In this ever-changing landscape of ecommerce and technology, it can feel overwhelming for any Shopify business owner to stay ahead of the game without reliable help. Take it from us. You'll need the best accounting software for Shopify to thrive and expand like a real corporate empire!
In this blog, we will teach you the latest news and updates in the Shopify market and how to optimize your business finances with high-grade accounting software that experts thoroughly recommend.
So what're you waiting for? Let's start by learning about what's happening to Shopify in this new ecommerce age!
Running a Shopify Business in 2023
Running a Shopify business in 2023 can be an exciting and challenging experience. With the ecommerce industry snowballing post-pandemic, Shopify has become an even more popular platform for entrepreneurs looking to start and grow their online businesses.
In January, the ecommerce platform announced the launch of Commerce Components, which enables retailers to create customized and branded online stores while taking advantage of the scale, reliability, and performance of Shopify Plus.
In addition, Shopify also announced a range of other updates and new features designed to help merchants grow their businesses, including but not limited to: a new subscription platform, Shop Pay Installments, and updates to its fulfillment network.
Overall, we're looking at an expanded commercial platform that's looking to carry multiple businesses from the start-up phase to the enterprise level.
Choosing an Accounting Software
If you're still new to the ecommerce business or just unfamiliar with what accounting software does, let's first try walking you through what a Shopify store owner regularly comes across in their day-to-day operations.
As a Shopify business owner, your day-to-day operations can vary depending on the size and nature of your business. However, some everyday tasks and challenges you may encounter include project tracking, inventory management, checking sales tax, and recording financial data.
Without a good background in accounting solutions, it can be pretty tricky to crunch numbers or analyze things like accounts payable or accounts receivable that would affect the business's liquidity and cash flow.
What accounting software does for online store owners is that it helps keep track of your sales, expenses, and profits, manage your inventory, and prepare your tax returns more efficiently and accurately. It can save you time and money by automating routine tasks, minimizing errors, and giving you insights into your financial health.
From fixed asset management to sales tax tracking, the best accounting software will provide an accounting solution for every problem or concern your business might face. But that's not all!
Here are some of the qualities of accounting software that you will want to consider before investing in one.
Shopify Integration
When accounting software integrates seamlessly with Shopify, it's always a good sign.
Shopify store owners can automatically import their sales, expenses, taxes, and other financial data to the platform with minimum stress. Seamless integration also reduces the risk of errors and ensures that your financial records are accurate and up-to-date.
Project management also becomes less complicated because now, you've got real-time insights into your financial health, which means you can make better business decisions and compete better with other Shopify store owners.
Ease of Use
In today's age, convenience and accessibility are essential, and not just for customers! Accounting tools have to be easy to use. Otherwise, small business owners won't benefit from them at all.
If accounting software is easy to use, it becomes accessible to everyone in your organization, regardless of their level of accounting knowledge. It saves so much time on training, learning, and troubleshooting.
This means that you and your team can spend more time on core business tasks, such as generating revenue and serving customers, instead of accounting tasks like bank reconciliation or sales tax configuration that already sound very confusing for non-accountants.
Cost-Efficient
Every small business wants the best free accounting software. But you know what they say: nothing comes for free!
Nevertheless, if you're worried about breaking your bank account, don't be. While cost is an essential factor, it's also important to consider the value you'll get from your investment. Most accounting software offer relatively affordable prices.
More expensive accounting software may provide additional features or better support to help you save time and improve your operations, ultimately resulting in a higher return on investment.
As your business grows, your demands for an accounting system may change. Choosing cost-effective accounting software that can meet your business's demands can help you avoid the costs of switching to new software in the future.
Multiple Features
Every business has unique accounting needs, and choosing accounting software that offers features that align with your specific requirements is essential. By choosing software with customizable features, you can tailor the software to fit your business’s needs and make the most out of its capabilities.
Cloud-based accounting software typically has built-in security features, such as encryption, firewalls, and multi-factor authentication, which can help protect your financial data from unauthorized access.
Other accounting apps provide unlimited users with project management tools and inventory management features. What matters is that you choose an accounting software that best suits your Shopify store.
The Best Accounting Software Options for Shopify
Now that you know the qualities of the best Shopify accounting software, it's time to keep you up to speed with the kinds of options on the market that you can get immediately.
