Free Bookkeeping Software Download for Mac Updated

Free Bookkeeping Software Download for Mac

Starting a concern solo tin can be challenging. Whether you're a sole proprietor or running a small to medium-sized business (SMB), bookkeeping software can help you manage your finances easily and accurately — merely those programs can be pricey. And every bit you're getting off the ground, existence able to invest in ane might not be feasible.


Luckily, there are some groovy gratuitous accounting software options available to manage business organization finances. Let's take a expect at the seven elevation free accounting and bookkeeping software applications on the marketplace.

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1. Wave: Best for Sole Proprietors and Pocket-size Businesses

best free accounting software wave

Best for Sole Proprietors and Small Businesses

Wave Accounting is ane of the more tested, reliable options listed hither. Information technology'south an accessible, intuitive program that doesn't require much — if any — training to empathize.

Its entire suite of accounting features is available for free — including unlimited income and expense tracking, the ability to run multiple businesses from a single business relationship, and unlimited bank and credit bill of fare connections.

Virtually of Moving ridge'due south problems are relatively nit-picky. For one, information technology doesn't allow users to runway accounts payable. Information technology also doesn't have a comprehensive mobile application for its accounting features.

Still, the program is one of the sounder, more robust costless accounting applications available, and information technology's scalable enough to accommodate everyone from independent contractors to sole proprietors to small concern owners.

Wave's Fundamental Benefits

  • Attainable setup and interface
  • Unlimited bank and credit card connections
  • Unlimited income and expense tracking
  • Exportable accounting reports

Wave's Key Drawbacks

  • Tin can't track accounts payable
  • No comprehensive mobile application

2. ZipBooks: Best for Modest Businesses Looking to Upgrade From Spreadsheets

best free accounting software zipbooks

Best for Small Businesses Looking to Upgrade From Spreadsheets

ZipBooks is a web-based financial software with a solid suite of accounting features. The company offers a costless programme called ZipBooks Starter — an option that includes basic bookkeeping functionality, forth with profit, loss, and balance sheet reporting.

Information technology too covers certain invoicing and quote-related bases — plus the ability to accept payment via credit card or PayPal. It's a powerful, easy-to-use solution, but its free plan is extremely gratis plan-ish.

The program's features you can access with a free plan are restricted to the betoken that it might be piece of cake to outgrow. You can only link ane bank account and view basic reports with its starter option. Should your needs extend beyond that, y'all'll need to upgrade to ane of its premium plans.

And while those upper-tier plans are reasonably priced, they're obviously not what someone who wants a gratuitous programme is looking for. Once more, the solution itself is sound, but if you want a free programme that will remain gratuitous every bit y'all scale, you should look elsewhere.

ZipBooks' Central Benefits

  • Unlimited Invoices
  • Ability to manage unlimited vendors and customers
  • Accepts digital payments via Square and Paypal

ZipBooks' Key Drawbacks

  • Just allows yous to connect one banking company account
  • Only lets you view basic reports

3. GnuCash: Best for Sole Proprietors

best free accounting software gnucash

Best for Sole Proprietors

GnuCash is a free, open up-source accounting solution that can be downloaded for Linux, Windows, and Mac Os X. It offers double-entry accounting resources, a checkbook-style register, scheduled transactions, and customizable visual reporting.

GnuCash'due south initial setup and somewhat dated-looking interface might turn a lot of potential users off. Simply if you're willing to tough out its tricky installation and don't need your accounting solution to be particularly pretty, you're left with a solid application that covers a lot of bases for free.

That said, it's not much of a long-term solution for businesses anticipating a lot of growth. It'due south better suited for sole proprietors who need a program to go them through their twenty-four hour period-to-day. If y'all fit that neb, check GnuCash out.

GnuCash'southward Key Benefits

  • Double-entry feature ensures books rest
  • Upkeep management tools can help plan financial strategy
  • Works on a variety of operating systems
  • Tin handle internationalized dates and currencies

GnuCash'due south Fundamental Drawbacks

  • Installation is less straightforward than most other platforms
  • Interface isn't particularly accessible or visually appealing
  • No client back up

4. CloudBooks: Best for Freelancers and Small Businesses

best free accounting software cloudbooks

Best for Freelancers and Small Businesses

CloudBooks is a gratuitous bookkeeping and invoicing solution tailored to accommodate modest businesses and freelancers. The programme boasts a user base of over ii one thousand thousand subscribers and has a suite of capabilities that cover invoicing, time-tracking, reporting, and payment needs — among others.

The platform is an invoice management solution, above all else — and that tin can be a benefit or drawback in its own right, depending on what you need.

