The Best ERP Accounting Software for 2024 – Top 10 Compared

As a platform that supports client management, you can use its client interface to keep the conversation rolling. Keeping clients informed and engaged with project updates helps you build clients’ trust.

You do not need to add extra software to your software stack to manage your team members. FreshBooks empowers you with all the tools you and your team need to grow your business, collaborate, monitor team performance, and bill clients.

FreshBooks provides detailed financial reports to help you quickly understand your business performance and make valuable decisions. You can even download the reports to share with your accountant, making collaboration easier.

FreshBooks offers flexible price options, allowing businesses to choose from its four available plans based on their needs.

FreshBooks’ popular plan, Plus, is suitable for self-employed or solopreneurs. It includes unlimited invoices for up to 50 clients, unlimited estimates, and recurring invoices with the option to their accountant.

You get 60% off for the first 4 months when you pick a monthly plan, and an additional 10% off for the first year when you choose a yearly plan.

One thing to note is that the platform limits the number of users on each plan, with the option to add new team members for $11/month per user. Other available add-ons include Advanced Payments ($20) and payroll options.

FreshBooks is a good option for companies seeking advanced accounting software that allows them to manage their clients and team in one place. Its rich features facilitate seamless collaboration without sacrificing usability.

Zoho Books offers a comprehensive ecosystem that provides you with more applications to integrate with. This opens up a plethora of functionalities beyond Zoho’s core accounting features.

You can customize your business’s workflows to ensure processes are done automatically and enforce your company culture. For example, Zoho allows you to customize workflows to automate repetitive accounting tasks, such as the approval process for invoices based on certain rules.

Right from Zoho Books’ first paid plan, you have API access, which allows you to connect Zoho with other business applications.  This facilitates automatic data transfer, which eliminates manual data entry and reduces errors.

Zoho offers five paid plans with a free forever plan, so you’ll have plenty of options to choose from, depending on your needs.

Zoho Books’ Professional plan is suitable for new businesses as it offers features to help them get started. It supports up to 5 users, inventory tracking, business workflow automation, etc.

Similarly to FreshBooks, there’s a limit on users for every plan. However, you can surpass that limit by adding new users at $2.5/month/user, billed annually.

You can create sales tax rules based on your location and product/service categories, and QuickBooks will calculate the tax for you.

With the QuickBooks cash flow tool, you can see all your business balances on one dashboard without manual data entry.

Whenever you need to have a quick, deep insight into your pending bill information, the bill management feature simplifies the process for you. You can also connect with your vendors in the QuickBooks Business Network to automatically import bills.

QuickBooks offers four different pricing plans with features suitable for every business type.

The Plus plan is a suitable plan for businesses with few team members. It allows you to add five users with features including bill management, cash flow, inventory management, project profitability, financial planning, etc.

QuickBooks pricing is a fair deal as it gives users the flexibility of either choosing its 30-day free trial or a discounted 70% offer for the first 3 months to explore the app.

Xero App Store provides you with more options to take your business inventory management to the next level. The Xero app store includes hundreds of apps to help you manage your business efficiently.

With Xero’s real time insights, you can see your stock level, helping you avoid stockouts and optimize ordering. This inventory report also helps you understand customer demand.

Xero automates repetitive tasks involved in creating invoices and processing orders to reduce manual work and avoid errors.

Xero’s price plan is based on a monthly contract, fostering a pay-as-you-go process. Its price plans are available in three tiers.

Since Xero’s pricing is based on features, businesses can choose a plan that offers their key features. Its Early plan is designed for startups or businesses operating locally. It offers features such as sales tax, W-9 + 1099 management, short-term cash flow, bank transactions reconciliation, and 20 invoices.

Xero currently offers a 75% price off to new users for the first 6 months, making it a good deal to explore.

Sage’s system includes some other software, including Sage 300 for inventory management, Sage 100 for manufacturing and distribution, and other tools geared toward businesses in different industries. These tools provide you with several options to include as your business grows.

Sage’s AI automatically extracts data and creates a draft for you to approve, as well as helps you generate recurring invoices and attach customer documents to transactions for enhanced record keeping.Sage Intacct also provides you with all the tools you need to easily share critical insights and details with all relevant stakeholders and departments. You can add more dimensions to reflect specific company drivers, taking your financial reporting to the next level.

Sage operates on a quote-based model, meaning you’ll have to contact its sales team to request pricing. The cost of the system will heavily depend on the size of your organization and your unique business needs.

