If you’re looking for an accounting solution for your Mac based business or are a just sole-proprietor starting out, we’ve taken a look at the best accounting software for Macs.
We’ve tested a wide range of the best bookkeeping software for Macs suitable for the self-employed, small to medium sized businesses (SME) and sole traders.
All of the accounting tools we’ve reviewed here work on every type of Mac including Intel Macs and Apple Silicon Macs with the M-series chips.
Most of these apps are also suitable for invoicing although you might find our guide the best invoicing software for Mac more useful if you need specific invoicing features.
If you enjoy this roundup and also want something to keep your own personal finances in order, we also recommend checking out our guide the the best personal finance software for Mac too.
With this in mind, here then is our selection of the best accounting software in order of ranking.
| Freshbooks | Xero | Zoho Books | QuickBooks Online | Sage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invoicing | |||||
| Expense Tracking | |||||
| Bank Syncing | |||||
| UK MTD and HMRC Ready | |||||
| Tax Filing | |||||
| Easy To Use | |||||
| Mobile App | |||||
| Payroll Integration | |||||
| Price | $7.60/m+ (75% off) | $1.00/m+ (90% off) | Free/$15/m+ | $17.50/m+ | On request |
Free Trial | Free Trial | Free Trial | Free Trial | Free Trial |
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1. FreshBooks
If you’re looking for a small business accounting solution that’s easy enough for beginners to accounting, check out FreshBooks.
FreshBooks has been around since 2003 and is now one of the most widely used accounting solutions in the world with over 10 million users in 120 countries.
For UK users, FreshBooks is also Making Tax Digital (MTD) and HMRC ready for filing tax and VAT returns instantly online without the need for an accountant.
FreshBooks offers many features which for free which are only available in premium plans such as QuickBooks.
These include Billable Hours, Expense Categorization, Team Roles, and Simultaneous Users.
FreshBooks also automates many things such as sending of invoices, tracking time and logging of expenses.
If you work in a team, FreshBooks makes it easy to share invoices and expenses with your accountant or colleagues, share files and follow-up invoices.
You can also setup online credit card payments via FreshBooks own payment system for clients so that you get paid quicker and get notification confirmation when customers have received and read your invoice.
You can currently get 75% off for three months for a limited period with the Lite plan starting at $7.60 per month. Note that this offer may vary depending on the region you live in.
You can also try FreshBooks free for 30 days with no credit card required to judge for yourself.
For a closer look, read our full review of FreshBooks.
Pricing: Starting from $7.60/month with 75% off
Pros:
- Very easy to use
- Price
- Automates invoicing, expense and time tracking
- Project time tracking
- Allows clients to pay via credit card online including via Apple Pay, Stripe and PayPal
- Syncs with bank accounts
- MTD and HMRC Ready in UK
Cons:
- No tax filing integration
- Additional users charged at $10/month
- No advanced budgeting or tax filing support
2. Xero
Xero has been designed specifically to work on Apple devices and claims it’s arguably the closest thing you’ll find to an official Apple accounting application.
It’s certainly the most “Apple” like accounting application we’ve tried with a slick, minimalist interface that really suits macOS.
Apart from this though, one of the big advantages of Xero is that it allows an unlimited number of users in all payment plans.
It doesn’t charge you per user like QuickBooks and many other accounting apps.
The main dashboard of Xero conveniently summarizes the most important accounting data of your business in a snapshot.
You can easily switch between tabs such as Accounts, Payroll, Reports, Contacts etc and within each tab, you can easily move the different widgets around on the dashboard.
Invoicing is very straightforward in Xero with slick customizable templates, convenient automated payment reminders and “PayNow” integration with PayPal so that you can get paid on receipt.
This makes it easier to get paid faster, track payments and generally automate invoicing as much as possible.
Mobile integration is one of Xero’s strongest features and we like the way users can easily issue invoices the moment a job has been completed via the Xero Touch iOS app for iPhone and iPad.
Xero integrates with most major bank feeds although in our experience, they do occasionally break.
Sometimes this is due to changes by the bank but Xero has a helpful Xero bank feed blog where known issues are published and the app has become a lot better at re-establishing connections in recent years.
