The best accounting and invoicing software in 2023

Accounting and invoicing software is important for any well-organized business.

Monthly software subscriptions can be an affordable alternative to enlisting the services of a traditional accountant. With accounting and invoicing software utilizing more AI and automation, simple accounting for small businesses has never been easier.

In this article, we’ll explore what accounting software is and why it is essential. We’ll also look at some of best accounting software on the market, key bookkeeping features and future trends to look out for.

What is accounting and invoicing software?

Accounting and invoicing software packages are online systems that help small business owners keep track of their cash flow.

Accounting software allows businesses to:

• Monitor financial accounts

• Organize expense tracking

• Generate reports

• Manage vendor and customer contact information

• Prepare for the upcoming tax season

• Track inventory levels

• Create purchase orders

• Monitor account balance sheets and customer billing

Accounting software generally comes with invoicing features, though you can find standalone invoicing tools.

Using invoicing software instead of PDFs streamlines the payment process and decreases the chance of delayed or failed payments. These tools can auto-populate the invoices and often come with click-to-pay buttons so clients can avoid time-consuming bank transfers.

Key accounting and invoicing software features

Accounting and invoicing software packages offer a wide range of features to help business owners keep on top of their money.

Here are the key software features to look for when choosing your tools:

• A dashboard. An intuitive dashboard gives you an overview of your business finances. You’ll get a health check of your business at a glance, like profit and loss, expenses and sales.

• Integrations. The best accounting and invoicing software integrates with other apps. When merged with a CRM, employees can instantly use the tools, skip software training and manage everything from a single hub.

• Banking sync. Your bookkeeping tool should digitally sync with the business’s bank account. Bank reconciliation tools like QuickBooks Online and Xero use AI to identify patterns and automatically categorize transactions.

• Invoicing. Some accounting software allows automated invoicing, whereas others require finance or invoicing teams to handle invoices manually. Recurring invoices are available as an add-on to standard software packages.

• Billable hour tracking. Track every hour worked with billable hour tracking, available from the top accounting and invoicing software. Basic packages may integrate with specific tracking software (e.g., time-keeping apps) and connect to a CRM platform.

Some advanced features are nice to have but only suit some businesses. Here are exclusive elements certain accounting software providers offer:

• Mobile app. Mobile apps vary in functionality. Some Apple and Android accounting apps offer basic receipt tracking (using your device’s camera), whereas other apps offer advanced options, such as sending invoices on the go.

• Inventory management. Inventory management helps retail, distribution and e-commerce businesses keep track of company inventory in real-time. Some customers may require a dedicated management system that can link to a CRM.

• Multi-business support. Software permitting multi-business support allows users to export financial data from two or more businesses to one platform. These add-ons can increase the pricing of paid plans.

The features you’ll need will depend on your business: Field-based teams and freelancers may benefit from a mobile app, while e-commerce companies may value inventory management with their accounting tool.

There are plenty of options available, so organizations should choose the right accounting software for their business needs. Let’s explore some of these platforms.

The best accounting software of 2023

Small business owners are busy. They need accounting software that acts as a personal accountant and smooths financial processes.

To save you time, we’ve shortlisted our top accounting and invoicing software choices.

Best small business accounting software: QuickBooks

Intuit QuickBooks is a popular accounting and invoicing software among the self-employed, freelancers and small businesses.

It has an easy-to-use interface and a comprehensive list of features available across tiered plans, including:

• Customizable, quick-pay invoice creation, allowing clients to pay you quickly and easily

• A self-employed package enabling you to separate personal and business finances in the tool

• Quickbooks invoice automation, which streamlines the invoicing process

• Expense receipts that track and categorize outgoings

• An app to monitor your accounting on the go and track mileage

• A payroll add-on for when you’re ready to employ people

• QuickBooks online integration with support for CRMs

On higher plans, you can include access for multiple users, connect more sales channels, project profitability and more.

