We have all seen the rise of the self-employed in recent years. This is a trend that will only continue to grow as long as we live in a world where it’s more accessible than ever before to start a business.
With so many people working from home or from coffee shops, there are also more ways than ever before to stay connected with those who matter most: friends, family, and colleagues.
If you’re self-employed, you know how important it is to stay connected with loved ones while maintaining your sanity and productivity at work—and these best apps for self employed can help!
Best Apps For Self Employed
Self-employment is a very common career choice nowadays. And it can be very lucrative, when done right. However, to become a successfully self-employed individual, one needs to know how to monitor a lot of different aspects of one’s business. That is why apps and tools that help people navigate solo entrepreneurship are abundant. We’re here to help you choose the best of the lot.
We’ve addressed the kinds of apps a self-employed person needs, the most notable ones in each category, as well as additional resources that can help your entrepreneurial endeavor.
Table of Contents
What is the best app for the self-employed?
- Apps for time management
Clockify
Flipd - Apps for writing up business plans
Enloop
RocketLawyer - Bookkeeping and financial apps
QuickBooks
Square
Stripe - Website building apps
GoDaddy
Wix - Contracting and legal apps
Forms by LegalShield
GoCanvas - Networking apps
LinkedIn
Invitly
HARO (Help A Reporter Out)
VoilaNorbert - Customer communication apps
MailChimp
Typeform
Conclusion
What is the best app for the self-employed?
Here’s something you may have already guessed: there is no single best app that will cover all of your business needs.
No one app to rule them all.
Whether you are simply freelancing or trying to run a one-person company, you have to cover a lot of different avenues: client invoicing and reporting, website traffic, finances, customer support and communication, and much more. While some of these avenues can differ depending on your industry, the main ones remain the same. There are essential apps every self-employed person must have to keep their business afloat, and also enable it to grow steadily.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the list of best apps for the self-employed.
- Apps for time management
Time management has a huge part to play in self-employment. It dictates how well you manage your most valuable resource – time. Where you spend in, what aspects of your job you invest it in, and most importantly, how you handle wasted time. That is why you need to find apps that can help you reign in the haphazardness in your mind when dealing with hundreds of things self-employment brings.
You want something that will make you productive, point out holes in your workflow, and help you make smarter choices with how you spend your time.
Clockify
clockify work hours tracker
Clockify is a free time clock app at its core that can grow into a full-fledged time management tool depending on what you need. It can handle project tracking, weekly reports, lightning-fast time entries, and crafting timesheets to show your clients or customers upon invoicing. Clockify is a digital assistant with all things concerning productivity and it’s perfect for freelancers and smaller businesses, scaling along with your workload without a hitch.
Some of its most notable features are:
Seamless integration with hundreds of other popular apps;
Tracking billable and non-billable hours for detailed reporting;
Dozens of project templates;
Visual charts;
Time audit;
Branded reports.
💡 Want to know more about wrangling time when self-employed? Here are 58 time management tips to choose from, which will guide you to a massive uptick in productivity in no time.
Flipd
flipd
The workload you face in self-employment can be overwhelming more often than not. In order to combat it, to prevent the burnout that comes with such stress, it’s important to practice mindfulness. To stay on top of your tasks, customer requests, projects, and other, you need to know when to unplug from your phone. Flipd is an app that helps with that.
It has music tracks for meditation, a community feature, mindfulness statistics, coaching and productivity tips, and much more. There is also a full locked mode if you find it difficult to stay away and need to cut yourself off from the device completely. It also features:
Schedule creation;
Productivity tracker;
Smart notifications;
Guided audio resources.
- Apps for writing up business plans
A solid business plan is crucial to getting investors to back up larger/financially demanding projects. And even if you don’t plan on getting outside help, a document that outlines how you plan to develop your business one, five, ten years from now is more than just a useful roadmap. It should be the framework you fall back on whenever difficult decisions need to be made, or you decide to change the course of your business.
Enloop
enloop
Enloop is an app that makes business plan building as easy as it can be. You simply enter specific data, and the app generates the plan based on it. It formulates everything, from sales to projections, profits and possible losses, all with clear and simple visuals. Some notable features include:
Additional users (accountant, business partner);
Performance score that changes in real-time;
Automatic text generation;
Forecast comparison to industry peers.
So, if you aren’t that interested in detailed involvement with the business plan, Enloop is a good choice. It takes the tediousness out of the process. However, if you are the kind of person who needs more agency, the next app could be more useful.
