Being a solopreneur or freelancer means a never-ending to-do list. In addition to your core work, you also need to manage marketing, customer care, and, of course, accounting.
Accounting is a critical aspect of freelancing and online selling as it involves cash flow management, maintaining financial records, tax compliance, and ensuring timely payments. Proper accounting significantly improves your business’s chances of success.
Given the multitude of tasks you handle daily, using accounting software can greatly simplify and streamline your financial management, saving you time and ensuring accurate calculations, tax form preparation, and other necessary documents for the BIR.
Now, when it comes to choosing the right accounting software brand, it can be a daunting task due to the plethora of options available. To ease your decision-making process, we’ve outlined the key features and specifications of the top five accounting software brands below. This will help you identify the features most relevant to your needs and determine which software offers the best value for your money (with currency equivalents subject to exchange rates).
| Software |
Features/Inclusions |
Specifications |
Price |
| Juan Accounting and Tax
(BEST AND RECOMMENDED) |
- Accounting and tax platform built specifically for Philippine businesses
- Create and customize invoices with BIR-compliant formats
- Manage and track income, expenses, bills, and payments in one platform
- Unlimited transactions (including the Free plan)
- VAT and Withholding Tax (WHT) codes supported
- Multi-currency accounting and invoicing
- Automated invoice reminders and approval workflows
- Bank reconciliation tools for matching transactions and cash flows
- Financial reports including Trial Balance, General Ledger, Balance Sheet, and Cashflow Reports
- Generate tax forms and support Philippine tax compliance requirements
- AI-powered bookkeeping and accounting assistance through Juan Magic and Clio™ AI Commands
- Role-based user permissions and team collaboration features
- Import data from Excel, Xero, QuickBooks, and other accounting systems
- Open API access for integrations (Essentials Plan and above)
|
- Accessible through web browsers and mobile devices
- Cloud-based platform accessible anytime and anywhere with internet access
- Designed for freelancers, self-employed professionals, accountants, SMEs, and growing businesses in the Philippines
- Localized accounting and tax compliance support for Philippine regulations
- Includes chat and email support, with priority support available on higher-tier plans
- Supports multiple users with role-based access controls
- Data migration available from legacy spreadsheets and popular accounting platforms
|
Free plan available. Paid plans start at $35 (₱2,000) per month per organization, while enterprise-level Growth plans are available through custom quotation.
Take a look at their pricing plans HERE. |
| ZOHO Books |
- Customized Invoices
- Convertible Price Quotations to Invoice
- Client portal
- Expense Tracker and Reports
- Bank transactions integration
- Inventory Tracking
- Customized Sales/Purchase Orders
- Tax monitoring feature
- Reporting
|
- Can be accessed through mobile (iOS/Android)
- Good for any size or type of business
- The number of users ranges from 2-10 (depends on your chosen paid pricing plan)
|
Paid plans range from $15 to $240 per month (approximately ₱860 to ₱13,770/month), depending on features and number of users.
Take a look at their pricing plans HERE. |
| Kashoo |
- Expense Tracking
- Easily upload images of receipts
- Customizable Invoices
- Insightful financial reports for accurate tax filing
- Credit card payment setup
- Real-time bank feeds
|
- Accessible through mobile devices
- Ideal for small businesses
- Multiple users for paid plans
|
Kashoo costs approximately $30/month (about ₱1,720/month) or $324/year (about ₱18,580/year), with a 14-day free trial.
Take a look at their pricing plans HERE. |
| QuickBooks |
- Expense tracking for faster tax filing
- Customizable invoices, sales receipts, and estimates/quotes
- Customizable report dashboard
- Integrated with cash flow management
- Automatic backups through cloud
- Bank level security (128-bit SSL encryption)
- Free unlimited support
|
- Accessible online through various devices so you can work remotely
- Good for small to medium businesses
- With free mobile app
- With access sharing
- One user up to 25 users plus 1 accountant (depending on your chosen pricing plan)
|
QuickBooks Online plans range from ₱1,294 to ₱5,483 per month (regular pricing), depending on the plan.
Take a look at their pricing plans HERE. |
| SAP Business One |
- Financial management integrations
- Business intelligence
- Sales and customer management
- Purchasing and inventory control
|
- Modular structure
- Ideal for small to midsize businesses
- Accessible through mobile phones and desktop
|
Price remains quote-based and depends on the numbers of users.
Check out where to look for SAP Partners HERE. |
| Xero |
- Easily customizable invoices
- Cashflow Real-time view
- Invoice processing
- Inventory management
- With 700+ third-party apps
- With file management feature
- QuickBooks users can convert their files through the free conversion tool upon sign up
- Free 24/7 online support
|
- Accessible through mobile phones and desktop
- Compatible to various apps
- Access sharing to various team members
- Optional extras
- Projects: $7 for 1 user/month + $5 for each additional active user / month. First month free for any number of users (only applies to existing Xero subscribers).
- Expenses: $4 /month for one user $4 /month for each additional active user/month.
|
$7 to $75 (approximately ₱400 to ₱4,300) per month, depending on the plan selected, with a 30-day free trial.
Take a look at their pricing plans HERE. |
If your budget doesn’t allow for any of these brands at the moment, there’s the option of utilizing freely available Excel templates, such as those offered by SmartSheet, which can serve as a practical alternative.