The app is a comprehensive accounting tool that easily connects with other software in your tech stack. Quickbooks integration API enables smooth linking with document creators (like monday.com or Google Workspace).

Thanks to Pipedrive’s integration with QuickBooks, you can coordinate all your customer and vendor information, invoices and bills.

You can see your estimates, invoices, payments and sales receipts all within your CRM.

In Pipedrive, you can also send email invoices and estimates to customers and track sales trends – all reconciled in QuickBooks.

Best easy accounting for small business: Xero

Xero is a popular cloud-based accounting software (similar to FreshBooks and Sage) suitable for self-employed people and small and medium businesses.

Integrating other apps with the online accounting software via the Xero Marketplace is easy and makes keeping track of financials simple. Xero’s accounting features are great for companies of all sizes and range from basic to advanced, including:

• Expense management to keep on top of spending and submit/reimburse expense claims

• Bill tracking, giving customers a clear view of accounts payable/receivable

• Xero accounts payable automation that permits users to directly accept online payments by direct debit and credit/debit card

• Multi-currency accounting with its Ultimate or Premium plan and instant currency conversion offering ease of use for businesses around the world, operating in more than 160 currencies

Similar to Intuit Quickbooks, Xero integrates with Pipedrive. Pipedrive’s integration with Xero allows customers to find quotes, invoices and payment history in the CRM.

Best for payment processing: Stripe

Stripe (similar to PayPal) is a payment processing platform for every sized business, from new startups to top enterprises, including Airbnb and Lyft.

Stripe’s products come in three categories: global payments, revenue and finance automation and Banking-as-a-Service:

• Global payments. Stripe allows businesses to accept secure online payments and even provide pre-built payment pages. Brick-and-mortar stores and events retailers also benefit from Stripe’s POS systems, which enable in-person payments.

• Revenue and finance automation. Stripe’s billing feature is great for organizations who need flexibility in managing customer subscriptions. You can either set up recurring billing or charge clients based on usage. The platform also allows users to send invoices and automates sales tax and VAT.

• Banking-as-a-Service. Stripe Connect links with your existing platform so you can continue taking payments without altering your processes. The Stripe CRM integration with Pipedrive lets you manage Stripe customers and their payment records from your account. You can also view and update invoices without leaving Pipedrive.

Best free automated sales report app: QuarterOne

QuarterOne is a revenue forecasting app that creates automated sales reports, analytics, forecasts and predictions.

The QuarterOne app is perfect for businesses that want to make better financial choices. The online tool tracks and shares real-time sales performance and helps you identify potential problems earlier. With QuarterOne, finance teams benefit from the following features:

• Sales predictions to estimate pipeline growth based on sales team velocity (how quickly prospects move through the sales pipeline)

• Automated updates that sync with a CRM and pull real-time revenue forecasts

• Flexibility that allows sales teams to spread deals over multiple months

• Velocity metrics that help leaders understand the performance of individual sales team members

• Target comparison measures to compare and contrast monthly performance goals

• Quick and easy QuarterOne integration with CRMs like Pipedrive

Best for automation: Paycove

Paycove is an automated quoting, invoicing and payments solution powering unique billing workflows that seamlessly integrate with CRMs.

Paycove’s automation features offer more control over cash flow and save employees time, allowing them to put more effort into important projects. The software includes:

• Personalized billing, making it easy for users to create custom templates

• Flexible payment options and subscription support built to adapt to growing businesses

• Reporting and analytics offering real-time data updates, advanced filtering and trend analysis

• Document preparation, quotation processes and e-signature collection

Paycove’s Core plan uses an all-in-one pricing structure that includes docs and quotes, invoices and payments, reporting and analytics, collections and tax and accounting designed to boost efficiency.

Paycove integrates with Pipedrive to deliver unique billing workflows for businesses that need it. Set up the integrations in one simple process and instantly provide quotes, manage inventory, calculate tax burdens and more.

