6 Best Personal Bookkeeping Software [Windows & Mac]

Manage your financial plans and keep track of your transactions better

Reading time icon 8 min. read


Readers help support Windows Report. We may get a commission if you buy through our links. Tooltip Icon

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial team. Read more

Key notes

  • Look no further if you’re interested in finding the best personal bookkeeping software available on the market.
  • Personal finance software automate the process and save you a lot of time by keeping track of your transactions.
  • The suggestions below help you with basic income and expenses monitoring, but also with the management of multiple types of accounts.
  • You will also find tools that help you with taxes and recurring payments which can save you both time and money.
Personal bookkeeping software tools

Gone are the days when you have to rummage through your drawer on a tax return date.

For anyone with a limited budget, bookkeeping/accounting software is a necessity in order to stay on top of everything in this modern age.

If the subscription cost has been what’s keeping you from using an accounting software system, there is a wide variety of tools out there to help you monitor your expenses.

Bookkeeping software works to automate tasks and lets you save hours of accounting time, so let’s see five great picks.

What are the best home bookkeeping software?

FreshBooks – Straightforward dashboard

FreshBooks is one of the most reliable financial programs that provides you with a straightforward dashboard and reports with detailed information.

You can improve your workflow by using this software for fast and uncomplicated invoicing and payments.

FreshBooks can handle with ease your bookkeeping, track expenses, and increase your tax deductions and returns thanks to its partnering with Bench.

Moreover, you have a sales tax summary where you can see all the money you collect and the taxes you pay and you can select specific information thanks to its filtering feature.

This accounting software ensures your books are updated and offers an honest view of your business or personal project’s health which makes it easy to decide financial conclusions.

With this platform, you can connect with real experts that can offer advice about your bank statements, prepare monthly financial statements, and adjust accounts.

Other key features include:

  • Time and expense tracking
  • Simple project management
  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Wide range of general accounting features

With FreshBooks, you get outstanding invoice-to-payment functionality, expense tracking, and other detailed financial reports in no time.

FreshBooks

Handle your financial information more efficiently and try using FreshBooks.
Free Trial Visit Website

QuickBooks – Error-free payroll

QuickBooks is a popular bookkeeping software tool that supports small businesses as well as individuals who want nothing but the best.

Some users like that they can create custom, professional invoices, sales receipts, and estimates that reflect their business and your brand.

Others just want to stay on top of who owes them, how much, and when their payment is due, or enjoy one-click payments.

The tool helps you all to secure data sharing with an accountant and it supports integration with Microsoft Outlook.

Quickbooks allows you to manage multiple accounts and offers the tools necessary for keeping track of and organizing all your transactions in one place.

Users can access easy-to-follow reports regarding balance, profit, loss, and many other detailed reports based on your specific expenses and settings.

This service takes care of W-2 forms and taxes without any errors. This is great both for personal for self-employed users but you can also use it as a business owner.

Another great feature of QuickBooks is that you can set it up to automate spending. This saves you time and hassle when it comes to recurring payments such as monthly bills and rent.

Other key features include:

  • Supports secure data sharing between you and your accountant
  • Compatible with mobile devices
  • Full service, error-free payroll
  • Dashboard overview of all transactions
  • Paperless receipt tracking

Quickbooks is a subscription-based service with various monthly plans. Each plan has a 30-day free trial in which you can try all the features included.

QuickBooks

When you want to avoid time-consuming financial tasks, try out QuickBooks. It automatically calculates taxes with ease.
Free trial Visit Website

NolaPro – Inventory management

NolaPro caters to the needs of small enterprises as well as individual users with its easy-to-use interface.

The service allows you to create your own plan based on the features you need to manage your personal finances.

You can get general accounting services such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general ledger with double-entry accounting.

NolaPro allows you to easily manage your billings with in-depth receivables, quotes, POS, and recurring invoices. 

The service also lets you keep track of all your contacts. You can easily enter information regarding customers, employees, or vendors, keep track of the transactions between your accounts and theirs, and more.

Nola Pro lets you organize bills, write checks and issue purchase orders with error-free assistance throughout the process. 