RocketLawyer
rocket lawyer
Rocket Lawyer helps you build a business plan by guiding you through the process step-by-step. Additionally, they offer legal advice online and let you sign not only your business plan, but also other online forms and contracts, making them legal documents. Other features include:
Legal staff support;
Instructions and useful FAQ on their website;
Access from multiple devices.
- Bookkeeping and financial apps
When it comes to bookkeeping, a lot of self-employed people find themselves wondering “how to keep track of expenses?” There’s plenty to pay attention to – invoices, taxes, business expenses regarding commute, courses, and payment processing fees. So, to stay on top of all the business spending, you need an app or two that will keep track of several things:
Payment processing;
Invoicing;
Basic bookkeeping and tax processing.
So, let’s see which apps can offer these services.
QuickBooks
quickbooks
QuickBooks is your small personal accounting firm. It’s an established tool with years of experience and perfecting its features. QuickBooks handles everything – invoicing, expenses, tax calculation and more. It’s available on all devices and keeps all data up-to-date on every one of them. Additionally, it comes with:
Cloud accounting;
Data preparation for your accountant;
Integration with other apps;
High-level data security.
Square
square
Square is a great payment processing tool for small businesses and those self-employed. You can also get their card reader for easy and effortless on-the-go payment. Square also offers simple, flat rates for credit card processing, which makes it a favorite among numerous small businesses and entrepreneurs. Perhaps most notably, it works really well with tablets and on mobile, for those who are always on the move. Square is also:
Applicable to any industry;
Easy to set up and use;
Tracks inventory;
Integrates with accounting software;
Prints receipts;
Sets discounts, etc.
Stripe
stripe
Stripe is an online solution designed for developers. It is probably the most branched-out service with several hundred integrations. If your business doesn’t require you to process payments on the go or in person, then Stripe could be the right match. Especially since you can integrate it with your other tools to make for a seamless workflow. Stripe also boasts:
A highly customizable, premade checkout;
Customer information and subscription plans;
Tutorials and guides for beginners.
💡 If you’re still on the fence about a financial app, there’s a list we have compiled of the most popular choices for billing software for freelancers. It’s a guide to help you find the most suitable tool for your business, and to eliminate months of trial and error.
Other financial resources for freelancers that might interest you:
→ Strategies smart consultants and freelancers use
→ How we use Clockify to track time and bill clients
→ The definitive guide to project billing and invoicing
- Website building apps
Every self-employed person striving to succeed in the market today needs a strong online presence. The first step towards it is to build a website. Reliance on social media can only get you so far.
A website, on the other hand, allows you to display your address (in case of brick and mortar businesses), important information, announcements, reviews, and much more. As such, it’s an invaluable catalog of your services and the face of your business. The following apps proved to be great for beginner entrepreneurs for letting users easily build a website from scratch.
So, if you can’t afford a designer at the moment, here are your best options:
GoDaddy
godaddy
GoDaddy is a great tool for first-timers in blogging and website building. It is very user friendly with plenty of templates, customizable themes, hosting, and so on. You also get access to all social media widgets, drag-and-drop page builder, easy call to actions, etc. If you need a high level of customization with some room for advanced tinkering later on, GoDaddy could be a good match for you. Lastly, GoDaddy seems to be a leader in loading speed times, which is essential for customer retention nowadays. Other notable details include:
Premade promotional banners for your storefront;
Customer contact forms;
Easy to set up call-to-action;
Insight score and metrics.
Wix
wix
Very similar to our previous mention, Wix is a user-friendly website builder tailored to self-made businesspeople. Whether you’re opening a storefront, making a writing or artwork portfolio, Wix welcomes hundreds of different industries and boasts templates that are designed specifically for them. It is intuitive to use, has very high recommendations by other users, and is based around the drag-and-drop method of building a website. This makes it extremely easy to use. There’s also:
Unlimited fonts archive;
SEO plans;
Marketing and business tools;
Product pages;
Shipping, payment process integration, etc.
- Contracting and legal apps
Legal apps are an important addition to your self-employment journey. By legal apps we mean those that help you write up contracts, define legal terminology you’re unfamiliar with, or serve as a pocket helper for any question you may have. It’s easier than ever to get scammed by unpaying clients, or get into a dispute over poor documentation. If you really cannot afford a lawyer or a tax advisor (which is always better, of course), these apps can come in handy to prevent some legal mishaps.