Here is our list of the top 5 best Shopify accounting software in 2023.
QuickBooks
QuickBooks Online is a cloud-based accounting software widely used by small and medium-sized businesses. It's considered a comprehensive accounting software that has a track record for helping businesses materialize growth and sustain financial health.
Features and Benefits: QuickBooks Online offers a range of features and benefits that can help Shopify businesses streamline their accounting processes. Some of the key features include customizable invoices and estimates, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting. QuickBooks Online also offers automated features for invoices and payments.
Integration With Shopify: QuickBooks Online integrates seamlessly with Shopify with the help of a third-party app. With the integration, businesses can automatically sync their sales data, customer information, and products from Shopify to QuickBooks Online. QuickBooks Online also integrates with other Shopify apps, such as TaxJar and ShipStation, which can further streamline accounting processes.
Cost: QuickBooks Online offers a range of pricing plans to fit different business needs and budgets. The plans start at $15 monthly and go up to $100 for the highest-tier plan.
Xero
Xero is another popular cloud-based accounting software suitable for Shopify businesses looking to marry marketing and finances through its innovative contact management feature.
Features and Benefits: Xero's contact management system allows businesses to store and organize contact information for customers, suppliers, and employees. The system is designed to be user-friendly, with the ability to easily add, edit, and search for contacts. It's also capable of automatic transaction matching, which helps alert business owners whenever a transaction enters the bank account.
Integration With Shopify: Integration is easy for Xero through third-party apps like A2X and Parex Technologies.
Cost: Xero may be a more cost-effective option for businesses than QuickBooks Online, as the plans start around $9.25. Additional features, such as payroll processing and multi-currency support, are available for an additional cost.
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is designed for small businesses, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. Most accounting app users prefer to use FreshBooks for its accessibility and automation features.
Features and Benefits: FreshBooks offers invoicing, time tracking, expense tracking, mobile access, and real-time reporting—allowing business owners to stay on top of their finances from anywhere. Double-entry accounting was recently added to the software, and with the most basic plan, you create customizable invoice templates.
Integration With Shopify: FreshBooks already has built-in Shopify accounting integration to ensure any online business can utilize needed accounting tools.
Cost: This accounting software for Shopify has three main plans, which are Lite, Plus, and Premium. Its price starts at $17, but you can also purchase their customized option that lets you choose which accounting features you want to be included or excluded in your plan.
Wave
Wave might be the best accounting software for Shopify if we're talking about costs because this accounting software is free to download. Yup, you read that right!
Features and Benefits: There are many benefits that small businesses can access when using Wave, like multi-currency support. Wave supports transactions in multiple currencies and can automatically convert them to your home currency. Wave can also connect to your bank and credit card accounts and import transactions automatically.
Integration With Shopify: Like most Shopify accounting apps, the Wave accounting software uses a third-party app to integrate with Shopify. You can get the Sync to Wave app, which helps small businesses receive Shopify orders in their Wave Accounting.
Cost: While free, you might have to pay a monthly fee of $9.95 for integration.
Zoho Books
If your business primarily uses the Apple ecosystem, you will want to get Zoho Books.
Features and Benefits: Zoho Books has an intuitive and easy-to-use interface that makes it simple for businesses to manage their finances, even if they don't have prior accounting knowledge. Zoho Books also uses bank-level security to keep all financial information safe and secure. The software offers regular backups to prevent data loss.
Integration With Shopify: Zoho Books integrates with various third-party apps, including payment gateways, payroll software, and CRM software. The Shopify app store carries all your third-party apps for smooth integration.
Cost: The good thing about Zoho Books is that you've got six options to choose from. The first option is free and provides a client portal, expenses & mileage tracking, and even multi-lingual invoicing. The Standard option, which starts at $10 per month, increases the number of users and adds voice-chat support, among other things.
Upgrade Your Shopify Hustle
Whether it's time tracking or dealing with balance sheets, good accounting software will help your business get far and give you some accounting knowledge that'll be handy in the future.
However, you wouldn't want to stop there now, would you? You can upgrade your Shopify hustle to even more extraordinary lengths by working with a reliable accounting firm that always puts your best interests first.
At Unloop, we want to see you succeed, so we provide accounting solutions for Shopify store owners much like yourself.
Book a call with us today to see how we can help you reach your goals and maximize your returns with the best accounting advice available in the industry.