Bonsai offers a branded client portal to enhance client collaboration and centralize all project communications. You can build a comprehensive client list with all the key information, rates, and custom tags for each project and task individually.

Bonsai also offers a scheduler that allows clients to book you when you’re available and charge for your sessions in advance. The scheduler is completely integrated with your calendar and availability, allowing you to avoid double booking.

You can leverage Bonsai to create and send custom invoices and automatically track all expenses and income by connecting the platform to your bank and credit card account. Also, one of its project management tools, capacity manager, helps you balance workloads and optimize your team’s time.

Bonsai offers four plans, all of which provide excellent value for money.

Its most popular plan, Professional, is ideal for established enterprises. It has workflow automation, a branded client portal, unlimited scheduling events, and integrations with QuickBooks, Calendly, and Zapier.

Similar to Xero, adding an extra team member costs $10 per month, with Bonsai Tax at $10 per month.

Wave offers a mobile app to facilitate invoicing and estimation on the go. This provides flexibility and convenience, especially for users who are constantly on the move.

Wave also provides unlimited bookkeeping, which is available on all plans. With this, you can add your business’s bank transactions to your Wave account, either manually or by connecting your bank account to Wave.

Wave allows you to customize your invoices with your company logo and branding colors. We love that this option is available to free and paid users.

Wave’s pricing is simple, offering a free plan to businesses that are just starting out and in need of a basic accounting solution. Its paid plan offers advanced features at an affordable fee.

Wave’s Pro plan is for established businesses that want more features. Its features include Auto-import bank transactions, categorisation, digitally capturing unlimited receipts, and active customer support.

With its free plan that offers a basic accounting solution, Wave’s pricing is a fair deal for small businesses.

With a focus on helping small businesses spend less time on admin processes, the ClearBooks auto bills feature helps you capture bills and receipts faster and more accurately.

To start using ClearBooks’ automatic bank import, link ClearBooks with your bank and start reconciling payments with invoices, bills, and expenses. With this process, you can streamline bookkeeping with AI precision and categorize hundreds of bank transactions in just seconds.

ClearBooks also offers complimentary unlimited access to its expert support team. This helps you get 24/7 help whenever you need it, either via email or telephone.

ClearBooks offers three price plans which are feature-based. You have the option to choose monthly, annual, and two-year subscriptions with 50% discounts. See the table below for more information.

The Medium plan is suitable for businesses that need to process tax. This plan features include invoice/quote creator, bill & receipt tracking, bank feeds and uploads, reports (e.g., P&L), dividends tool, MTD VAT reporting, and CIS.

ClearBooks pricing is competitive, allowing users to choose based on their preferences. Its two-year subscription offer is the most cost-effective but with a long-term contract.

Microsoft 365, with the help of Copilot, provides a complete financial planning and analysis solution to help you keep track of your business’s performance.

Microsoft 365 optimizes monetization through AI-powered billing and allows you to develop professional quotes, manage customer interactions, and track the sales pipeline to boost productivity and conversion rates. All of this is possible, thanks to the quote-to-cash feature.

You can use the Excel spreadsheet budgeting and forecasting features to plan your cash flow, track income and expenses, and identify potential shortfalls. This way, you’ll be able to manage liquidity with predictive analytics and cash-flow forecasting proactively.

Microsoft 365 price offers are available in two plans. Please see the table below.

Microsoft 365 first plan offers users all the automation required to manage their business finances. However, with the Premium option, businesses get empowered with advanced business performance management tools.

Microsoft plans are expensive, but you have access to a 30-day free trial to test the software before making a financial commitment. This makes it a fair deal compared to other advanced and expensive ERPs like NetSuite on our list.

As a cloud-based software, NetSuite facilitates data accessibility wherever there is an internet connection. This provides flexibility for remote teams and eliminates the need for on-premise software installations.

NetSuite offers comprehensive inventory management to help you stay on track with stock overseeing. You can track stock levels across multiple locations, manage purchase orders, and optimize inventory planning to avoid stockouts or overstocking.

To help you make data-driven decisions and plan for your business growth, NetSuite provides you with cash flow forecasting tools and data to guide you in creating budgets, analyzing financial performance, and setting goals.

NetSuite offers an annual license fee, which is only available upon request. This license consists of three main components: core platform, optional modules, and the number of users.

One thing to note is that the total price includes the initial setup cost, the yearly licensing fee, and the monthly price, which will vary based on the functionalities you need. Although there is no free plan to explore the product, you can request product demos, read customer stories, or check articles on the website.