Seven best accounting software in India

What is accounting software? Why should you use accounting software?

Most businesses rely on using spreadsheets to manage books, and many continue to use spreadsheets even as the business grows and becomes more complex. This leads to outdated spreadsheets that present conflicting numbers. The accounting software combines all your financial data in one place, whether it be invoices, expenses, income, or receivables, and makes it easier for you to circulate the financial data to internal as well as external shareholders. 

With all the data in one place, accountants won’t have to spend hours posting, re-keying, or manually coordinating the data. Ultimately, this saves time, reduces costs, and ensures more accurate financial reporting.

What should you look for in good accounting software?

Finding and implementing the right accounting software can be one of the best ways to achieve your business goals and objectives. The key factors that you will find in a good accounting software are:

• The app ensures security and complete compliance with all regulations such as GST.
• The app should not limit the number of clients and should allow for more number of users and transactions as needed.
• Look for an app that allows easy integration of all accounting tools in one place.
• Choose a software which automates financial processes like invoicing, bank reconciliation and payroll to reduce errors and save time.
• Ensure that subscription costs and price packages align with your budget and also look for any hidden costs.
• Ensure that app is accessible by multiple devices and also offers offline functionality.

Are you struggling to find the right accounting software to manage your finances efficiently? Here’s a list of seven best accounting software india that are going to fulfil all your requirements:

Refrens

Refrens is one of the most easy-to-use cloud GST accounting software in India. The app offers a bunch of features all in one place. Here’s a list of some of the amazing features that the app has to offer: 

•  GST invoicing, GST accounting & reports, Payable/Receivable accounts​ with seamless integration for E-invoicing and e-way bills.
• It Auto manages your stock/inventory. 
• It seamlessly takes care of all the significant expenses that you may consider in any financial operation.
•  It offers the option to manage your finances, create a business profile, and receive international payments. 
• With Refrens, users can quickly generate invoices that come with simplistic and elegant templates. Users can simply select a template that they like and feed in the data in seconds.
•  Users can schedule their invoices and track if the clients are opening them. It also allows the clients to invoice each other directly through automated reminders, resulting in speedy transactions.
•  Users can automatically generate journal and voucher entries, balance sheets, trial balance reports, P&L statements, GST reports, and other critical financial reports using the simplified GST accounting system that the app provides.
•  Refrens ensures 100% compliance with all GST guidelines.

 Most of the features the app provides are free, but some are locked in their premium plan, which ranges from about Rs.3500/year to Rs.7500/year. The app is a valuable asset for managing invoices and payments more efficiently.

Zoho Books

Zoho Books is an online accounting software that helps users build detail-oriented accounting tools and manages users’ business finance and accounting tasks. It is made for all types of businesses, from small to large, and for freelancers, accountants, or individuals. Some specialties of this app which makes it one of the best accounting software are as follows:

• It is a secure location where you can keep up with bills and invoices, reconcile bank statements, control expenses, oversee projects, and eliminate GST compliance worries. 
• It helps keep a detailed track of your business’s cash flow expenses and income. 
• The software provides multi-currency features that are helpful for an organization making transactions in multiple currencies across the globe. 
• Zoho Books also offers invoice services through which users can create professional invoices and send automated reminders to collect payments. 
• It also provides a tax filing portal that allows you to file your returns directly, as well as software and other accounting services like bank reconciliation and handling general accounting. 

The app provides all types of packages, starting from a free plan to Rs.7999/year.

Tally prime

Tally Prime is the most popular and widely known accounting software in India. It has a simple, traditional user interface built for accountants. This app has wider acceptability. All you need to get started with Tally Prime is a basic hardware setup and the knowledge required to navigate the software. Tally Prime is considered an integrated business management solution that can handle and fulfil all the following requirements of a business: 

• Accounts  receivables, payables, inventory tracking, order processing, payroll management, bank transactions, and statutory compliance without having to pay extra. 
• It comes with a lifetime licence, meaning the users have to pay only once for the licence.The licence costs for about RS.26,550.
•  Users can access tally prime reports from anywhere on any device with a web browser and an active internet connection. 
• One of the most unique features that the app provides is a 360 degree view of the business via insightful business reports, one of the most crucial features offered by this software.
• Users can generate VAT-compliant invoices and stay on top of compliance with accurate v80 filing capabilities. 
• The software also helps users avoid human errors and suggests a corrective action with its VAT triangulation reports.

