Best Accounting & Bookkeeping Apps on the App Store

on QuickBooks Online's secure website

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Starting at

$35/month

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $65, $99, $235.

Promotion

50% off

for first three months or free 30-day trial.

QuickBooks Accounting, the app that accompanies the popular QuickBooks Online accounting software, covers the basics for most small-business owners. It lets users create and send invoices, upload receipts, track miles, and view accounting reports from their phone or tablet. All the features of QuickBooks Online Simple Start are available in the app. However, if you use a costlier QuickBooks Online plan, some features are available only on the browser-based version. QuickBooks also offers its own mobile card reader for processing payments on the go.

Pros

Create and send invoices to clients.
Photograph receipts, upload and pair them with expenses.
Automatically track mileage using GPS.
View profit and loss reports and balance sheets.
Available for iOS and Android.

Cons

Expensive compared with the competition.

Our pick for

Employee access

In addition to its general accounting app, which lets you create, send and track invoices, reconcile your books, and keep tabs on your overall financial standing, Xero offers a separate and free app with each of its plans, called Xero Me. This app is designed specifically for employees to capture receipts and submit expense claims, view paystubs, submit timesheets and more.

Xero

5.0

on Xero's secure website

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Starting at

$20/month

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $47, $80.

Promotion

90% off

for 6 months.

The Xero app is a good choice for entrepreneurs who need to give mobile access to multiple employees, so that they can submit expenses or invoice clients. Employees can download the Xero Me self-service app to submit expense claims for things like team lunches or gas. They can also view their personal information, such as contact and employment details. Administrators can assign employees specific permissions based on their roles to determine which information and features they can access.

Pros

View profit and cash flow insights, including outstanding payments.
Invoice clients via email or messaging app and know when they’ve viewed it.
Xero Me app lets employees submit expenses and view personal information.
Available for iOS and Android.

Cons

Must subscribe to the most expensive Established plan to access mileage tracking. Users can plug in start and end locations after their trip, but they cannot use GPS to automatically track mileage as they drive.
Must subscribe to the Established plan to access the receipt scanner.

Our pick for

Mobile-first features

Zoho Books’ mobile app includes a few unique features, including accounting widgets designed for your phone’s home screen, accounting-related shortcuts for Siri and an app designed specifically for the Apple Watch. If you’re a tech-savvy business owner who frequently works on the go, the Zoho Books app may be the right fit for you.

Zoho Books

4.7

on Zoho Books' secure website

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Starting at

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $20, $50, $70, $150, $275.

Promotion

14-day free trial

of the Premium plan.

Zoho Books is part of the robust Zoho suite, which includes several business services at affordable price points. Its mobile-first features are what set its bookkeeping app apart, though. Take, for example, the ability to send invoices through iMessage or add widgets to your phone’s home screen so that you can easily access timers and overdue invoices lists. There’s also an Apple Watch app that lets you track time, send payment reminders and review outstanding invoices. Though you’ll have to download it separately, the in-house Zoho Expense app lets you track mileage via distance covered, point-to-point map locations, GPS or odometer reading, too. Other apps typically make only one or two of those methods available.

Pros

View balance sheet, cash flow reports and income statements.
Invoice clients.
Add accounting widgets to your phone’s home screen; track time using your Apple Watch.
Available for iOS and Android.

Cons

To scan receipts and track mileage via GPS, you’ll need Zoho Expense, a separate app (free plan includes these features).

Our pick for

Freelancers

FreshBooks accounting software designed its first two plan tiers with freelancers and solopreneurs in mind. The FreshBooks app is particularly convenient for freelancers since it enables you to track miles, photograph and upload receipts, create and send invoices, and communicate and collaborate with your clients.

FreshBooks

4.8

on FreshBooks' secure website

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Starting at

$21/month

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $38, $65, custom.

Promotion

70% off

for 4 months. 30-Day Money Back Guarantee.

FreshBooks supports automated mileage tracking, mobile invoice creation and receipt capture to log expenses — all key features that small-business owners can benefit from. But it's especially ideal for freelancers because it makes it easy to stay in touch with clients. The notifications tab shows when invoices have been paid or become overdue, and you can send clients messages from within the app. Messages might consist of payment reminders, a response to a client’s question or a request for feedback.

Pros

View financial insights like total profit and outstanding revenue.
Invoice clients, message them in-app and get notified when they view or pay invoices.
Automatically track mileage and label trips as business or personal.
Available for iOS and Android.

Cons

Least expensive Lite plan doesn't include receipt scanning.
Lite and Plus plans limit how many clients you can invoice.

Our pick for

Free accounting app

Wave’s free app gives you access to a financial dashboard, lets you create and send invoices, and notifies you when invoices have been paid. If you pay for Wave’s payment processing or mobile receipts services, the app comes with additional features for collecting payment in any currency and capturing receipts for expense tracking.

Wave Accounting

3.8

on Wave Accounting's secure website

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Starting at

Additional pricing tiers (per month): $16

Promotion

N/A

Wave, one of NerdWallet’s top free accounting software picks, has a convenient mobile app that lets you send invoices and view basic financial information, like overdue invoices and your taxable income for the fiscal year. More detailed reports, like a full profit and loss statement plus your balance sheet, are available in your Wave account, but not on the mobile app. While the app is free, you will incur fees if you choose to accept invoice payments online or scan receipts from the mobile app. The mobile receipts feature — which uploads your receipts and uses the information to create new expenses for you — costs $8 per month or $72 per year.

Pros

View a profit and loss chart, invoicing details and total income and expenses.
Create and send invoices to clients.
Available for iOS and Android.
Scan receipts and automatically generate new expenses for a monthly fee.

Cons

No mileage tracking feature.