Other key features include:

  • Order management features for customers and vendors
  • Inventory management
  • Advanced data backups
  • Automatic updates

When it comes to business management, you can use Nola Pro for full payroll support of W-2/941 forms. Keeping track of all information you need to correctly do taxes saves you both time and money in the long run.

Nola Pro

Create your own financial management plan with secure check process support, billing features, and more.
Free trial Visit Website

Sage 50 Accounting Software – Mobile invoicing

Peachtree accounting software includes four versions to address the needs of various businesses, nonprofit organizations, manufacturing, construction, and individuals.

The tool works with the ACT! contact management software. Other add-on services are also available to extend features, including payroll and merchant accounts.

Sage 50 offers easy-to-understand reports and management tools regarding cash flow and invoicing. You can easily see all your income transactions and your expenses. The software automatically calculates the remaining balance and keeps track of each individual transaction.

You can use it to set up automatic payments for your bills and other recurring expenses. You just have to enter the information necessary once and set up the software to automatically pay your bills on a specified date.

Sage 50 Cloud software has a Microsoft Outlook integration that lets you sync your contacts and create customer balance information, credit limits, add contact details, and order history.

The accounting service is cloud-based so your data is always backed up. You can undo changes and restore to previous versions if you need specific information that has been removed.

Sage 50 has advanced payroll services that assist you in paying your employees, tracking benefits, and managing and reporting taxes.

Other key features include:

  • Integrates MS Office Business Premium
  • Sales optimization
  • Expense management
  • Mobile invoicing

Sage 50cloud is subscription-based with various plans that charge monthly or annually. Each plan has a free trial with all its specific features available.

Sage 50 Accounting Software

Professional software with four versions that fulfill the needs of various businesses successfully.
Check price Visit Website

GnuCash – Statement Reconciliation

If you are looking for personal and small-business bookkeeping software, then GnuCash is the right choice for you.

The tool lets you monitor bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses. GnuCash is easy and intuitive to use as a checkbook register.

GnuCash also manages other functions of a bookkeeping tool including invoicing and credit notes, accounts payable and receivable, and employee expenses.

Similarly to most services, GNU cash follows the double-entry accounting principle. Under a simple UI, GNU displays all your sources of income, your spending, and your remaining balance.

The software supports common checking, credit-card transactions, income management, stock, and multiple currency transactions. 

GNU is a great choice for managing multiple accounts. It can display all your accounts and their corresponding information within one window. You get a summary of essential information and also detailed reports by selecting each account and transaction separately.

This tool also allows you to automate recurring payments. You can select monthly/weekly payments by adding a date, the frequency, and the amount of money you want to pay.

Its key features include:

  • Reports, Graphs
  • QIF/OFX/HBCI Import, Transaction Matching
  • Financial Calculations
  • Statement Reconciliation
  • Online Stock & Mutual Fund Quotes
  • Experimental database support
  • HBCI Support
  • Transaction Finder
  • Check Printing
  • Mortgage & Loan Repayment Assistant

All services provided by GNU cash are completely free. Users can support the development of the software via donations.

Get GnuCash

Money Manager Ex – One-click reporting

Money Manager Ex is another impressive open-source tool for bookkeeping. While it is a free tool, the software includes features that compete with premium services.

The application is portable, which means you can save and use it from a USB stick without installing it.

Money Manager Ex is easy to learn and use. It has a simple UI with straightforward information and controls.

You can use this software to manage various types of accounts such as checking, credit cards, savings, stock investments, and assets.

In terms of recurring payments, Money Manager Ex lets you pick dates and set reminders for upcoming due payments.

The bookkeeping software can generate detailed income/expense/balance reports that are easy to read and manage.

Money Manager Ex is compatible with CSV and QIF formats, so you can easily import any pre-existing accounting information.

Other key features include:

  • Budgeting and cash flow forecasting
  • One-click reporting
  • Non-proprietary SQL Lite Database with AES Encryption

Money Manager Ex is compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux computers. It can also be used on mobile devices that run the Android OS.

Get Money Manager Ex

Which tool is the best for you? Let us know in the comments area below.

More about the topics: accounting software

User forum

0 messages