While CloudBooks has features extending beyond that functionality, invoicing appears to be its chief selling signal — meaning information technology's not quite equally fully fleshed out with accounting functionality as other programs listed here.

So if you're looking for exceptional invoice creation and direction software, you should check out Cloudbooks. If you need a more robust accounting-specific solution, you lot might desire to look elsewhere.

CloudBooks' Key Benefits

  • Allows for unlimited users
  • Features electronic mail support
  • Offers gratis deject data storage
  • Upgraded plans are reasonably priced

CloudBooks' Fundamental Drawbacks

  • Just lets you nib one customer
  • Caps your number of invoices at five
  • Lacks phone or chat support

5. Sunrise: Best for Small Businesses Looking for a Bookkeeping Solution

best free accounting software sunrise

Best for Small Businesses Looking for a Bookkeeping Solution

Sunrise is one of the more prominent bookkeeping applications bachelor for small businesses. Users can leverage the program to easily search and categorize business expenses, send customized invoices, and receive recurring payments.

Information technology offers a gratuitous, self-service programme that provides businesses with a decent suite of features and a fair amount of flexibility when it comes to bookkeeping — allowing for unlimited invoices and transactions.

Sunrise sets itself apart from other bookkeeping solutions with its dedicated bookkeeper services, just those services come at a hefty premium. Every bit I mentioned, its complimentary plan is cocky-service — which works for pocket-size businesses but might non be sustainable as your business expands.

Ultimately, Sunrise is a straightforward, effective bookkeeping software with a free plan that tin can suit the needs of several minor businesses. If you lot demand a relatively short-term bookkeeping solution with a reasonable upgrade fee, Sunrise's costless programme is worth checking out.

Sunrise'due south Central Benefits

  • Lets you manage income and expenses
  • Lets you send unlimited invoices
  • Lets y'all generate profits and losses

Sunrise'southward Key Drawbacks

  • Suite of features is pretty restricted, relative to that of its paid plan
  • Lacks payment integrations
  • No cash flow insights or alerts

6. Brightbook: Best for Creative Professionals and Freelancers

best free accounting software brightbook

Best for Creative Professionals and Freelancers

Brightbook is a web-based accounting solution tailored to accommodate the needs of independent contractors, freelancers, and pocket-sized business owners — though it tends to work meliorate for the former two.

The plan is essentially designed to democratize accounting software. It has an extensive suite of features available for free — including resources for invoicing, visibility into your greenbacks flow, financial reporting, and drafting financial statements — forth with some paid features available for ane-fourth dimension fees.

Ane area where Brightbook struggles is its lack of mobile support. The program doesn't have a mobile awarding, and it tin't exist accessed via mobile browsers. And the awarding itself isn't quite as sophisticated equally some of the more well-established options.

Yet, Brightbook is a solid option for freelancers or independent contractors — specifically creative professionals. It'south a little bare-bones, merely it still covers a lot of bases that other options on this listing might have stuck backside paywalls.

If you're looking for a comprehensive suite of accounting features and don't heed working with a relatively stripped-dorsum plan, consider checking Brightbook out.

Brightbook'south Key Benefits

  • Can be used for multiple companies
  • Interface gives yous solid visibility into well-nigh aspects of your business
  • Full suite of features is gratis

Brightbook's Key Drawbacks

  • Fairly bare-basic — lacking some more sophisticated features
  • Tin't exist accessed via mobile
  • Reporting features are limited

7. Akaunting: All-time for Businesses Looking for a Truly One-Stop Free Accounting Software

best free accounting software akaunting

All-time for Businesses Looking for a Truly One-Stop Costless Accounting Software

Akaunting is a costless, open-source accounting solution for small businesses and freelancers with a global attain and sizable user base. The program's total suite of features is available for gratuitous — making it one of the few "one-finish-shop" solutions on this listing.

The platform is entirely online, pregnant yous tin can access it from any desktop, tablet, or mobile device anytime, anywhere. It offers resources that assistance y'all manage greenbacks menstruum, track expenses, deal with invoicing, and ready transaction categories.

Information technology also features a client portal — assuasive yous to share the transactions and invoices with your clients and accept bulk payments. Akaunting boasts a base of operations of over 270,000 users and is bachelor in over 50 languages, making it one of the most popular, wide-reaching open-source solutions on this list.

Some users written report trouble with Akaunting'due south support section's responsiveness. The application also seems to be one of the less accessible ones on this list when it comes to ease of utilise. Only if you're in the market for a free, comprehensive accounting solution and are willing to tough those issues out, wait into Akaunting.