Forms by LegalShield
legalshield
Forms is a legal document mobile app, and truly one of a kind. It has a database of over 300 legal documents and forms available for download and use. The legal forms they offer are easy to read and understand, and include loan and lease agreements, contract work, bills of sale, etc. It was designed to help freelancers and small businesses understand and employ legal agreements for day-to-day affairs, without having to hire expensive legal advisors.
Some other features are:
Additional free form templates on the website;
On-person and remote signing;
Audit trails;
Lawyer consultation with LegalShield membership.
GoCanvas
gocanvas
GoCanvas is a tool that focuses on saving you from a mountain of paperwork. Through its signature drag-and-drop feature, forms, contracts, and agreements can be constructed easily through its signature drag-and-drop feature, electronically signed, and stored away. It’s worth noting that GoCanvas is made for formulating contracts between two individuals.
It also features:
Integrated calculations;
Barcode scanning;
Customized .pdf reports;
Integrations with multiple document storage and financial apps.
- Networking apps
Networking lets you connect with other like-minded entrepreneurs, and open up new opportunities for growth and more visibility both online and offline. The following apps have specific features that can help you find potential new clients, collaborators, or to expand your professional address book.
LinkedIn
linkedin
LinkedIn is an established, one could say – household – name in the online space. It is like social media for professionals. You can connect with people from different industries, write posts and articles, join courses and get the latest news concerning conferences and events. LinkedIn makes for a semi-formal networking app that brings many industry professionals and clients closer to you for possible collaborations or work.
Some other notable features are:
Professional portfolio/CV embedded;
The ability to create your business page;
Analytics;
Networking suggestions, etc.
Invitly
invitly
Invitly is an app that can connect you to like-minded business people. Every day, it presents you with batches of profiles suggested based on your business’s information. Using your personal profile, work history, career goals, education, and more, they can find the best people you can connect with to expand or improve your business. It’s worth noting that Invitly is a members-only group you need to sign up for.
Invitly also features:
Access to workshops, seminars, and events;
A selection of coaches;
Face-to-face meetings with your connections.
HARO (Help A Reporter Out)
HARO
Haro is a networking app with a slightly different method of increasing your visibility. It is a service where writers and experts can find interviewees for their online articles, and interviewees can give their two cents on topics of interest. Three times a day, HARO sends an email blast with a list of queries that need answers. You can connect with the author and send a reply to their query. If used in the article, your answer will be signed with your name and a link to your business.
As such, HARO can be an unusual but good method of getting the word out about you and your business.
VoilaNorbert
voilanorbert
VoilaNorbert is a tool that helps speed up your lead finding process. If you want to get in touch with someone but can’t seem to find their contact, the app will “dig it out” for you. As a bonus, you get a virtual address book of all your ongoing, potential and dropped leads, which keeps from accidentally spamming the same people. The app helps you with:
Contacting news outlets or relevant blogs;
Content marketing;
Building a professional contact list;
Finding sales.
💡 Here are some of our takes on tackling collaboration and partnerships for cross-promotion or expanding your business:
→ 30 best online collaboration tools for any business
→ Project management: 31 best techniques, practices, and tools
- Customer communication apps
If you’re providing a service, or have a steady stream of recurring customers, you definitely want to keep them informed about any deals, discounts or changes. While you can always put this on your website, the odds of all of your customers seeing the information in a timely manner are small. Newsletters can be a great step forward in keeping good relations with old customers and solidify a connection with new ones.
MailChimp
mailchimp
MailChimp is a popular choice among entrepreneurs and small business because of its affordable plans and powerful features. It’s email marketing at its best. With MailChimp you can create email campaigns, manage subscribers, check your analytics and much more. Their free plan has everything a freelancer or a small business could need, which makes it a popular option. The service offers:
Email blasts and targeted emails;
Customized sign-up forms;
Google analytics integration.
Typeform
typeform
Typeform is a simple, yet effective tool to get feedback from customers and clients. It allows you to ask questions concerning customer satisfaction, quality assurance, and more. When paired with MailChimp, you get to reach out to every subscriber via regular email blasts and get important information concerning their preferences, comments, suggestions, etc. This is a great way to build trust and rapport, further ensuring customer retention.
