QuickBooks is one of today’s top accounting and bookkeeping platforms, and its reputation is well-deserved. Dominant across multiple industries and popular with most business sizes, from freelance solopreneurs to enterprise megaliths, QuickBooks covers most common accounting bases and is a well-rounded, general-purpose tool that legions of clients and fans enjoy.
However, though QuickBooks enjoys name recognition and scores of fans, it isn’t suitable for everyone. Whether budget, feature preferences, or other factors are priorities, sometimes smaller competitors better suit business owners’ unique needs.
Those looking at directly comparable QuickBooks alternatives may struggle to find something that offers a comprehensive range of tools like QuickBooks. That holds especially true since the many third-party add-ons serve to close any gaps the native platform has. Still, these QuickBooks alternatives may better serve your unique business needs than QuickBooks can. Depending on your needs, you may consider:
Top Alternatives to Quickbooks in 2024
- Xero - Best for small businesses and startups seeking efficient and streamlined cross-border payment options
- Sage 50 - Best for direct integrations with Microsoft Office 365 products
- Zoho Books - Targets human resource professionals with a range of niche features
- FreshBooks - The easy-to-use interface is well-suited for small businesses and entrepreneurs
- Sage Intacct - Best known for reporting features and even includes direct, native Salesforce integrations
- NetSuite - Best for business accounting needs across all growth phase cycles
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 - Best for business owners growing their companies
What is QuickBooks?
If you’ve been in business for over a few weeks, there’s little chance you don’t know what QuickBooks is. A perennial favorite with one of the top accounting platform name brands, QuickBooks offers a range of business sizes and industries access to bookkeeping and accounting solutions ranging from basic 3-way matching, for example, to complex ones like payroll management.
QuickBooks Online vs. QuickBooks Desktop
Readers should note that Intuit (QuickBooks’ parent company) is sunsetting QuickBooks Desktop effective July 2024. After this point, new customers will no longer be able to buy or license QuickBooks Desktop and must use the browser-based version instead.
Until then, deciding which is best depends on your specific needs.
QuickBooks Online is accessible anywhere with an Internet connection, including via mobile phone apps, and includes robust automation tools while supporting multiple users simultaneously.
QuickBooks Desktop requires a single upfront payment rather than a recurring subscription cost and, though it may be more secure during black swan-style hacking or data breach events since data is stored on a dedicated machine, it offers fewer apps and third-party integrations.
QuickBooks Integrations
One area in which QuickBooks Online really shines is its robust and wide-ranging third-party app and integration tools. These tools, which include Nanonets integration, effectively “step in” when the native QuickBooks platform lacks some specific functionality or the user has a preferred service provider for niche use cases but wants to remain within the QuickBooks ecosystem.
When Do QuickBooks Alternatives Come Into Play?
Since QuickBooks operates broadly as a “one-stop shop” for most accounting and bookkeeping needs – and it does the job well – users needing more niche may find a standalone or one-off program better suited to their needs. Third-party apps and add-ons may mitigate this issue somewhat, but those needing specialized services should generally seek specialized providers rather than a generalist solution like QuickBooks. Here are some scenarios where one could explore further solutions:
- Niche Financial Management: Emphasis on financial management aspects like cross-border payments, treasury management, or even navigating tricky compliance waters
- Scalability: Some users also find that QuickBooks lacks a sure scalability that grows with their business. For example, a small business owner with just a handful of employees could graduate from the Excel method of bookkeeping to QuickBooks but, as the business grows, find himself in a weird spot where QuickBooks Enterprise is too robust (and pricy), and his baseline QuickBooks version lacks specific functionalities he suddenly needs.
It is important to find something that is ready to grow with you and match your pace. For some, QuickBooks alternatives emerge as preferred options as businesses expand.
Today’s Best QuickBooks Alternatives
Again, offering the best QuickBooks alternatives isn’t a hard and fast mandate; it’s a recommendation based on finding a similarly generalized platform offering most (or all) of the same utility as QuickBooks. While each of these alternatives efficiently helps manage big-picture accounting and bookkeeping needs, they may lack the specificity that some niche cases require. Still, we’ll look at four alternatives based on two broad criteria: which are best for those seeking cloud integration for dispersed work and which offer the widest range of features across accounting needs.
