Accounting software is of immense help when dealing with the finances of your business. Especially, when you don’t have much knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping. Accounting software minimizes your chance of financial mismanagement and facilitates invoicing, expense tracking, and payroll.
It helps you in keeping your books up to date and balanced and to avoid any confusion during the tax season. With the help of accounting software, it helps you have more control over your business. It assists you in taking better decisions by giving you insights that you can draw from the data it accumulates.
It’s good to know about different accounting softwares in the market so that we can choose the best that suits our needs. In this article we’ll discuss about top 5 accounting softwares in Africa.
Top 5 accounting softwares in Africa
ProfitBooks
ProfitBooks is easy-to-use accounting software that helps you with the accounting and finances of your business.
FEATURES
ProfitBooks has many features that are included in all plans.
- Create sales orders
- Accept online payments
- Deal in multiple currencies
- Manage inventory
- Track payables and receivables
- Tax management
- 40-plus financial reports
With its invoicing feature, you can customize the fields in your invoice to craft it better to suit your business process. Automating your invoices saves you a lot of time when the billing of your client is periodical.
Expense tracking lets you keep track of payables and purchases.
It lets you handle your bank accounts all in one place.
Inventory management features cannot be done away with if your business is a product-based one. With its sophisticated yet easy-to-use inventory management feature, it helps you track your products.
With its ability to accept payments in multiple currencies, ProfitBooks is the best fit if you have an international clientele.
It takes the burden of accounting and financing off your shoulders which saves you time that you can spend on growing your business.
The inventory data offers you insights into a particular product’s sales and helps you make your sales campaign better. It provides valuable insights into the minute details of your business with more than 40 reports.
USABILITY
ProfitBooks is an excellent accounting software for small businesses. You don’t need any accounting background to use it well. That is ProfitBooks’ USP. It lets you create elegant invoices. Takes the trouble of tracking your expenses and managing your inventory.
PRICING
Startup plan – only one user is allowed, can create up to 25 invoices per month, and manage up to 50 customers per month.
Premium plan – $15/month – no limit for users and invoices. You can manage as many customers as you want and track as many products as you have.
This is a perfect fit for growing businesses. ProfitBooks strikes a balance between primitive software that is inexpensive and sophisticated software that hurts your pocket.
SUPPORT
Online support setup receives queries & issues and resolves them in a timely manner.
Sage
Sage is a mid-tier accounting software for small businesses.
FEATURES
Sage accounting comes with a variety of software features.
The first thing you’ll see is the dashboard that provides a high-level overview of your financial transactions over the course of the past month. Your balance cash flow in and cash flow out is shown in a graph. The cash flow forecast graph provides 30-day visibility into the expected cash balance.
Customers aren’t able to drill down into specific sections or transactions from this dashboard which is a downside of this section. You also can’t rearrange this dashboard to have your preferred sections at the top which is another detail that some competitors offer.
Sage includes four pre-built invoice templates two of which are product based and two are service based. All of your invoices are kept in a listview within the invoices tab.
Although there are fewer options to customize the invoice, businesses will be able to create invoices to fit their style. You can track the expenses easily.
You can connect all the bank accounts and import all the transactions. Sage accounting includes all the crucial reports you’ll need to keep your business on track.
Sage does not offer accounting or bookkeeping services. It doesn’t include payroll and time-tracking features. These must be purchased through third-party apps.
PRICING
Sage accounting software pricing starts from $10 a month for entry-level features like
- Invoicing
- Expense tracking
- Automatic bank reconciliation
There are two plans to choose from.
The expensive plan is recommended. Unlimited users can access the software for just $15 more per month.
Most people opt for the $25 plan due to its more extensive capabilities.
USABILITY
Sage is user-friendly for the average user who is not a professional bookkeeper accountant.
If you wish to handle the accounting software yourself instead of letting your accountant manage it completely, you have to make sure that the tool you’re using is user-friendly.
Sage Accounting suits small businesses that want hassle-free invoicing and whose preferred payment options are Paypal or stripe.
The loading time of its application can sometimes be long.
