank connections, and more. Pricing starts at $15 CAD per month for the Starter plan that limits the number of invoices and bills that can be processed and goes up to the Premium plan with extensive features which is priced at $52 per month.

Pros:

• Intuitive and easy-to-use user interface.
• Extensive integration features.
• Automatic bank feeds.

Cons:

• Although pricing is reasonable, the cheapest plan has serious limitations.
• Platform could be complex for newer users.

Wave

Wave was founded in Canada in 2009 and provides its accounting software and services to small businesses across the country. One of the reasons for its popularity is its ease-of-use which means any business owner can use it effectively without needing any accounting experience.

Some of its other features include invoicing, income and expense tracking, reporting, bank feeds, and more. One of the major benefits of Wave, especially for small businesses is that its accounting software is completely free. As such, business owners can use the software for as long as they want without being charged anything. Keep in mind, though, payments processing and payroll management come at an extra cost.

Pros:

• Free to use.
• Multi-currency support.
• Automated reporting.

Cons:

• Lacks some features.
• Although perfectly suited to small businesses, it might not be the right solution for larger enterprises.

The Bottom Line

It’s simple, to ensure the success of your business, you need the right accounting software that will allow you to plan and understand the financial health of your business better. In turn, these insights allow you to make better decisions and save money.

Another excellent way to save money is by using Simplypay. It’s a fintech platform that provides an accounts payables solution that enables you to make high-value payments electronically, eliminate cheque payments, and avoid expensive wire transfer fees. It does this by allowing you to pay domestic and international invoices via electronic funds transfers (EFT) or credit card.

And soon you’ll be able to get a digital invoice after every payment which syncs perfectly with your chosen accounting software. As a result, you’ll eliminate the hassle of creating and collecting invoices. To learn more about Simplypay and how it can help you, visit our website for more details or to get started.