You can currently get 90% off subscriptions for the first six months making Xero just $1 a month which is one of the most competitive offers out there for any accountancy package.
Note that this offer may vary depending on which region you are in.
You can try a 30 day free trial of Xero first to judge for yourself.
Pricing: Starting from $1.00 (£1.60) month with 90% off for the first six months
Pros:
- Clear, well designed interface
- Allows an unlimited number of additional users for free
- Excellent mobile integration
- Can be used on any platform
- Easy to use integrated payroll software
Cons:
- No native Mac client
- Not as widely used by accountants as QuickBooks, FreshBooks or Sage
- Sometimes duplicates transactions
- Bank feeds sometimes break
3. Zoho Books
Zoho Books is an easy to use accounting software that offers a free version that’s suitable for small businesses and freelancers.
The platform can however be scaled up for medium to large sized businesses.
For users in the UK, Zoho Books is a great alternative to Wave which now no longer supports importing UK bank accounts and it even imports Wave accounts.
Some of the features of Zoho Books include automatic invoicing, expense reconciling, estimates, detailed reports and project workflow management.
It also helps prepare your accounts for tax filing and one bonus is that it includes time tracking to track employees, contractors or even yourself for invoicing.
There’s even a limited free version of Zoho Books for solopreneurs and micro businesses. Subscriptions for more than one user start at $15 per month.
You can try a free trial of Zoho Books to test it for yourself.
Pricing: Free for small businesses, plans starting from $15/m
Pros:
- Easy to use
- Free version available
- Imports Wave accounts
- Supports multiple languages
- Integrated with other Zoho products
Cons:
- Limited online banking integration
- Expensive to add users
4. QuickBooks Online
Anyone that’s in business will have heard of QuickBooks as its one of the most widely used accounting solutions by accountants worldwide.
QuickBooks is from Intuit the makers of the Quicken For Mac personal finance software and if you already use Quicken, you’ll love the seamlessly integration between the two products.
Some of the highlights of QuickBooks Online include automatic downloading of bank transactions, automatic scheduling of invoices, one click sales and tax reports and multi-user access.
For UK users, QuickBooks is also MTD and HMRC ready for filing tax and VAT returns online.
If your business accepts payments via third-party services such as PayPal or Shopify, QuickBooks also integrates with popular payment platforms for automatic logging of transactions.
QuickBooks also offers add-ons in the form of QuickBooks Payroll which allows you to pay employees with free direct debit transfers directly from the application.
However, Intuit has discontinued the desktop version of QuickBooks for Mac meaning it can only be used via the Cloud nowadays.
You can currently get 50% off QuickBooks for three months. Note that this offer may vary depending on which region you are in.
You can also try QuickBooks now for free to see what you think for yourself.
Pricing: Starting from $17.50/m with 50% off for three months.
Pros:
- Easy to share with accountants on both Mac & Windows
- Excellent integration with Quicken and 750+ other apps
- Tools for both personal and business expense tracking
- Uploads photos of receipts and extracts data
- Now offers integrated Payroll
- Online banking integration
- Phone support available Monday to Saturday
- MTD and HMRC Ready in UK
Cons:
- Online bank syncing can be temperamental
- Payroll features costs extra
- Desktop version is discontinued
5. Sage
Sage is primarily an Enterprise accounting solution and one of the most widely used by accountants on both Mac and PC.
Although Sage is highly scalable, the basic version is user friendly with tools to manage cash flow, easy to understand reporting tools, automated invoicing and ability to manage multiple users at once.
The Sage iOS app is also easy to use, well thought out and allows you to manage payments anywhere.
Nowadays, Sage is integrated with Stripe to take payments with a Pay Now button in invoices to make it easier for customers to pay.
We’d say Sage is easily one of the best scalable accounting solutions for for Mac users and if you’re expecting your business to grow rapidly, it a great option.
You can try a free trial of Sage to test it for yourself and pricing is on request.
