Accounting today is easier than it was 25 years ago. Instead of balancing transactions out for days manually by pen and paper, there are many accounting software developed specifically to help businesses keep their finances in check. 

Why Do You Need to Learn Accounting Software? 

When you work in Accounting and Finance, you’ll be dealing with hundreds of transactions per day. These daily transactions will then be consolidated towards the end of the week, month, quarter, and year, in reports that business owners would need. 

If you’re going to work on business finances manually, you have a larger margin of error. You need to be effective if you want to help the business you’re working with, and to do that, you need to work with utmost efficiency and accuracy. 

There are many accounting software available for every kind of business and it can be overwhelming to decide where to begin. Here’s a list of the top 5 accounting tools you need to be familiar with if you want to succeed in accounting and finance:

1. QuickBooks 

QuickBooks is a widely used software by both startups and big enterprises. It’s a full-stack accounting tool with complete features that every accounting department needs. 

It is one of the most popular accounting software used globally because it allows businesses to do basic accounting, inventory, payroll, invoicing, and many more. 

2. Sage 50

Sage 50 is a timeless accounting software. It’s a sophisticated software that allows many integrations, such as functions from Microsoft 365. 

The flexibility of Sage 50 makes it another fan favorite because it makes generating and processing reports a lot easier. It can be used online through a cloud server or installed on a company server for a little more security.

3. Xero 

Xero is another cloud-based accounting software that’s targeted more toward smaller businesses. It can perform basic accounting functions that allow business owners faster bookkeeping, invoicing, and payroll processing. 

It’s a user-friendly software that isn’t as complicated to learn as others. Xero’s interface is by far, the easiest to navigate and understand, even for individuals with no accounting background.

4. FreshBooks  

FreshBooks is one of the few accounting software that has an impeccable mobile app. It’s perfect for small businesses and freelancers as they can perform accounting tasks even on the go! 

Similar to most cloud-based accounting software, FreshBooks also allows many integrations that make it efficient for basic accounting tasks!

5. FreeAgent

FreeAgent is a free award-winning cloud-based accounting software that’s used by many small businesses. It’s an all-around software that helps business owners stay on top of their bookkeeping through an easy-to-navigate interface with different integrations.

It is one of the few free accounting software that allows businesses to handle invoices, track transactions, make bank reconciliations, and more!

Accounting tools are important in your career as an accounting professional! 

Accounting professionals are expected to at least be familiar with different software that are used in businesses, such as the ones we’ve listed above. If you’re thinking about launching your career in accounting and finance, you need to know how to use them! 

Impactable offers a variety of training programmes that will not only help you learn more about different software. All our training programmes include hands-on, practical experience too, helping you familiarise more with them. See a list of our accounting software training programmes here and let’s get you ready for your next job!