Top 8 FREE Accounting software in Australia

What is an accounting software?

An accounting software is a type of software that assists bookkeepers and accountants in recording and reporting a firm’s financial transactions.

With recent technological trends, accounting software has become an invaluable resource for modern business. Software allows detailed tracking of financial transactions and near instantaneous reporting and analysis. Before accounting software, these tasks had to be performed by hand, using large transaction journals.

Why you should use an accounting software

If you own a business, accounting is one of the tasks that you have to do on a daily basis. And, it can get a pretty cumbersome task if it is done manually. Here, an accounting software comes to the rescue. An accounting software can help businesses tremendously, from preparing invoices to customers to getting detailed tax reports, an accounting software can do it all. In the whole world. There are a large number of people worldwide who have benefited by using an accounting software.

The scope of computerised accounting has flourished as prices have decreased and the software have gradually become easy to use, even for those who don’t have accounting knowledge.

An accounting software offers you a lot of benefits.

Saves Your Time

Time is the most important thing in business especially when you just started your journey. Using an accounting software has simplified the overall system. This simplification saves the time you need to invest in other sectors.

It helps with taxes

An accounting software allows you to properly compile and export documents and receipts to your accountant with ease. Properly compiled records also make your accountant’s job easier in taking care of your taxes.

Some software also complies with tax office rules through formatting invoices automatically so you won’t face troubles during tax season.

Business Reports

You need your invoices, transaction history, details of your stock etc. which are parts of your total business report.
It can be exhausting to sit down with papers and make the reports. Accounting system gets those reports ready for you on its own.

Cuts costs

Automating your accounting tasks saves you money in the long run. It eliminates the need for hiring a bookkeeper or allotting extra hours of their shift to handle all books, invoices, and transactions. In business, time is equivalent to money and optimising this process greatly reduces bookkeeping hours.

Furthermore, the software has subscription-based pricing models with low costs to pay on a monthly or annual basis. Subscribing to a plan gives you regular updates, support, and tools which enables you to focus on actually running your business.

5. Accuracy and Speed:

One of the greatest benefits of accounting software is a higher degree of accuracy and speed. It provides real time data that helps in streamlining business transactions.

Things to consider before choosing an accounting software

The sheer amount of programs and providers available can make it hard to compare accounting software, let alone choose a package to suit your needs, however there are some important things that you can consider before choosing one for your business.

First of all, important to be careful in choosing which one to implement with the wide array of options available nowadays. There is no ‘one size fits all’ solution for your own business, but getting to know your needs through business evaluation and being aware of vital factors to consider for the software is essential.

Features: With the help of an accountant, you should check whether the product’s features match with your needs because software solutions are not created equal.
Overall value: Take into account the software’s overall value based on its set of features and functionalities.
Scalability: Growth is one of any business’ goals; hence, factor in scaling to ensure the software will grow with you as your needs become more demanding.
User-friendly:Take into consideration how long it will take to learn the software. Choosing one that’s user-friendly is essential to immediately implement the system.
Integrations: Maximizing what you can do in the software is achieved with a robust marketplace of integrations that will enhance the system’s functionality and core capabilities.

Also, the functionality of accounting software differs from product to product. Larger firms may choose to implement a customized solution that integrates a vast amount of data from many different departments. Read our article to find out more on how to choose the right accounting software for your business.

We’ve taken a look at some of the best-regarded options for your business, so here are top 10 accounting software in Australia that are completely free:

1.MYOB

MYOB is a simple software that easy to use, it is used widely in Australia with different features like better manage finances, control In cash management, helps to increase the productivity and lot more. You can get your business up for success with easy invoicing, expense tracking, Single Touch Payroll and more. MYOB has a range of initiatives to help support the Australian and New Zealand businesses.

Pros
Easy to use and well laid out for the end user. It is great for small operations without complex needs.

Cons
Whilst bank rules are very handy – the auto reconciling of transactions can cause problems if rule set up incorrectly. There is no option to make transaction changes in bulk. It also takes a long time for set up.

2. Reckon

Reckon is a accounting practice management software that handles invoice, payroll, accounts payable and receivable and bookkeeping. It is utilised by self-employed, small, medium and large businesses in Australia. It also offers a free trial.

