Small business budgeting software combines smooth technology and finances.

This powerful tool helps you perform various budgeting operations. It can help you control your expenses, stay on track of finances, and plan future outcomes.

But more importantly, it helps makes your entrepreneurial life easier.

In this article, you’ll find the best software solutions for your small business.

What Is Budget Software?

Small business budgeting software refers to the systems and programs used by finance professionals and entrepreneurs to track business performance and take care of the financial aspect of their business.

More precisely, it performs various accounting tasks and streamlines different workflows, allowing you to increase your revenue and grow your business.

Nowadays, many small business budget management software options are available in the market. They have different budgeting and forecasting features, pricing models, and interfaces.

But, they all have one thing in common—these tools can enhance your business and get your finances in order.

Paid budgeting software gives you the best tools with friendly interfaces and other perks so you can use your financial data in the most efficient way.

Here’s how your business can benefit from these robust budgeting solutions.

The Benefits Of Business Budgeting Software

If you give budget planning software a chance, you will see how it can positively impact your business. Some of its benefits are:

• It allows you to automate tedious tasks and save time during the budgeting process.
• This budgeting software solution eliminates common human calculation errors and, as a result, increases the overall accuracy of the finance process.
• It allows you to forecast if you need extra capital for your daily operations or to invest in your business for its growth.
• Based on past information, this financial planning software assists you in forecasting future sales and expenses.

The truth is that technology can help your small business in ways you never imagined: you’ll be able to create a brighter future.

Types Of Business Budget Software

There are a couple of different types of budgeting software that businesses can use.

• Off-the-shelf software. It is a pre-made software solution that you can purchase and install on a computer.
• Software as a service (SaaS). These are cloud-based software solutions that don’t require an installation.
• Custom software. Another type of budgeting software is a custom solution created specifically for a business by a software development company.

Custom solutions are usually more expensive than off-the-shelf packages, but the development company can tailor them specifically to the needs of your business.

How To Choose

When choosing budgeting software for a business, it is important to consider the size and complexity of the company, as well as the specific needs of the business.

Off-the-shelf packages may not be able to provide the level of customization that a business needs, while custom solutions may be too expensive for a small business.

It is also essential to consider whether the budgeting software will need to integrate with other software applications the business uses.

Once you decide to purchase budgeting software, it is important to compare the features of different software solutions and choose the one that best meets the needs of the business.

It is also essential to read reviews before making a purchase to ensure that it is easy to use and has all the needed features.

The Best Budgeting Software For Small Business

Budgeting software can be a valuable tool for businesses of all sizes, but it is vital to choose the right one.

We’ve compiled a list of the best software for small businesses.

Xero

Best for: small businesses looking for affordable budgeting software with excellent value for money.

Xero is an intuitive, cloud-based small business accounting software that helps you manage expenses, inventory, invoices, virtual bookkeeping, bank reconciliation, and more.

You can access it from your computer or mobile phone.

Top features:

• Easy-to-use. There are comprehensive instructions, so you’ll get by even if you aren’t a tech-savvy person.
• It’s integrated with different apps, making accounting a mistake-free breeze.
• Daily credit card transactions and bank transactions automatically imported.
• An unlimited number of users.
• Unlimited email support when you get in a pickle.

Price: $20/month

Free trial

QuickBooks

Best for: small businesses that need to improve their budgeting and expense management.

QuickBooks is a small business budgeting and accounting solution recommended by many accountants worldwide.

Quickbooks Online provides a comprehensive overview of your budgets and forecasts, helps you track your expenses efficiently, and more.

Top features:

• Expenses tracking to know where your money goes.
• Automatic sales tax calculation.
• Accurately track and pay your bills on time.
• Keep track of each product you purchase and sell.
• Monitor cash flow with straightforward reports with this budgeting and forecasting software.

Price: Simple Start plan $10/month, Essentials plan $20/month, Plus plan $35/month, and Advanced plan $60/month

Free trial for 30 days

Learn how to reconcile in QuickBooks Online with this Easy Step-By-Step Guide

FreshBooks

Best for: small and growing businesses.

