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QuickBooks is the best Mac accounting software because it offers a wide range of features and strong support for all users. Businesses can save a lot of time with the service as it can handle bill scanning, invoicing, payroll, as well as your advanced accounting needs, such as cash flow projections. If you’re a small business looking for a broader comparison, check out the best small business accounting software to find the solution that fits your needs.
With inflation and a looming recession, saving time and money is important for any small business today. Our research research confirms that QuickBooks, Xero, and all the other accounting solutions in this guide offer the three key benefits a business needs to do just that: great features, low pricing, and a helpful support team.
Read on to find the accounting software that fits your needs best. Once you know the facts, take the next step and get started with a great deal.
Best Accounting Software for Mac: Table
| Starting price | Free trial | Best attribute for Mac users: | Pros | Cons | Payroll processing | Phone support | ||
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| Wave Financial | ||||||||
| 30 days | 30 days | 30 days | It’s free, no trial needed | 14 days | ||||
| Best Overall Accounting Software for Mac | Most iOS Mobile Apps | Best for Apple Pay | Best Free Plan | Best Range of Plans | ||||
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Accounting Software for Mac: Reviews
Our independent research team analyzed the best accounting software for Mac according to ease of use, depth of features, price, value and support. Our results concluded the following:
- QuickBooks: Best Overall Accounting Software for Mac
- Xero: Most iOS Mobile Apps
- FreshBooks: Best for Apple Pay
- Wave: Best Free Plan
- Zoho Books: Best Range of Plans
Read our in-depth reviews below to find out which accounting software for Mac is best for you.
QuickBooks: Best Overall Accounting Software for Mac
Pricing from: $35/month Get 90% off for 7 months
Much of the power of QuickBooks lies in its depth of features (4.7/5), which is the highest research score of any accounting software we’ve tested. Its cloud-based service works on Macs just as well as on PCs. There’s also an app for iPhone and iPad users to boot.
Pros
- Extensive analytics template customization
- Automatic alerts for mismatched balances
- Built in cash flow projection tools
Cons
- Steep learning curve for advanced functionality
- Limited customer support resources for self-help
- No time tracking features
- Solopreneur: $20/month
- Simple Start: $35/month
- Essentials: $65/month
- Plus: $99/month
- Advanced: $235/month
- 50% off for first 3 months
QuickBooks also offers a wide range of integrations with many common Mac-friendly retail services, like POS systems (Vend, Lightspeed, Square) or email marketing (Constant Contact, MailChimp, ActiveCampaign).
Support is another area QuickBooks excels at, earning a near-perfect research score (4.7/5) with an online database and live chat for all plans, plus 24/7 phone and email support for Advanced users. However, its pricing isn’t the best (3/5). Accounts payable features are missing from the two lowest tier plans, while inventory and budget management tools are restricted to the highest two tiers.
However, thanks to its wealth of features and support, QuickBooks remains the best accounting software for a business manager who wants to handle accounting, invoicing, expense-tracking, and (with a paid add-on) the company payroll from their sleek Mac computer.
Read our full QuickBooks review here.
Xero: Most iOS Mobile Apps
Pricing from: $13/month $3.25/month
Our researchers gave Xero an impressive overall score of 4.5/5, thanks to perfect scores for all of the core feature categories. Xero has six iOS apps, QuickBooks and Wave each offer two, while Freshbooks and Zoho Books each only offer one. This larger range of apps allows a business to offer precise functionality to each employee, with separate apps for: authentication, document scanning, project accounting, expense management, payroll, and general accounting.
Pros
- Over 1,000 third party integrations available
- Useful client portal for clients to access financial information
- Robust fixed asset tracking functionality with depreciation values
Cons
- Steep learning curve for advanced features like work flows
- Outdated, poorly designed interface with difficult navigation
- Must give one-month notice before cancellation
- Early: $20/month
- Growing: $47/month
- Established: $80/month
Xero offers better rated pricing than QuickBooks with a score of 3.5/5 compared to QuickBooks’ 3/5. This is due to Xero’s lower starting price ($13 per month, compared to $15 per month for QuickBooks), in addition to Xero offering unlimited users across all plans.