Reckon’s features include:

Cash flow in real-time
Unlimited bank reconciliations
Budgeting, GST & BAS reports
Free 24/7 Reckon support
Multi-layered data security and SSL encryption
Automatic data backups
Share your data with your accountant or bookkeeper
20+ reports to generate
Invite unlimited team members
Free mobile app (iPhone/Android)
Free, regular feature updates

Pros: It is a very feature-rich software with a setup that provides a robust accounting experience for the small business.

Cons: It can be more expensive than other software and has a steep learning curve for the novice or time-poor businessperson. It has many integrations, lack of detailed user guide for setting up extra modules within the software.

3. Wave

Wave is one of the top free accounting software for small businesses in Australia because it offers all the basic bookkeeping features. It is particularly suitable for freelancers and entrepreneurs who pay most of their bills online and track their income and expenses from multiple clients or businesses.

Pros:The design is well-thought-out and easy to use. The application is free. Easy generation of key financial statements Access is available through mobile apps for both iOS and Android.

Cons: Wave charges you for processing payroll and accepting online payments. Wave cannot track unpaid bills (accounts payable). If you pay all of your bills online, then not having the A/P functionality would not be a deal breaker.

4. Sage

Sage is a cloud-based accounting and invoice management solution for small businesses. It offers core accounting, project accounting, expense management and compliance management within a suite.

Sage manages all the documentation and processes required in business payments such as price quotes, estimates, statements and invoices. The solution offers integration with major banks across Australia, allowing users to import all payment transactions automatically. All information is available in a single dashboard, which allows users to stay up to date on their cash flow and pending payments.

Pros:

Connections to online financial accounts: Allows for real time updates of account balances.
Cloud access: Use anytime anywhere without the upkeep necessary when hosting the software on one’s own servers.
Robust reporting: Excellent for viewing a business’s metrics and performance in many different dimensions

Cons:

Time tracking functionality is not present, so this would present a disadvantage in industries where billing requires this (ie. law, accounting firms, etc.) Also, it doesn’t have as user friendly an interface and navigation as competitors in the same category.

5. Xero

From expenses to capturing bills, projects and payroll, Xero is made to keep your business moving.

Pros: Easy to use, easy to input data and there’s often little popup boxes to explain what elements are. It’s cloud managed, so there is no need to download any software or store anything locally.

Cons:

Some of the automatic accounts Xero suggests you reconcile to are not correct so it is important to double check each transaction before reconciling.
The way the contacts database has been developed could be improved to make importing and exporting data easier.

7. Saasu

Saasu was launched in 2000, and since then, this Australia-based company has had over 80,000 users. Previously, Saasu was available for multiple countries and any-size business, small to enterprise. Now, Saasu is narrowing their scope to specialize in accounting software only for small to medium-sized businesses located in Australia. The software is well-developed with features like unlimited users, and even built-in payroll.

Pros: Good customer service, positive customer reviews, and a decent selection of integrations make this software a great option for Australian small businesses.

Cons: The biggest complaint about the software previously was that it was hard to navigate — and while there is a bit of a learning curve given the sheer number of features, Saasu has streamlined and simplified the user experience. The other drawback is limited invoicing.

8. Profitbooks

ProfitBooks is an amazingly simple to use accounting software for Australian businesses.

You can create beautiful invoices, track day to day business expenses and manage your inventory easily with ProfitBooks.

Pros:
– It is designed for non-accountants and is super simple to use
– It supports multi-currency accounting
– It supports multiple users and includes a simple payroll
– It generates 45+ financial reports for better decision making.

The best aspect of this software is that you can customise everything from invoice numbers, footer information to changing template. Add custom fields to capture more information related to your business process.

You also get detailed tax reports. While you record your sales and expenses, the system automatically calculates the taxes and gives you detailed reports. These reports can be exported to Excel or PDF formate for further processin

You can invite your advisor or accountant to view your business transactions in ProfitBooks. They will be able to review the books and help you with compliance.

Watch how Profitbooks offers you invoicing, expense management, inventory tracking and accounting features.