Typeform also offers:
Questionnaires and quizzes;
Form templates;
Conversational forms that function like chatbots;
Customer engagement is highly important nowadays. A word of mouth can still go a long way, so consider investing some time and resource into it, as it can guarantee great rewards in retention and conversion.
Conclusion
Being your own boss, as freeing as it sounds, is a lot of work. There are so many details to look out for, one could easily get overwhelmed into quitting. Fortunately, we do have tools in the form of online services and apps that help us navigate that demanding space. You need a solid time management app, invoicing and accounting tool, customer communication software, and basic legal apps to keep a level head in a very insecure market.
best app for self employed bookkeeping
If you are an independent contractor, you are considered a business in the eyes of the law. And as a business, you have to do business bookkeeping and taxes. While that may sound overwhelming, the right app can help you handle all of your accounting needs. From free online and mobile options to more expensive desktop platforms, there are many different kinds of accounting apps to choose from. So how do you know where to start?
First, consider the kinds of features you need. Do you pay yourself a biweekly paycheck, or submit your own quarterly taxes to the government? Do you have any business assets or inventory to track? Are invoicing and payments a necessity? There are comprehensive programs that can tackle most or all of these needs, but they may be a bit more expensive. It’s good to note that the cost of these apps can vary — some have monthly fees, others have a one-time fee, and we’ve also included one in this list that is free to use.
Another thing to consider is your accounting app’s integration capabilities. Some integrate with a wide range of tools to track expenses, hours, miles, receipts, and other metrics for your business. If you rely on any specific tools or CRMs, make sure they integrate with the app you choose.
We’ve also included accounting apps on a variety of platforms, for mobile devices and desktop computers alike, so you’ll want to think about where and how you’ll need to access your bookkeeping information. With those things in mind, read on for our list of the best accounting apps for independent contractors.
The 8 Best Accounting Apps for Independent Contractors in 2022
Best Overall: Quickbooks
Runner-Up, Best Overall: Xero
Best Free: Wave Accounting
Best for Freelancers: Freshbooks
Best for Part-Time Contractors and Side Hustles: Zoho Books
Best Full-Service App: Bench
Best for Automatic Invoicing: GoDaddy Bookkeeping
Best for Combined Bookkeeping and Tax Prep: inDinero
Best Accounting Apps for Independent Contractors
Quickbooks
Xero
Wave Accounting
Freshbooks
Zoho Books
Bench
GoDaddy Bookkeeping
InDinero
What Is Accounting Software For Independent Contractors?
How Does Accounting Software For Independent Contractors Work?
How Much Does Accounting Software For Independent Contractors Cost?
Is Accounting Software For Independent Contractors Worth The Cost?
Who Should Use Accounting Software For Independent Contractors?
Methodology
BEST OVERALL
Quickbooks
QuickBooks
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Intuit’s Quickbooks is the best-known accounting app for good reason. While it’s not perfect, it is the best accounting program on the market today and sets a high bar for what business money management apps can do. Quickbooks is great for a wide range of businesses from solo freelancers to brick-and-mortar empires.
This program is the standard for small business accounting, and it offers much more than an independent contractor probably needs. But, that said, it also includes everything an independent contractor may ever need. That includes live bank connections, invoicing, payment processing, and mobile apps.
Quickbooks has versions for both Windows and Mac, as well as an online version (which is best for independent contractors). There is both a self-employed version and full version that should both sufficiently handle your business needs. Quickbooks Self-Employed plans start at $7.50 per month and go up to $17 for the Live Tax Bundle which includes live assistance from CPAs.
RUNNER-UP, BEST OVERALL
Xero
Xero
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Xero is a top competitor to Quickbooks and offers a wide range of features starting at $11 per month for the Starter version, going up to $62 per month for the Premium version. The Starter version should be sufficient for most freelancers, through any payroll needs require the $32 Standard version.
All Xero plans include financial reports, mobile apps, more than 1,000 integrations, live bank account connections, invoicing, and access for multiple team members. Xero customers also get free access to the Xero Projects app, which is an accounting project management app, for no extra charge at this time. This is perfect for hourly and project-based billing.
You will still need an external tax app or accountant, but all of your bookkeeping needs are covered. Billing and expense forms, double-entry accounting, inventory tracking, document management, and CRM integrations are just a few features that make Xero worth serious consideration for any independent contractor.
BEST FREE
Wave Accounting
Wave Accounting
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Wave Accounting is a free accounting app that works both online and on your smartphone. While there are charges for some extra features like payment processing and payroll, the free starting price point makes it a winner for many independent contractors.