Pricing: On request
Pros:
- Scalable from small business to enterprise
- Clean, easy to use interface
- 1 on 1 sessions available with Sage experts
- Free bank feed
- Reasonably priced for such a powerful solution
- 24/7 phone based support
Cons:
- No Mac desktop app
- Pricing only available on request
What We Looked For In These Accounting Apps
Here are some of the things we looked for in choosing which are the best Mac compatible accounting solutions.
- Account Syncing: We gave preference to accounting software that automatically sync with bank accounts to make it easier to keep on top of your accounts.
- Automatic Reconciling: The Mac accounting solutions reviewed here all support automatic reconciling so you don’t have to manually reconcile every transaction that goes through you business accounts.
- Accountant Access: We looked for accounting software that made it easy to share your accounts with a professional accountant when it comes to filing taxes.
- CRM Integration: We selected the best accounting tools that supported integration with CRM platforms to make it easier when it comes to invoicing clients and managing contacts.
- Customer Support: We looked for accounting solutions that offer solid customer support when it comes to fixing syncing issues, solving problems and fixing bugs.
- Payroll Integration: More and more accounting packages now handle payroll processing too and we gave preference to those tools that make it easy to do accounting and process payrolls at the same time. Due to ever changing tax rules in different States and regions however, this is a specialist areas and we also recommend checking out our guide to the best payroll software for Mac.
- Invoicing Support: The best accounting solutions include the ability to send and track invoices and some of the best invoicing software for Mac are integrated with the accounting apps reviewed here.
- iOS Apps: Since many Mac users also use other Apple devices such as iPad and iPhones, we also chose those accounting platforms that have an iOS app.
- MTD & HMRC Ready: For UK SMEs, we also looked for the best UK accounting software for Mac users that are Making Tax Digital (MTD) & HMRC ready for instant digital filing of taxes and VAT.
Accounting Software FAQ
Which software is best for freelancers?
FreshBooks is the best choice for freelancers due to its focus on invoicing, time tracking, and ease of use.
What is the most affordable option?
Zoho Books is the most affordable, with plans starting at $15/month and a free plan for businesses with revenue under $50,000/year.
Which software is best for large businesses?
QuickBooks Online and Xero are excellent for larger businesses due to their scalability, advanced features, and extensive integrations.
Can these tools handle multi-currency transactions?
Yes, Xero, Zoho Books, QuickBooks Online, and Sage support multi-currency transactions. FreshBooks does not.
What’s the best alternative to AccountEdge for Mac?
Any of the accounting apps we’ve covered here are excellent alternatives to AccountEdge for Mac (formerly MYOB) which has been discontinued as it is no longer compatible with 64-bit versions of macOS Catalina onwards.
What’s the best alternative to Wave for Mac in the UK?
The free version of Zoho Books is the closest equivalent to Wave for Mac which no longer supports UK bank accounts.
Can you use Tally on a Mac?
If you’re an Indian based user and wondering why the Tally accounting software didn’t make our list, Tally for Mac does not exist. However, there are still ways to run Tally on a Mac if you really need it.
How do I choose the right plan?
Most accounting platforms charge per user so if you need more one user or accountant to access the accounts, you’ll almost certainly need more than the basic plans.
Other things to consider when choosing which plan to go for are:
- How many clients you need to invoice
- How many bills you need to track
- Whether you need to invoice in multiple currencies
- Do you need expense tracking?
- Do you need project plan based tracking to keep track of how much your project is costing?
- Do you need analysis tools such as cashflow predictions and advanced reports?
Different accounting apps have different tiers which may or may not include these so it’s important to bear in mind your needs so that you can be prepared to pay a higher subscription if necessary.
Is there any free accounting software for Macs?
There are some free Mac compatible accounting software but we don’t recommend them apart from for freelancers and very small businesses.
One of the main reasons is that they’re very limited in what you can do with them.
Free accounting platforms can also suddenly stop supporting certain features and regions leaving users stuck as happened recently with the Wave accounting platform when it suddenly announced it would no longer support users outside of the USA and Canada.
It’s both difficult and stressful to switch accounting solutions later on as your business grows so we recommend going with a free trial of a paid solution from the start and then deciding whether to continue with it.
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