Cloud-Centric QuickBooks Alternatives
Xero is best suited for internationally focused clients, catering to small businesses and startups seeking efficient and streamlined cross-border payment options (something that QuickBooks lacks in the native platform without third-party integrations).
Pros:
- Cross-border payment processing and tax compliance
- Cloud-based and accessible from anywhere
Cons:
- Fewer reporting features than other platforms
- Some claim customer service is not as responsive as they’d prefer
Sage 50cloud, part of the broader Sage Business Cloud platform, is best for those firmly enmeshed in the Microsoft Office 365 ecosystem; the platform offers native integrations for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel - alongside a wide range of third-party app integrations.
Pros:
- Good for businesses migrating from legacy Excel bookkeeping
- High-quality analytics that are easily exportable, improving insight and strategic financial management
Cons:
- There’s a steep learning curve
- The high price might be outside many startups or small business’s budget
Feature-Rich QuickBooks Alternatives
Zoho Books is best for human resources segments that shine when it comes to payroll management – something QuickBooks users sometimes find cumbersome with the platform.
Pros:
- Budget-friendly
- Advanced payroll management tools
Cons:
- Fewer customizations that QuickBooks
- Reports and data extraction are time-consuming
Freshbooks is best for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and solopreneurs starting with formal accounting software.
Pros:
- Easy-to-learn and intuitive interface
- Invoice management saves solo operators time
Cons:
- Some report bugs within the native time tracker when migrating to invoice
- Fewer third-party payment processing integrations, such as Square
Sage Intacct is best for large or enterprise clients due to advanced integrations, like SalesForce, and a robust marketplace that includes Nanonets, which offers features like streamlined AP automation benefits.
Pros:
- Accounting workflows are straightforward and easy to manage
- Cloud-based platforming ensures constant access
Cons:
- No international payment features
- Initial setup is time-consuming
QuickBooks Alternatives for Growing Businesses
NetSuite shines when supporting business accounting needs across all growth phase cycles while offering third-party integrations to cover any feature gaps.
Pros:
- Advanced reporting increases analytic insight
- One-stop shop for CRM, financials, and more
Cons:
- The learning curve is more complex for less technical users
- Add-on costs for additional features can be steep
Dynamics 365 is best for businesses without an existing CRM, as it offers a CRM-like experience. It also has unique sales and marketing automation tools that many QuickBooks alternatives lack while offering third-party integrations to support many business needs.
Pros:
- Scales with your company
- Enhances efficiency by offering real-time data
Cons:
- Navigation takes some trial and error due to a cumbersome UI
- Price for small business budgets
How to Find the Best QuickBooks Alternatives
As with so many SaaS and similar business solutions, there isn’t a true one-size-fits-all platform to meet each and every need you have today, tomorrow, and far in the future. To that end, though, finding the best QuickBooks alternatives demands a critical and unbiased look at your current business and growth trajectory. Here are few considerations to evaluate the best alternative:
- Your company size
- Your company industry
- Your budget
- Scalability of the platform - Ensuring your platform of choice can grow with you is vital to minimizing future interruptions that cost time and money.
- Free Trials - Often, QuickBooks alternatives offer new users free trials to test out features.
We recommend taking advantage of these trials to the fullest extent possible and even test drive multiple platforms simultaneously to see what works best before committing to a long-term decision considering rest of the factors.
Conclusion
It may be true that relying on any system rather than Excel and a cocktail napkin is better; some are certainly dominant in different fields. QuickBooks is often the go-to move for those looking for generalized features, but just as frequently, they run into something that sends them looking for alternatives to QuickBooks.
QuickBooks and nearly all of its alternatives also offer third-party integrations that can be lifesaving when you’re comfortable with a platform but find it lacking in some specific area. Rather than switching completely, integrations like Nanonets’ AP automation can help plug feature gaps and holes while improving your business standing. The common benefit across the board, no matter which integrations you leverage in QuickBooks or one of its alternatives, is time saved via automation and keeping all your business financial concerns in as centralized a software ecosystem as possible.
See how Nanonets tailors solutions with a free demo. Step into the future of finance with Nanonets.