FreshBooks is one of the best cloud finance & accounting software that makes small business billing and invoicing simple.

Its powerful features allow you to organize expenses, track your time, and follow up with clients.

Top features:

• Create professional-looking recurring invoices.
• Intuitive and straightforward interface.
• Pay your staff effortlessly and accurately.
• Easy to understand reports.
• Get paid up faster when you accept credit cards online in FreshBooks.

Price: $15/month (bill up to 5 active clients)

$25/month (bill up to 50 active clients)

$50/month (bill up to 500 active clients)

Free trial for 30 days

FreeAgent

Best for: small businesses and freelancers.

FreeAgent is an excellent online accounting tool that allows you to keep track of your finances seamlessly.

It brings everything together in one place, from invoice and expense management to sales tax and project management.

Top features:

• Set up recurring invoices that can send themselves automatically.
• Import expenses by taking pictures of your receipt.
• Send a professional estimate in no time.
• Generate sales tax reports for purchases and sales.
• This expense management software has a user-friendly interface.

Price: from $10 per month

Free trial for 30 days

Sage 50cloud

Best for: small and medium-sized businesses

Sage 50cloud is an online accounting tool that helps you manage your accounting, cash flow, invoicing, taxes, inventory, and so on.

Besides, it offers various add-ons for payroll, credit card processing, and other business necessities.

Top features:

• Record all your expenses and purchases, and never miss a payment.
• Pay employees with ease, report taxes, and track benefits.
• Get reports on sales, upcoming expenditures, profits, and taxes.
• Keep track of all your customers.
• A clear dashboard that tells you how your business stands.

Price: from $46.83 per month

Free trial

SCORO

Best for: companies that need one solution to manage the entire business.

SCORO is a business management and budget tracking software that helps you forecast your cash flow, sales, and different budget scenarios.

It allows you to put all your critical financial data in one place and ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Top features:

• Manage projects.
• Automate late invoice reminders.
• Keep track of your purchases and costs.
• View detailed financial reports.
• The budgeting and forecasting software has various features.

Price: from $26 user/month

Free trial for 14 days

Tradogram

Best for: businesses that look for a cost-effective procurement management tool to organize their direct and indirect expenses and streamline the whole purchasing process.

Tradogram is a cloud-based procurement solution that helps you control costs, manage suppliers, and maximize expenses. All in all, it streamlines and automates the purchasing process, helping you get the most of your money.

Top features:

• Create a purchasing process that suits the needs of your business.
• Organize suppliers list with all the necessary details.
• Design your budgets and plan project spending.
• Keep track of your inventory.
• Customize your own reports.

Price: from $10 per user/month billed annually

Free trial

BillQuick

Best for: accounting companies, IT firms, legal offices, construction, and architecture firms.

BillQuick is a small business budgeting software for small and medium-sized businesses that offers project management, time tracking, and billing capabilities.

This user-friendly tool combines everything you need to successfully run your business, even if you’re a non-technical person.

Top features:

• Create and manage invoices.
• Automatic billing.
• Track Personal time off, compensation time, overtime, sick time, vacation, and holidays.
• Manage your budget.
• Easy-to-use platform.

Price: from $19.95/ month/ user

Free trial

FinancialForce Accounting

Best for: small and medium businesses that need an accounting package integrated with Salesforce.

FinancialForce Accounting is a straightforward cloud-based accounting solution perfect for service-oriented companies trying to streamline their workflows.

It’s not just another business budgeting software but a business tool that helps you run your operation daily.

Top features:

• Monitor cash inflow and outflow across multiple bank accounts.
• Track the whole lifecycle of your assets from procurement to disposal.
• Automate billing and ordering.
• Generate invoices from your Salesforce financial data.
• Customize dashboard reports.

Price: not provided by the vendor

Free demo

Vena

Best for: medium and large-sized companies.