However, the Xero support team leaves something to be desired, with no phone or live chat and no around-the-clock hours, despite a high-quality onboarding process.
There is one last perk that may move Xero to the top of your Mac accounting software list: you get unlimited users across all plan tiers, making it a cost-effective pick for a company with a lot of cooks in the kitchen.
See how QuickBooks compares to Xero over here.
FreshBooks: Best for Apple Pay
Pricing from: $15/month $1.50/month
FreshBooks (3.8/5) offers great support for Apple Pay, underscoring its benefit for any Mac-loving ecommerce operations. Other retail benefits include inventory management and billable hours on an unlimited number of invoices across all plan tiers. In addition to this, there is a selection of top ecommerce platform integrations, such as Square, Shopify, and BigCommerce, among others.
Pros
- Intuitive, easy to use interface for beginners
- Time tracking features with invoice compatibility
- 24/7 customer support options for platform help
Cons
- Limited functionality in mobile app
- No forecasting or budgeting features for future analysis
- No multi-currency invoicing available for users
- Lite: $19/month
- Plus: $33/month
- Premium: $60/month
Now, while the software offers serviceable features, it doesn’t have as much functionality as the others on this list. This is particularly true when it comes to bookkeeping (3.8/5) and accounts payable (3.3/5), since FreshBooks offers no budgeting or cash-flow projection tools.
FreshBooks has a low pricing score of just 2.8/5. This is partly because all if its plans come with an additional $10 per month charge for each additional user, which adds up fast for larger businesses. While it does offer phone and email support, these are not available 24/7 (QuickBooks is the only top accounting solution to have live 24/7 support, and it’s only available with the QuickBooks Advanced plan). FreshBooks is the ideal Mac solution for an ecommerce operation with moderate functionality needs, few users, and an interest in Apple Pay.
Check out our full FreshBooks review.
Wave: Best Free Plan
Pricing from: Free
Wave’s free plan is light on limitations and this is one of the many reasons it landed a perfect pricing score (5/5) – even beating Xero. In addition to this, our team of researchers also gave it an overall score of 4/5.
Pros
- Completely free to use
- Offers affordable add-ons
Cons
- Lacks features
- Struggles to scale with growing businesses
- Price from: Free
- Transaction fee: 2.9% + 60¢ for Visa/Mastercard/Discover
- Transaction fee: 1% for bank payments
- Payroll add-on: From $35/mo + $6/user/mo
At no cost, Wave covers unlimited users and clients, with unlimited invoicing, billing, and estimates, as well as Apple Pay support. You’ll also get plenty of accounts receivable tools and an iOS app for bill scanning, which are great if you want to cut down on administrative work.
However, the free accounting service won’t do everything. As with FreshBooks, no Wave plans will provide users with budgeting or cashflow projection tools. Unlike FreshBooks, Wave doesn’t offer project accounting or inventory management. The support team is just so-so (2.8/5), with email and live chat support, but no phone support. We recommend it as a worthwhile pick for the basic accounting needs of an operation with a micro budget.
Check out our full Wave review
Zoho Books: Best Range of Plans
Pricing from: $15/month (lowest price after the free plan)
Zoho comes with a free plan, but it’s only for businesses with revenue lower than $50,000 a year – it’s capped at 1,000 invoices per year as well! Zoho’s five paid plans offer plenty to chose from, ranging from the $15 per month Standard plan to the $240 Ultimate plan.