Akaunting's Cardinal Benefits

  • Truly one-stop for free
  • Attainable from anywhere
  • Open source and secure

Akaunting's Key Drawbacks

  • Questionable back up
  • Potentially difficult to operate

8. Zoho Books: All-time for Scaling Businesses

best free accounting and bookkeeping software zoho books

Best for Scaling Businesses

Zoho Books is a robustly featured accounting solution tailored to help small-scale businesses. Its complimentary program is restricted to organizations generating less than $50,000 in annual revenue, simply if y'all qualify, Zoho Books can cover a lot of your bases.

The platform has end-to-stop accounting resources to handle the more than monotonous, frustrating elements of this side of your business concern — including invoicing and raising sales orders. The program also has a client portal to help you seamlessly connect with your customers.

With a convenient interface and a solid mobile application, Zoho Books is ane of the more straightforward, accessible solutions listed here. But it still comes with its share of limitations, including a lack of payroll direction resources. The free programme also only gives you admission to electronic mail support — not conversation or vocalization.

But apart from those issues, Zoho Books is a pretty audio application. If its suite of features covers your needs and your business meets its revenue requirements, consider looking into Zoho Books' gratis plan.

Zoho Books' Key Benefits

  • Terminate-to-cease accounting features cover a lot of bases
  • Accessible interface
  • Solid mobile awarding

Zoho Books' Key Drawbacks

  • Support is restricted to e-mail
  • But certain businesses qualify
  • No payroll direction resources

Free Bookkeeping Software: Features to Look For

1. Accessibility

If yous're in the market for free accounting software, odds are y'all're non an accountant. You're trying to grow a business organization, and if yous want to make that happen, you demand to focus on your long-term plans and mean solar day-to-solar day operations. You don't want to exhaust also much time and energy learning a convoluted, overly technical accounting software — at least not notwithstanding.

As your business expands, leveraging an accounting platform with an accessible interface and straightforward functionality is in your best interest. So when you're trying to pivot down the right gratis bookkeeping software for your visitor, prioritize accessibility.

2. Connectivity With Credit Cards and Depository financial institution Accounts

Manual receipt entry can exist a massive time drain for businesses — particularly ones with a high transaction book. So finding gratis accounting software that tin can connect with your credit cards and depository financial institution accounts to aid automate that process is always a good call when exploring your options.

three. The Power to Export Your Records

As your business expands, it'due south almost bound to scale out of your costless accounting software's limited capabilities. When you run into that kind of growth, you lot'll probably want to upgrade to a paid accounting application. But moving on from your free solution doesn't mean moving on from the information yous accrued in information technology.

You demand to maintain the historical records contained in your free program every bit you make the shift to a new awarding. Plan for that process alee of time by leveraging a plan that will let yous seamlessly export and migrate those existing records to a paid platform.

four. The Specific Features You Need

At the end of the mean solar day, your business is your business organisation — and y'all accept specific needs and priorities that volition dictate what you want out of an bookkeeping solution.

When you're selecting yours, make sure y'all empathise what those needs and priorities are, and seek out programs with the features required to accommodate them.

Free Accounting Software Limitations

1. Express Number of Users

Many free accounting software solutions only allow you to grant access to a fixed number of users — and that "fixed number" is often one. If you demand to accept multiple people within your organization regularly leverage the solution, y'all might desire to explore the possibility of leveraging a paid selection.

2. Lack of Scalability

Several free accounting applications limit the number of transactions you lot tin can carry out or the number of records you lot're allowed to maintain — every bit your business scales, you lot'll likely be dealing with more than of both. So in some cases, going with a costless accounting solution might not be sustainable.

3. Difficulty Migrating Your Data

Equally I mentioned earlier, if you need to shift from i bookkeeping application to another, your existing information will have to shift too. Some free accounting solutions make that procedure more convoluted and frustrating than others — deport that in heed when y'all pick your preferred platform.

iv. A Lack of Access to a Fuller Suite of Features

Free bookkeeping solutions are gratuitous for a reason. In many cases, they're offered in the context of a "freemium" model — they essentially provide the blank essentials as a preview for a fully fleshed-out application. When you're leveraging a free accounting program, you're likely settling for less until y'all can justify springing for the premium option.

When to Upgrade from Costless Accounting and Bookkeeping Software

In many cases, free bookkeeping solutions are designed to help become you off the ground. Upgrading from yours is something yous need to feel out for yourself. If you find you're bringing on more clients or processing more transactions than your free program allows for, it'southward probably time to leap for a paid option.

And many of those options are thoughtfully tiered — offered at reasonable prices that are appropriate for your concern's scale. Then if yous're finding you're hitting a wall with your gratis accounting solution, try to find an affordable program that suits your emerging needs.

Editor's notation: This mail was originally published in October 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Originally published November 11, 2021 five:00:00 PM, updated December 14 2021

Free Bookkeeping Software Download for Mac

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