And while Zoho Books does a great job of tackling all things invoice, you’ll get an even better deal by adding Zoho Invoice to your Zoho Books plan. Zoho Invoice is completely free for life, so whether you end up trying Zoho Books or not, we definitely recommend giving Zoho Invoice a look. Keep reading to learn more about QuickBooks Online, Xero, and five additional bookkeeping solutions tailor-made for small-business owners like you. It works with Quickbooks or Xero but you’ll need your own subscription to those services. Bookkeeper360 puts a team of CPAs, advisors, and technology experts at your fingertips to help you better manage your finances.

Questions? Request a FREE Consultation Today.

Once you become a qualified bookkeeper, you can work as a permanent employee or freelancer. Integrity and trustworthiness are important qualities to cultivate as a bookkeeper. Keep an organization’s financial data confidential and be transparent about your bookkeeping activities. Small businesses may prefer to handle their books themselves, but hiring a professional bookkeeper can be helpful. Bookkeepers are important professionals in today’s economic and financial fields.

Want to receive more TechRepublic news?

In our evaluation of 1-800Accountant’s Enterprise plan, it took a hit in pricing because it charges $399 a month, which is more expensive than many of its competitors. Although it offers a dedicated bookkeeper and a number to call, it doesn’t offer video meetings or unlimited meetings, which is why it scored lower in the personal bookkeeper category. A good alternative is QuickBooks Live, which provides video meetings and unlimited meetings in general. Although InDinero offers scalable plans, they’re not very transparent about what exactly they include in each plan until you talk to a salesperson. Unfortunately, InDinero doesn’t have many integration options, but if you already use the software they integrate with, it’s a very robust solution. A small business can likely do all its own bookkeeping using accounting software.

Accounting software can be “right-sized” for your business

You can still get the benefits of professional tax help from a real human along with the time-saving support of accounting software. Several of The Ascent’s picks for best accounting software have features that let you share your business finance data directly with your accountant. Having the ability to prepare an accurate financial picture of an enterprise and keep records organized is essential for being a bookkeeper. As a bookkeeper, you will need to learn how to create balance sheets, invoices, cash flow statements, income statements, accounts receivable reports, and more.

Featured product documentation

It did, however, suffer in the personal bookkeeper category, because while it offers a dedicated bookkeeper, it doesn’t provide video meetings, a phone number to call, or a mobile app. Bookkeeper360 offers all three, so it’s a good solution if that is what you’re looking for. You can use its monthly financial reports to assist with filing taxes, and it provides a simplified issuance and electronic filing of 1099s for your contractors at an additional fee. It also offers catch-up bookkeeping services, which is $140 for each month you’re behind. The rate goes down to $70 per month for months that are almost complete. Answer a few simple questions to receive a customized suggestion for the best online bookkeeping service for your business.

Want to learn more about bookkeeping before you sign up for a virtual provider? Our article on business bookkeeping basics gives you more information on how to do bookkeeping and why. Typically, you’d only get detailed financial bookkeeping solutions statements like this through a CFO — which means Merritt gives you some of the best aspects of having a CFO without the high cost. We use Plaid, which lets you securely connect your financial accounts to Bench in seconds.

How to choose bookkeeping services

• Zoho Invoice is completely free for life, so whether you end up trying Zoho Books or not, we definitely recommend giving Zoho Invoice a look.
• The 32-credit program combines general business and entrepreneurial concepts and prepares students to work in bookkeeping and accounting.
• Bookkeeping and accounting are sometimes used as synonyms, but bookkeeping is a lot more basic than typical accounting.
• If you’re looking for something very cheap and simple and your business is in its very early stages, the affordability of Merritt Bookkeeping makes it a good choice.
• If you were hoping for a one-stop shop that can tackle all of your financial needs, Merritt might not be the right choice for you.
• To help ease the process, I’ll show you how I run my virtual bookkeeping service and explain what to look for in these services, so you can make the best decision possible.

Even if you aren’t planning on growing any time soon, you need to have a sense of how much money is coming in vs. what is going out. On top of that, you need the data used in bookkeeping to file your taxes accurately. If you want your business to save time and money, then you should consider hiring a bookkeeping service. A bookkeeping service can help you stay organized and on top of your finances. FinancePal is best for small businesses that need bookkeeping assistance, including catch-up bookkeeping, entity formation and tax filing. Because of these factors, advancing your bookkeeping career to a role in accounting can be advantageous.

1-800Accountant offers a variety of services between its three plans. It can help you with tax planning, financial reporting, day-to-day bookkeeping and more. You get assigned a dedicated accountant with every plan, so you can trust that the person who is handling your finances knows what they’re doing. In terms of communicating with this accountant, you get access to a portal where you can message them for quick questions or schedule meetings for more in-depth matters. When shopping around for an online bookkeeping service, you’ll need to consider the cost of the service.

The service doesn’t include financial advisory services, tax advice, facilitating the filing of income or sales tax returns, creating or sending 1099s, or management of payroll. QuickBooks Online offers Expert Full Service Payroll for an additional cost. QuickBooks Live Bookkeeping offers online bookkeeping services that connect small businesses with trusted, QuickBooks-certified virtual bookkeepers.