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6 Best Free Cloud-Based Tax Software for Small Business
Get real-time reports of your business and try these solutions
9 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Key notes
Cloud accounting is an online service you can use to get reporting in real-time, as well as visibility in your business or company.
This differs from traditional accounting because it is flexible.
You can access your accounting data from anywhere and any device instead of on-premise computers alone, plus the information is updated automatically forreal time financial reporting.
Therefore, unlike the manual or traditional ways of keeping your books fresh, cloud accounting ensures your account balances are accurate.
And with fewer instances of errors from data entry, plus it can handle more transactions and currencies better.
Cloud accounting softwarethus steps in to make cloud accounting happen, and successfully at that.
What is the cloud accounting software infrastructure?
The software is hosted on remote servers and accounting data is sent to the cloud for processing, then returned to you, the user.
All applications and functions are done off-site, compared to traditional accounting which is done on your desktop.
And the software is accessed remotely, free from installations, and software maintenance hassles. Your team members can also access the same accounting data and software from wherever they are.
In addition to this, regardless of how big you expand your business, you don’t incur additional costs on maintenance and license control or management.
It is secure and comes withsharing options, plus you can access your accounting data even when other servers are down, as this is hosted in the cloud.
A good, yet free cloud accounting software will offer functions such as reporting, inventory, invoicing, payroll, sales tax, job costing, fixed asset tracking, banking, and other basic accounting features.
Here are our top picks for the best free cloud accounting software for 2020.
What are the best free cloud accounting tools for Windows PCs?
FreshBooks– Detailed bookkeeping
FreshBooksis the cloud accounting software you’re looking for when you plan to put your business on autopilot. It offers business owners an intuitive double-entry accounting experience that is integrated with the rest of its rich tools.
Be sure that you’re one hundred percent involved in the procedure of creating professional invoices, organizing expenses, and receiving payments.
To simplify the FreshBooks features:
Thanks to its flexibility, it helps you save time from chasing your clients or worrying about numbers and dedicate it to growing your business instead.
FreshBooks
Zoho Books– Payment reminders
Zoho Booksis a free-to-use cloud-based software that offers a full package when it comes to taxing, accounting and invoices. Offering a smart way to save and keep track of every cent, this software allows you to upload every receipt and import expenses right from bank accounts.
With an amazing overview of all expenses, you can easily create custom reports about any data you need, time management, billed hours, upcoming payments, expenses, and many others.
As your clients and employees are your main focus, ZoHo provides a client portal as well as a secure way to store client payment information. As for employees, keep them close to Slack integration and never miss a beat.
What are the pros and cons of Zoho Books?
Pros:
Cons:
Created to offer everything a business needs to reach the top results in no time. Productivity and efficiency are the top priority for Zoho Books.
Zoho Books
QuickBooks– Easy to use
QuickBooksis an exceptionally robust cloud accounting software that managessmall business financesand ensures all your decisions are based on actual business data and accurate insights.
To help you manage your business finances in a smart way, QuickBooks assures that your data is stored in the cloud.
You may enjoy easy remote access to your account data from any location and keep the workflow going from PC, Mac, phone, or tablet. This isn’t the only advantage you should expect to get from QuickBooks.
A set of comprehensive financial tools walk you through all processes starting from importing your data all the way to sending custom quotes and invoices to get paid faster than ever before or calculating project profitability.
What are the pros and cons of QuickBooks?
Pros:
Cons:
QuickBooks makes sure you always know where your business stands, yet it’s both intuitive and easy to operate. All these make it appealing to small businesses, so choose the plan that works better for your business right away.
QuickBooks
Pandle– Great customer support
If you want free cloud accounting software that will last with you until the end of time,Pandleis your best bet because it is free forever!
Pandle provides full VAT management with support for cash accounting and FRS, cash flow forecasting, multiple currency control, and access to your accounts from the mobile app.
It also includes an interactive help center filled with guides and videos plus an FAQ section for all your queries, daily backups, bulk transaction editing, tax estimations, and reminders.
What are the pros and cons of Pandle?
Pros:
Cons:
When it comes to security, it offers data encryption with 128-bit SSL just like what is used by banks. Pandle comes as a simple and quick cloud-based software for all small businesses.
⇒Get Pandle
Wave– High Security
This is one of the best free cloud accounting software and online resources for small businesses.
Some of the benefits you can enjoy by usingWaveinclude a professional image, faster payments, better organization of your transactions and books of account, easy payroll processing with guaranteed accuracy, and it is 100% free of charge.
You can use the invoicing, accounting, receipt scanning, payroll, and other tools all for free, with zero limits, and zero charges, for as long as you want.
It is easy, intuitive, and can be used by anyone, not just accountants, and you can start in seconds as soon as you sign up.
The platform is organized and customizes software instantly so no need for technical configurations, plus you can work from any computer or device, at any time.
What are the pros and cons of Wave?
Pros:
Cons:
Other features include double-entry accounting software, automatic reports, and simple and instant collaboration with other people you trust to manage your books with controlled access.
Get all your invoicing, receipt scanning, payroll, and other accounting needs in one place on the cloud with professional, customizable, easy, unlimited, and free cloud accounting software.
⇒Get Wave
TaxSlayer– Smart document managament
Tax Slayeris a service that provides expert-level assistance in tax refunds. They gear towards different types of customers, from individuals that need help with their personal taxes, to big and small businesses. They even offer support for tuition fees.
Getting started with Tax Slayer is easy. It has highly responsive agent customer support via email and phone. They take you through the whole process and explain everything along the way.
You can upload your W-2 form and Tax Slayer automatically uses all necessary information for incoming forms and documents.
What are the pros and cons of Tax Slayer?
Pros:
Cons:
Tax Slayer promises high accuracy in helping with your taxes. They ensure that their team carefully calculates and researches credits and deductions. They promise reimbursement for any federal or state penalties.
Tax Slayer targets all types of tax-paying customers, so they have various subscription plans that offer specific services depending on your needs.
⇒Get Tax Slayer
Why do you need acloudaccounting software?
Each of these free cloud accounting software tools comes with distinct features but there are a few things they all have in common including:
If you want to know which free cloud accounting software is suitable for you, or your business, you may not find one that exactly matches your specs.
But you can tell from the software’s interface, navigation, abilities to import your data, do actual bookkeeping tasks, support for data access, your team size, plus whether the software is customizable and scalable.
User support is also important because you may have questions or troubleshooting issues so you need assistance.
Does any of these six free cloud accounting software match your needs?
Tell us which one you like the most, or if you have used any of these before, share with us your experience in the comments section below.
If you want to learn more about accounting software, don’t be surprised to find more information in ourAccounting Software section.
If you’re in for a more broad approach, check out ourBusiness Software Hub.
More about the topics:accounting software
Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.
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Milan Stanojevic
Windows Toubleshooting Expert
Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.