Tally Prime gives a seven day free trial to the customers and has monthly subscription plans ranging from Rs.885 for a month to Rs.10620 for a year.

Vyapar

Vyapar billing is a free invoicing software that helps you establish a professional brand identity with useful GST billing features.Vyapar app makes accounting error-free. You can use the Vyapar accounting and billing app to create invoices that comply with GST. It helps ensure data security for your business. Some of the distinct features of this app are:

•  Users can operate the app both online and offline. So, using the app makes it easier for an SME to comply with the best accounting practices.
• Users can share the invoices with customers using WhatsApp, email, or print methods.
•  Unlike some accounting software, Vyapar lets users create invoices within minutes without requiring training and you can choose from 10+ professional GST invoice formats and billing formats to create professional and unique bills.
•  With wholly customised GST-compliant invoices, your business can stand out among competitors. Vyapar comes with a dedicated Android app and Windows software. 
• The essential features required for everyday accounting are free for Android mobile users. Every business can access them for free during their 7-day free trial. So, every business can try out the features before purchasing the subscription.

It helps SMEs understand how the app benefits them before paying. Using the app makes business management hassle-free for SMEs as business owners only have to pay for premium features as a yearly subscription for about 3399/year.

Marg

Marg is a leading Indian accounting software for all types of businesses and enjoys a broad audience base, mainly from pharmacies, FMCG supermarkets, and many more. Marg is designed so that all companies can get an opportunity to extend their businesses on a larger scale. 

• Marg is suitable for all deployments, i.e., web-based and cloud-based. It can create GST compliant invoices and e-way bills. 
• Marg is the only accounting software that gives users 100 percent control over their business
• Marg software also has features like direct calling, My shop QR code, and order calling. It also has an unchecked voucher feature that helps with accuracy and tracking mistakes.
• It contains automated accounting and inventory control processes, even with predetermined templates and customization available according to your business needs.
• It also offers features like barcode billing and printing, each item, and multi-bills on a single platform. 

The app provides a seven-day free trial period to all users. Further, it has a basic package for about Rs. 8991/year, a silver package for 12600/year, and a gold edition for about 25200/year with its premium features.

Busy

Busy is an accounting software which also offers a cloud- based version of itself- Busy Online. The app  provides a mini-ERP for your business and eliminates the need for multiple disconnected tools.

Busy has you covered when it comes to following things: 

• Auto e-way bills & e-invoices, GST reconciliation, GST verification, GST invoicing, GST filing and return, and more are included in this software.
•  Users can speed up thorough revenue and expense reports and simplify their financial accounting issues with Busy.
• Among its characteristics are the entire book of accounting, in-depth reporting analysis, bank reconciliation, and sales and buy analysis. 
• It has features like batch, size, color, manufacturing date, expiration date, and other criteria for controlling inventory across several godowns and locations.
•  This application allows customers to easily access 100+ reports and create & share receipts, orders, invoices & quotations. 

Most of the features of this app are available on the free version but the premium features are locked in the three kinds of packages provided by them- the Basic package at Rs.9,999, the Standard at Rs.14,999 and the Enterprise which is especially made for multi branch operations at Rs.19,999.

FreshBooks 

Freshbooks is an online accounting tool used by over 100000 users. It is one of the most accessible accounting software programs for small business owners, sole proprietors, and freelancers. Freshbooks provides the users with the following features:

• The software makes it easy to organise and keep track of payments owed and expenses made.
• The app lets you create professional invoices, send reminders to clients, automate the invoice process and automatically send recurring invoices.
• It lets you generate all kinds of financial statements, create projects, assign tasks,set deadlines and track progress.
•  It allows the users to send invoices and accept payments. The app is more accessible for accounting users with a simple interface. 
• It excels in native time tracking, making it easy to bill clients automatically. FreshBooks provides hourly billing with a timer and direct invoice integration, ensuring accurate billing for all work. 

However, Freshbooks restricts the number of clients a user can invoice; only the premium plan allows unlimited clients. The cheapest plan is Freshbooks Lite at $17/month, and the most popular plan is Freshbooks Plus at $30/month.

Also read: 4 Best AI-Based Accounting Software for Small Businesses important

what is the difference between ERP and accounting software

ERP is a comprehensive software that manages all the aspects of business operations whereas accounting software mainly focuses on financial management.

Which accounting software provides offline functionality?

Marg, Busy and Tally also offer offline deployments.