Pros
- Extensive data import/export features built in
- Time tracking tools with billable hours conversion for invoicing
- Highly effective transaction documentation
Cons
- Higher than average transaction fees
- No customer support outside business hours (no weekends)
- Limited third party integrations outside of Zoho
- Standard: $15/month
- Professional: $40/month
- Premium: $60/month
- Elite: $120/month
- Advanced: $240/month
- 14-day free trial
Some helpful features like custom domains and cashflow forecasting are reserved for its pricier plans, but Zoho has a good selection of features overall. Another plus is that Zoho offers the support trifecta: live chat, phone, and email. However, QuickBooks’ support earns a higher score because it offers 24/7 live support with some plans while Zoho does not.
All of Zoho’s paid plans are a little costly when compared with the competition, and this gives Zoho the lowest pricing score (2.2/5) of the accounting solutions on this list. However, in addition to the large range of plan features, Zoho Book can be bundled with the entire suite of Zoho business apps, including a free Zoho Invoicing app and Zoho Projects for project management.
Check out our full Zoho Books review.
Which Accounting Software Is Right for Your Business?
A small or medium-sized business can handle all or most of its own accounting needs with the right software. Your Mac-specific needs might include support for iCloud files and Apple Pay integrations. But any service will need to offer universal benefits with the version of its software that’s designed for Mac: easy usability, fair prices, and a balance of simple and detailed functionality. Plus, a good support team with healthy hours is helpful, and it’s a key factor for those who anticipate needing a guiding hand.
Methodology: How We Rate Accounting Software for Macs
At Tech.co, we take our impartial research and analysis seriously, so you can have complete confidence that we're giving you the clearest, most useful recommendations.
After conducting an initial investigation to identify the most relevant, popular, and established accounting tools in the market, we conducted further research, including testing six major accounting software platforms.
Based on years of market and user needs research, we've established an accounting software testing methodology that scores these platforms against six main categories, and 25 subcategories - with a total of 1512 areas of investigation being considered overall.
We also put the platforms through their paces with hands-on testing to gain a deeper grasp of their average user experience. We dedicated 57 hours to carrying out 37 user tests, with a total of 555 tasks being completed in total.
Our main testing categories for accounting software are:
- Core accounting features - We check how adept a platform will be at managing accounting tasks, focusing on key bookkeeping features like invoicing, tax preparation, journal entry, time tracking, financial transactions, and payment support.
- Operational efficiency - We determine how capable a system is at ensuring day-to-day processes run seamlessly, paying close attention to third-party integrations, collaboration tools, AI automation, and customization options.
- Financial planning - We assess how capable a system will be at measuring income, profits, and losses. Specifically, we check for the presence and quality of forecasting and budgeting, inventory management, reporting, and compliance tools.
- Help and support - We asses how useful and reliable a platform's support system is, focusing on support options, whether it's 24/7, knowledge center accuracy, as well as cloud backup, and security safeguards.
- Pricing - We compare the overall cost of each platform, taking factors like monthly costs, set-up fees, hidden fees, and free plans into account. We also measure how strict contracts are, and how much it would cost for a business to terminate them early.
- User experience - An overall judgment of how easily users can interact with the platform. We tested each accounting platform and got our team to report how easy they were to use, how they felt when they were using them, and how likely they were to recommend the platform to another business.
When it comes to calculating a product's final score, not all testing areas are weighted evenly, with factors like ‘core accounting features’ and ‘operational efficiency’ being prioritized for small businesses, while sector-specific features are valued more highly for businesses across different industries.
We understand that accounting software is always evolving. That’s why at Tech.co, we have full-time product researchers to re-run this testing process regularly. It’s the only way to ensure our results remain reflective of the present day.
Learn more about our research.
Verdict: QuickBooks Is the Top Pick for Mac Lovers
QuickBooks is our choice for the best overall solution, as it offers the most features for accounting with a Mac while still maintaining fair pricing and great support.
Our researchers gave QuickBooks an overall score of 4.7/5, beating Xero’s solid score of 4.5. Still, Xero offers more iOS apps, while FreshBooks has the best Apple Pay payments and Wave has a great free plan with no limits on users or clients.
Check out Tech.co’s landing page to directly compare the key benefits and deals available for all of the top accounting software:
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