If you are a sole trader, organizing your finance is never fun.
But if you can find out the best accounting software that is effective for sole trades then you can spend much less time keeping track of your finance. So, you can have more time to run your business accurately.
Accounting software does many tasks than just keeping track of your financial incomings and outgoings. It let you manage your finance in one go. You can easily create invoices, and bills, easily handle your cash flow and keep track of your expenses.
However, there are various options out there, so it can be difficult to find out the right software that will be a good choice for your business. In this article, we are going to wrap up the 7 best accounting software that can be too much effective for your business.
Here is our pick of the 7 best accounting software for sole traders. Just have a look!
Why should you use sole trader accounting software?
As a sole trader, you might be handling all the business prospects on your own. So, you will not have enough time in a day. If you enter all your sole trader bookkeeping manually, and accounting details into the spreadsheet then it may take some hours each week. Particularly, if you deal with a high volume of financial transactions.
Sole trader accounting software enables you to do these tasks in a very shorter period. So, it will save you time as well as money by automating creating invoices, tracking all your financial records, and reconciling bank accounts.
You can check these few benefits of the best accounting software for a sole trader:
- It keeps all your bookkeeping and accounting details in one place, so no receipts go missing.
- It eliminates the risks of human errors.
- It enhances cash flow forecasting.
- It automatically tracks all the expenses to reduce your tax bill.
- It allows you to stay at the top of sole trader tax obligations.
Best sole trader accounting software UK:
#1. Xero:
Xero is a cloud-based, all-purpose, and accounting software for sole trades. It comes full of potential features that benefit sole traders. It consists of all the features that you require to keep your finances up to date and also submits your tax returns.
The basic starter plan starts at £12 per month and this plan is suitable for most sole traders in the UK.
The basic starter plan lets you:
- Enter bills
- Create invoices and bills
- Submit VAT returns to HMRC
- Reconcile bank accounts
- Capture bills and receipts
- On-the-go flexibility
- Automatic report generation
Our rating: 9.4/10
#2. Sage business cloud accounting:
If you are not so much familiar with accounting software, then you can go with Sage business cloud accounting software. It will be a great option for you. Everything is organized clearly and logically, additionally, the team will support you through phone and live chat 24/7. So, you can get to someone whenever you require.
The starting plan starts at £12 per month which will perfectly suit most sole traders. This program enables you to create bills and invoices, keep track of all the transactions, monitor the expense, and also return VAT, if applicable.
The basic package will let you:
- Create and send bills and invoices
- Reconciling all your bank accounts automatically.
- Track all the financial transactions
- Create and submit VAT reports to the HMRC.
Our rating: 9.3/10
#3. FreshBooks:
FreshBooks is a well-known potential accounting software for sole traders. You can handle everything from creating bills and invoices, and inventory tracking, to team collaboration. It is an effective overall package but the more attractive features are invoice-creating and estimate-creation tools.
There is a wide range of colors available and you can easily import your graphics. So, you can easily create personalized invoice and estimate that reflects your tone of the self-employed business.
FreshBooks’s basic plan comes at £11 per month. This basic plan will let you:
- Track unlimited expenses
- Track unlimited time
- Unlimited estimates
- Reconciling all your bank accounts
- Reporting tools
- Easily create the VAT report and submission this report to the HMRC with a click
Our rating: 9.2/10
#4. QuickBooks:
QuickBooks is one of the most powerful business accounting software packages. It is easily acceptable by large entrepreneurs as well as sole traders. It comes with a variety of effective features for sole traders. It makes this software a strong contender when comes to the best sole trader accounting software in the UK.
QuickBooks stands out from the competition with its tax planning support. If you are not so much familiar with accounting software then you can opt for QuickBooks as it is simple to use. The basic plan starts at £12 per month equipped with everything you need to track your finance and keep your taxes organized.
The basic plan of QuickBooks will let you:
- Your income and expense tracking
- Bank accounts integration
- Create and send personalized invoices and bills
- Assistance for returning the tax
Our rating: 9.4/10
#5. FreeAgent:
FreeAgent is an accounting software designed for sole traders and freelancers. It is an incredibly easy-to-use platform that most start-up traders can make their way around. FreeAgent comes with all the essential tools that you require to track and manage your finance, monitor the cash flow, and also assist with your tax returns.
This software package facilitates you to send off personalized invoices and remain at the top of the cash flow. You will get a choice of eight professional invoice templates, and a time tracking sheet for invoicing. You can also track all of the expenses automatically from a live bank feed.
The basic plan comes at £19 per month, and this basic plan lets you:
- Creating and sending a personalized invoice
- Track all the expenses
- Facilitate you with profit share calculation
Our rating: is 9/10
#6. Kaskflow:
Kashflow is one of the most popular accounting software in the UK, it is designed for self-employed and small businesses. It takes pride in keeping things very simple. It is the best pick if you are looking for such a tool that will facilitate you with finance and tax handling.
This cloud-based software comes with various powerful tools that not only help you to track your financial chores but also facilitate you to take on payroll and HR responsibilities. The starter package is aimed at sole traders and small businesses. This app also comes as a mobile app along with a customizable dashboard.
The basic plan comes at £10.5, and it let you:
- Invoicing
- Quotes and estimates
- Tax assistance
- Cash flow
- Reporting
- Track your expense
- Useful payroll option
Our rating: 9.2/10
#7. ZohoBooks:
ZohoBooks is another best accounting software in the UK, and it is designed for sole traders, freelancers, and small businesses. This tool comes with extensive reporting features and you can easily create and manage bills and invoices. You can keep tracking all the expenses and you can know how your cash flow is looking.
With its simple cloud-based interface, ZohoBooks makes an operative cost-effective option if you are a sole trader. This app gives you a payment alarm if it finds there is any due. You can reconcile all your banking transactions in one place.
The basic plan starts at £10 and you can pay the bill monthly or annually. The basic plan lets you:
- Creating and sending invoices
- Recurring invoices
- Payment reminders
- Payment generator
- Integrate all the bank accounts
Our rating: 9.1/10
FAQs-
Which accounting software is widely used in the UK for sole trades?
Ans: QuickBooks is a well-known accounting software that is vastly used in the UK by sole traders. QuickBooks is a great fit for sole trades. You can track your income and expenses, create and send personalized invoices to clients, subscribe to the payroll feature, and also facilitate superb tax planning tools.
Does a sole trader need accounting software?
Ans: Accounting software automates all the processes of creating and sending invoices, tracking financial expenses, reconciling all the bank accounts in one place, assisting to return the TAX, and many more. So, a sole trader can get some extra time to put into handling other aspects of the business. Thus, accounting software saves the time as well as the money of the trader.
Conclusion:
A sole trader has to juggle a lot in the UK. A solid accounting foundation is very important for a sole trader. Besides the area of your expertise, as a sole trader, you need to put the right effort into various aspects such as marketing, human resource, and handling your finance.
Fortunately, UK sole trader accounting software can help you to keep your finance organized. The best accounting software for sole trades can help you to create and send personalized invoices, track your income and expenses, and make it easier to submit your self-assessment return to the HMRC each year.
Here, we have covered the 7 best accounting software for a sole trader; you can analyze them and pick the right one for your sole trade.