SUPPORT
Sage has different support options for different products it has to offer. You can call up the support team if you have issues.
Xero
Xero is advanced yet affordable accounting software that’s ideal for small to medium-sized established businesses.
FEATURES
Xero’s dashboard is very exclusive to it. Xero is one of the most heavily customizable software accounting tools in the market. It provides a simple overview of your finances.
Xero has advanced inventory management features. With this Inventory management option, invoicing is easier. Product-based businesses will benefit from its Inventory Management option.
Allows for more customization of its dashboard and reports Along with a reporting section that could generate more than 50 reports.
Xero has an extensive list of third-party applications in the Xero marketplace. As many as 800 third-party software tools.
It doesn’t offer accounting, bookkeeping, or tax services which many alternatives have.
USABILITY
It is a bit less advanced but is much more user-friendly for the average business owner and is equally accessible to businesses as it is accountants.
All businesses, except for freelancers, may opt for the established plan that costs $65 for the most functionality and best value.
Recommended for those who want a solid, reliable accounting software tool that won’t break the bank.
PRICING
Xero has plans of $12, $34, and $65 which it recommends based on your business requirements.
Though expensive, a better software solution overall.
Opt Xero if you want more functionality and more features and are willing to pay up to $65 per month
SUPPORT
Slightly difficult to reach the customer support team.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks accounting software suits small and medium-sized businesses.
FEATURES
Quickbooks lets multiple users work simultaneously. A good number of accountants and bookkeepers are trained in using QuickBooks.
QuickBooks Online has the most extensive reports section among the accounting software tools.
With more than 70 included reports (which can be customized), it is the most comprehensive reporting tool among accounting software tools.
Creating invoices is pretty straightforward. Lets you create a unique payment link.
QuickBooks Online inventory management features are more advanced. Allows broader customization of the dashboard and reports. It has the provision to track projects and record time.
USABILITY
Not as user-friendly as other accounting tools.
Learning how to navigate the software takes time – higher learning curve
History tracking (also called audit log) is difficult to use
PRICING
More expensive than other accounting platforms.
Starts at $25/month for a single user. The most advanced plan costs $180 with 25 users.
You need to opt for the Plus plan or Advanced plan for the most functionality and best value.
SUPPORT
QuickBooks offers limited customer support. It can be sometimes slow in resolving your issues.
Wave
FEATURES
Wave offers its accounting software and invoicing features for free. Other features and services such as payroll and bookkeeping services come at varying costs starting at $20 per month.
Wave’s invoicing feature is as straightforward as it gets with three pre-built invoice templates to choose from. It offers recurring invoices, estimates, customer statements, and your list of services and products.
It allows you to add a checkout list to your website which allows your clients to pay without an invoice.
It offers bookkeeping services for those who have a dedicated bookkeeper.
Lacks inventory management features which many businesses require.
USABILITY
Not good if you are a large business with advanced needs regarding inventory management.
PRICING
Wave is an accounting software tool that works on a freemium model and it is ideal for small businesses and freelancers. It offers features for free for which most alternatives charge.
But, with a freemium model, there can be only so much to offer. Like any other product that works on this model, it has its limitations.
SUPPORT
Customer support is limited and can be difficult to get in touch with. Live chat support available only for paid services like Wave Payroll.
How ProfitBooks can help you in Accounting Services?
If you have to track multiple employees’ expenses, if you travel often for your business needs, if you find it hard to manage your business’ cash flow, then you need optimum accounting software.
ProfitBooks is one of the fastest-growing, leading, and reliable online software in the world of accounting. With ProfitBooks, you can’t just track expenses but also manage inventory, create invoices and do a lot of things online.
And that too for free!
What’s amazing about ProfitBooks is that it is user-friendly, full-featured, and also has a simple and beautiful interface.
Moreover, it has a mobile application too, which makes your accounting on the go!
Find out how ProfitBooks can help you with your accounting needs! Create your account for free today.
Also Read:-
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Top free accounting software in Australia
5best.in lists ProfitBooks as the best online accounting software for small businesses
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Top 12 FREE Software For Small Businesses
