A common misconception among business owners is that accounting and financial record keeping or getting an accounting software is only for big and established brands; thing is, business failure as a result of poor record keeping does not respect big or small business.
The advancement of technology and evolution of business has made strict account-keeping a necessity for both individual brands and corporate organizations.
The idea of entering data manually and performing complex arithmetic calculations in order to record financial transactions is gradually going extinct and so nowadays, this same kind of information can be collected on a computer and stored digitally in an easy to access database—an accounting software—thereby allowing you to handle your accounting and record keeping easily and efficiently.
This is definitely a read for you if you are eager to take your bookkeeping to a whole new level and you’re in need of the best accounting software for your business.
Table of Contents
What Is An Accounting Software?
Accounting software is an application that helps you keep track of your finances and do business transactions. It provides an easy way to perform accounting and bookkeeping tasks, including bill payments, account reconciliation, calculation of taxes and income tax reporting.
Accounting software is one of the most important things for a small business owner to have in place. Accounting software helps you manage your finances, track expenses and receipts, track inventory levels all on one platform so you can make informed decisions regarding your business finances without having to swim through a pile of paperwork.
Benefits
- You can get your business online with accounting software for small businesses.
- It helps you manage your cash flow and expenses better with accounting software for small businesses.
- It helps you organize your business processes more effectively by learning from other businesses how they handled their bookkeeping differently than how you do now.
- It helps you improve efficiency and reduce costs by avoiding mistakes over time that some businesses make in their account keeping.
Top Accounting Software For Small Businesses In Nigeria
Accounting software is a great way for small businesses to keep track of all their transactions, expenses and income. It’s also helpful if you want to manage your cash flow or have a better understanding of where your money goes each month. You can easily create invoices, order checks from the bank and pay employees using this software too.
The following are some of the best reliable accounting applications for small businesses that will take your record-keeping to another level:
1. Sage 50
Sage 50 is a cloud-based accounting software for small businesses. It’s designed to be easy to use, but with powerful features that help you grow your business.
Sage 50 is a good choice for businesses with less than $5 million in annual revenue, or for those who want to start out with a limited budget and build their own platform over time as they grow their business. The program offers several tiers of plans ranging from free starter accounts to premium plans starting at $150 per month (or less).
2. Quickbooks
Quickbooks is an accounting software that provides small businesses with accounting, payroll and invoicing services. It is a cloud-based service that allows users to install the program onto their computers or mobile devices. Quickbooks also offers online training courses for new users.
QuickBooks has become one of the most popular accounting systems in Nigeria because it offers many features that make it easy to use by both beginners and experts alike:
Auto-fill information from your bank account into transactions automatically when you enter them into your register; this reduces mistakes made by entering them manually
Create business profiles based on industry standards so you can easily see what information needs updating before you enter a transaction (for example, if there are multiple suppliers per product)
The cost for using Quickbooks starts at $15 per month with one month free trial as start bonus.
3. Freshbooks
Freshbooks is another great invoicing software that allows you to create and manage your business’s financial accounts. It offers a free plan, which means you can get started right away without having to pay any money up front, although with limited features.
Freshbooks is easy to use and has many features that make it appealing for small businesses, including:
- A mobile app (available on iOS and Android)
- Desktop app available for Windows machines
For up to 5 clients, FreshBooks pricing begins at $15 per month. In addition to offering more features, the Plus plan, which costs $25 per month, supports up to 50 clients. You can also subscribe to the FreshBooks premium plan with support for up to 500 clients at $50 per month.
4. Xero
Xero is a cloud accounting software that can be used by small businesses in Nigeria. It’s easy to use, easy to integrate with other business software, and it has great mobile app.
Xero has three main features: manage your books; create invoices and bills; or create an online store. You can do all of this from the same platform so you don’t have to switch between platforms when using multiple apps or programs.
5. Zoho Books
Zoho Books is a cloud accounting software for small businesses. It allows you to track sales, expenses and more in an easy-to-use package that’s affordable and integrates with other Zoho accounts.
Zoho Books has a number of features that make it ideal for small businesses including:
- Ability to import data from QuickBooks or Xero straight into the program without having to reenter all of your accounts manually.
6. Tally ERP 9
Tally ERP 9 is a complete accounting software for small businesses. It is an accounting software that is used by small businesses in Nigeria. Tally ERP 9 offers comprehensive solution for managing your business, from sales and inventory management to payroll processing, invoices and statements.
Tally ERP 9 is an IRS compliant software and it can be used as an E-file option by the users of this product. The application has been developed using Java Technology Platform v 1.6. It has been certified as compatible with Windows XP 64 bit or later versions of Microsoft Windows operating system released after January 1st 2004.
Top Free Accounting Software For Your Business
- Wave
- ZipBooks
- SlickPie Accounting Software
- Zoho Invoice
- GnuCash Accounting software
- NCH Express Accounting Software
- CloudBooks Accounting Software
- Akaunting Accounting Software
- Sunrise Accounting Software
Final Thoughts
It is hardly any secret that 60-70% of businesses in Nigeria suffer from one major setback which is account keeping. It is of utmost importance that every business, small and big alike, have a simple accounting software that fits the financial needs of the business and is easy to use.
Remember, if you survive poor record keeping as a small-scale business, the big or medium-scale is definitely headed for the rocks if that is not attended to.