Vena is a centralized budgeting and forecasting software that involves financial planning solutions, business workflow, and process automation.

It consolidates all financial information in one place, making finance management easy.

Top features:

• Predict short and long-term revenue with greater accuracy.
• Automate the budgeting process.
• Get real-time data from sales, marketing, and finance.
• Keep all your essential financial data in one place.
• You can integrate it with Excel spreadsheets.

Price: contact vendor

Free trial

Best Free Budget Software

At the end of the day, technology for your business is one of the things you should invest in. But, if right now you need to have free software, we’ll give you some options that can be helpful.

Google Pay

Best for: Small businesses and personal finance.

Google Pay is another Google solution to organize our daily activities, including making payments and managing money.

Top features:

• Pay tab: with a tap-to-pay function based on your payments history.
• Explore tab: where you can find Google’s offers and deals.
• Insights tab: connect your bank account for an overview of your finances.
• If you allow access to your email or photos, it will automatically search for receipt photos and keep track of your expenses.

BudgetPulse

Best for: Small businesses and personal finance.

BudgetPulse is a simple but helpful tool to manage expenses, set saving goals, track them and create easy reports.

Top features:

• Organize your cash flow, expenses, and bank accounts in one place.
• It has no access to sensitive bank or credit card information, so it’s not risky to use.
• Easy worldwide online access, no downloads.
• Export your budget data to other financial planning software or tools.

Divvy

Best for: Small businesses and personal finance.

Divvy is a free cloud-based budget reporting software with many features for corporate cards and expense management.

Top features:

• Business purchases made with a Divvy card go into the system (You need to have an approved Divvy card).
• Watch every transaction in real-time, make changes and assign more money on the go.
• Move your Divvy transactions into your accounting software for books and financial reporting.

Money Manager Ex

Best for: Personal finance and small businesses.

Money Manager Ex is a free, open-source, cross-platform for budgeting and personal finance.

Top features:

• Translated to 30 languages.
• Reminders for bills and deposits to make.
• One-click financial reporting with graphics.

Budgeting: Should You Use Software Or Excel?

There are many different ways to budget for a business. Some businesses prefer Excel, while others find software programs more helpful. There are pros and cons to both methods.

Excel

Excel has the advantage of being a familiar program that many people already know how to use. It is also fairly flexible, allowing you to create different types of budgets.

However, Excel can be difficult to use if you are unfamiliar with it, and it can be time-consuming to input all the data.

Software Programs

Software programs designed specifically for budgeting can be easier to use and often have more features than Excel. They can also help you track your spending and income over time, which can help you make long-term budgeting decisions.

However, they can be more expensive than Excel and may require a learning curve if you are unfamiliar with them.

Which One Is Better?

Which method is better for budgeting depends on your needs and preferences.

If you are comfortable with Excel, it can be a good option.

A software program may be a better choice if you want something that is easier to use and has more features.

How To Choose The Best Budgeting Software For Your Business?

After reading this comprehensive list of the best small business budgeting software, you probably feel overwhelmed with all specifications and wondering how to choose the best one for your company.

Here are some tips to help you in that process.

• Think about the needs of your business. Do you need just an accounting tool, or you’d use project management tools as well? Don’t waste your money on features you will never use.
• Choose one that adapts to the size of your company. Some solutions are better for small businesses, while others are more convenient for larger, fast-growing firms.
• Select a tool that offers a trial version so that you can test the waters. It’s a safe way to check if the budgeting software fits your needs and type of business.
• Read some reviews about the product. Maybe other users can give you valuable insights and help you make the right decision.

The Importance Of The Budgeting Process

Budgeting is a necessary business process that helps companies track their expenses and income.

By using budgeting tools, businesses can see where their money is going and make informed decisions about allocating their resources.

Budgeting and forecasting can be complex processes, but they’re essential for all businesses.

By taking the time to create a budget, businesses can ensure that they are making the most of their financial resources. Then, they can forecast their cash flow and improve their financial processes.