Choosing the Best Cloud Accounting Software for your E-Commerce

Creating a reliable foundation for your finances requires having a basic understanding of bookkeeping and finding the best accounting software for your e-commerce entity to prop up in managing your numbers. 

If you’re a startup, attending to your business’ accounting affairs may come off easily. Just a spreadsheet, calculator and your transaction receipts are enough to crunch the numbers, but as your entity grows, you realize this practice no longer makes the cut. Good thing there are small business accounting tools available to help business owners like you in managing your books, such as accounting software.  

Accounting software for e-commerce business 

In this blog, we look at a roundup of e-commerce accounting software selection, along with the salient details you need to know for choosing the platform that best suits your business requirements. Here are our top picks: 

For overall great service delivery in e-commerce accounting:

1. QuickBooks Online

   Aside from being a pioneer in the e-commerce industry, QuickBooks Online (QBO) provides an impressive multitude of features and integrations that make up a smooth sailing experience in streamlining your e-commerce facet (e.g. inventory and channel sales data) and accounting matters. 
   
   

   What QuickBooks offers: 

   • A big number of integrations and apps. Depending on what you need, QBO has over 650 integrations to process payment, send invoices, track inventory, what have you. You can see the list here. 
   • Helpful tax management. QBO automatically applies sales tax on your invoices based on the location of the transaction and also notifies you when you need to settle your dues. 
   • An intuitive user interface. The software is designed to be user-friendly, especially for business owners with little to no accounting background. 
   • Report Generation. You can get comprehensive insights and analytics of your store’s performance through the various types of reports produced by QBO.
     
     

     See Here: Infographic of Quickbooks Online Vs Xero
     
     

   QBO Pricing: 

   • Simple Start: US$12.50 per month for 1 user 
   • Essentials: US$25 per month for 3 users 
   • Plus: US$40 per month for 5 users 
   • Advanced: US$90 per month 25 users 
     
     
   For businesses with multiple users:
   

2. Xero

   In terms of e-commerce accounting, Xero is pulling a commanding lead next to QBO. With an extensive list of add-ons and integrations, you can get the most out of this software especially if your entity is having a growth streak. Xero has built a reputation for being a versatile platform for both freelancers and businesses.  

   What Xero offers: 

   • Multiple user access. Unlike QBO, Xero accommodates unlimited user access, even at their basic plans.  
   • Affordable plans. Xero has been giving its competitors a run for their money because of its modest pricing structure. However, they removed some of the older features in their updated plans, such as payroll management. 
   • Integrations for e-commerce platforms. Xero has over 1,000 partner apps that integrate directly with the software such as Shopify, A2X, and PayPal. You can find them here. 
   • Reports customization. Both your dashboard and invoices are customizable under this platform. You can tweak them according to your requirements. 
   • Mobile app. Another impressive feat from Xero is their mobile app, which increases accessibility to your finances in real-time even when on the go. 
     
     

   Xero Pricing: 

   • Early: US$12 per month for 20 invoices and 5 bills 
   • Growing: US$34 per month for unlimited invoices and bills 
   • Established: US$65 per month for multiple currencies 
     
     
   For an intuitive software:

3. FreshBooks

   FreshBooks wins the game in terms of user-friendly interface. Aside from its adherence to double-entry accounting, FreshBooks boasts of a user experience that makes it easy to navigate for the newbies in small business accounting. On the accounting side, it has a pretty standard feature and produces major financial reports just like the rest of the software for online businesses.  

   What FreshBooks offers: 

   • Project Management features. FreshBooks allows its users to track the progress of their projects and monitor how much time is spent on tasks. 
   • Collaboration. Working with different colleagues among the team is no problem as FreshBooks offers great collaboration tools that help a team share live updates with each other.  
   • Customizable templates. Like Xero, FreshBooks includes customizable templates for invoices that come in an array of formats, including Word, Excel, PDF, Google Docs, and others. 
      

   FreshBooks Pricing: 

   • Lite: US$6 per month with unlimited invoices to 5 clients 
   • Plus: US$10 per month with unlimited invoices for up to 50 clients 
   • Premium: US$20 per month with unlimited invoices to an unlimited number of clients 
      

   Related: How does Accounting for E-Commerce Work? 
   

   For free-of-charge e-commerce accounting software: 

4. Wave Accounting

   If you’re working on a tight budget, you can give Wave Accounting a shot. It gets the invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, payment deposits and other basic bookkeeping tasks done. On the downside, it doesn’t have the direct integrations with the e-commerce channels, but you can add more functions through Zapier. 

   If you want to include advanced features such as payroll, it comes with a pay-per-use fee. 

   What Wave Accounting offers: 

   • Accounting functions. Managing your expenses, income and tax is straightforward. 
   • Professional invoicing. Even if it’s free, Wave offers a simple-to-use, customizable invoice templates. You can also arrange recurring invoices and payment systems for your patrons. 
     
     

   Wave Accounting Pricing:
   For add-ons

   • For payments (Pay-per-use)

     • 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction for Visa + Mastercard 
     • 3.4% + 30¢ per transaction for American Express 
     • 1% ($1 minimum) for bank account payments 
       
       

   • For payroll

     • In states without tax services: [base fee of] US$20 per month + US$6 per employee/independent contractor 
       
     • In states with tax services: [base fee of] US$35 per month + US$6 per employee/independent contractor
   
   For an integrated accounting software:

5. Zoho Books

   Part of the Zoho suite, Zoho Books directs its services to the accounting requirements of e-commerce and small businesses. If you’re already using Zoho in your entity, it will be really easy for you to integrate Zoho Books into your platform.  

   What Zoho Books offers: 

   • End-to-end bookkeeping solution. Zoho Books stays on top of everything, from purchase orders to accounting proper. 
   • Automated workflow. The platform can process recurring tasks to help you save more time and resources. 
   • Auto-generated reports. To give you a clear overview of your financial position. 
   • Free charges. For startups with an annual revenue of $50,000, Zoho Books offers their accounting software for free. 
     
     

   Zoho Books Pricing: 

   • Standard: US$10 (if billed annually) per month for 3 users  
   • Professional: US$20 (if billed annually) per month for 5 users 
   • Premium: US$30 (if billed annually) per month for 10 users 

Selecting the best accounting software for e-commerce comes with a careful assessment of your business’ needs and finding out what features would best serve your entity’s requirements now and for the future. Together with the functionalities and the integrations introduced in the picture, the bookkeeping tools you choose will dictate the accounting experience you adopt for the long haul so it’s crucial to choose the channel that would grow with you.  

How we can help 

Let us help you harness the power of cloud accounting and technology. D&V Philippines’ suite of e-commerce F&A solutions is delivered through automated workflows and top-of-the-line software, along with our intensive expertise in handling e-commerce clients around the globe.