Best for populating documents: Formstack

Formstack documents app is a user-friendly tool businesses use to streamline data capture, document preparation and e-signature collection from a single platform. Its tiered pricing model offers:

• Versatile, codeless forms that can be used by anybody, eliminating the need for staff training or lengthy onboarding

• Document preparation which supports Microsoft Office, secure PDFs and dynamic documents

• E-signature collection to allow partners and customers to sign from anywhere, reducing paperwork to zero

• Formstack Platform productivity solutions to help workplaces to organize teams and streamline their operations

• A Formstack integration with Pipedrive that gives access to all features within the CRM

Best for time tracking: Timely

Timely is a time-tracking tool that monitors every second employees and business owners spend on documents, meetings, emails, websites and video calls. It might not be the obvious solution when it comes to invoicing software, but if billing for time is a regular occurrence in your business, it’s one to consider.

It maximizes users’ time and boosts efficiency by:

• Giving businesses real-time insights into the progress and profitability of their projects to make hitting deadlines and targets easier

• Keeping an eye on how teams spend their day so they can quickly make adjustments and avoid bottlenecks or overstaffing

• Providing accurate hourly billing for client projects so companies don’t miss out on money

The best part about Timely is that it’s completely automated – there’s no need to remember to click in and out of the timer each time you change tasks.

An automatic timer ticks behind the scenes while team members work. The app compiles a precise timeline and confirms an accurate bill of work. After that, it can create a single project document detailing how an entire team spent its time.

Integrate Timely with your CRM to view how your team spends its day within a single platform.

Best for financial modeling: Dryrun

Dryrun is a powerful, flexible financial modeling and cash management platform for anyone looking for a deeper dive into their accounts with financial modeling and cash management.

As a Dryrun user, you can wave goodbye to spreadsheets because the platform utilizes cloud-based storage so it’s impossible to lose information. It allows business owners and financial advisers to explore potential finance scenarios, making forecasting and contingency planning easier.

In addition to its projection modeling software, Dryrun also offers:

• Easy-to-read visuals of your sales pipeline, bills, invoices and financial statements

• A simple data import option, giving you access to the most accurate information

• Export and share capabilities that make collaborating with colleagues or presenting to clients simple

• The choice to have daily, weekly or quarterly views of your business finances, meaning you don’t have to change the way you work to use the platform

• Smooth integration with online accounting systems like Intuit Quickbooks and Xero, which allows for easier day-to-day running of your business

Dryrun can also connect seamlessly to your CRM, boosting its potential to help you manage your finances. For example, with the Dryrun Pipedrive integration, you can insert previous and current deals into an easy-to-visualize timeline to accurately predict cash flow.

The future of accounting and invoicing software

Self-employed people, freelancers and small businesses who may not have the resources to employ an accountant need their accounting software to work just as hard.

A reliable bookkeeping tool should be easy enough to use but powerful enough to navigate complex financial terrain. It should also anticipate user needs and automate tasks as much as possible.

Quickbooks provider Intuit is pioneering AI. It’s also funneling resources into cloud and mobile-focused accounting software to meet the needs of modern small businesses. The company even acquired the AI-focused trio of Credit Karma, Imvision and Origami Logic for better access to technology and experts in the new frontier.

According to an Intuit press release:

As one of the top providers in the accounting software field, competitors will likely follow suit, investing further in AI, machine learning and cloud-based tech to keep up.

Cloud-based mobile accounting, similar to the Quickbooks advanced app, is constantly developing.

For example, say your job involves traveling locally to meet with clients. The Quickbooks advanced app uses your location to track and report your mileage. In the future, more sophisticated background time and resource tracking could provide value in other fields.

Final thoughts

Accounting and invoicing software is vital for well-organized, financially stable businesses. The best accounting software comes with a range of highly developed features that make your day-to-day financial tracking easier – so easy you rarely need to think about it.

Centralize your incomings and outgoings, send invoices and create a streamlined accounting workflow by connecting your tool to a CRM like Pipedrive.