The free version is pretty impressive, even compared to some paid accounting apps. It includes invoicing, live bank connections, income and expense tracking, and collaborators. It even has the ability to track multiple businesses (like a “side hustle” or two) and personal finances in the same account.
Paid add-on services include online ACH and credit card processing and payroll. But these cost more than some competitors, so if you process a lot of payments you may end up paying more with Wave’s “free” accounting than you would with a paid app.
BEST FOR FREELANCERS
Freshbooks
Freshbooks
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If you are a freelancer and want simple accounting with a focus on your needs, Freshbooks is a leading choice. This app is ideal for the self-employed and starts at $6 per month after a 30-day trial. If you have more than five clients, you’ll need the Plus version at $15 per month or the Premium version for unlimited clients. Save 10% by paying annually instead of monthly. Additional team members cost $10 per month each.
Features include invoicing, expenses, time tracking, projects, estimates, payments, reporting, and a mobile app. It is one of the easiest accounting systems to use. While some other advanced programs feel like they require an accounting degree to navigate, Freshbooks keeps it simple.
BEST FOR PART-TIME CONTRACTORS AND SIDE HUSTLES
Zoho Books
Zoho Books
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Zoho offers a suite of email, CRM, a custom app engine, and an accounting package. The accounting side, Zoho Books, is free in the basic version, which should be plenty for most independent contractors.
Zoho Books includes accounting needs like bank reconciliations, invoicing, expense tracking, timesheets, projects, recurring transactions, and sales approvals. Bill management requires upgrading to the Standard version at $15 per month or $180 per year.
Zoho Books does quite a bit, but does not scale up for larger businesses like some of the more popular accounting packages. It should work fine for independent contractors and side hustlers alike.
BEST FULL-SERVICE APP
Bench
Bench
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Bench is an accountant and an accounting app in one offering two packages. The Essential package, which focuses on bookkeeping, costs $299 per month (or $249/month if billed annually). The Premium plan includes everything from the Essential plan as well as tax advisory and tax filing services for $499 per month. (or $399/month if billed annually). While it costs more than most others on this list, it includes one big feature the others don’t: a human accountant.
Included in the monthly fee is a team of bookkeepers to monitor your connected financial accounts and keep the books up to date. Whenever you want, you can log in and view statements and reports that you need to run your business.
You’ll get monthly financial reports and can rest easy knowing the books are taken care of. Bench doesn’t include accounting, but it does provide the reports and support you need for your accountant to take care of things come tax day.
Bench offers a free trial for both of its plans so you can give them a try before committing.
BEST FOR AUTOMATIC INVOICING
GoDaddy Bookkeeping
GoDaddy Bookkeeping
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If you work with one client every month and send the same fixed-rate invoice, you shouldn’t have to worry about spending hours and hours on bookkeeping tasks — or repeating the same invoice process, again and again, every month. With GoDaddy Bookkeeping (formerly “Outright”) that recurring process is automatic.
GoDaddy Bookkeeping is one of the best accounting apps for e-commerce sellers, but it offers plenty of features to cover independent contractors as well. It includes both web and mobile access and starts at a very low $5 per month (when billed annually) for a basic version that includes invoices, estimates, payments, mileage, and time tracking.
If you want more than current-year business reports, however, you’ll need the essentials or premium versions that run $10 per month and $15 per month respectively.
BEST FOR COMBINED BOOKKEEPING AND TAX PREP
inDinero
inDinero
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inDinero is a full-service accounting software with accounting and tax preparation service in one. Like Bench, there is a human element to the service that begins at $300 per month (billed annually).
This is the one-stop-shop for accounting and tax in one place. Even Quickbooks requires you to use TurboTax for an extra fee if you want your taxes done in the same place. It is the most expensive service on this list, but includes everything you need to run your basic business administration without lifting a finger.
What Is Accounting Software for Independent Contractors?
Accounting software for independent contractors is accounting software that is geared toward independent contractors rather than big companies. The software can be an app used on your phone or tablet or one downloaded to your computer. Typically, accounting apps for independent contractors will help with organizing and storing records and receipts, keeping track of accounts payable and accounts receivable, and performing bookkeeping tasks.
How Does Accounting Software for Independent Contractors Work?
Accounting software for independent contractors works like other accounting software in that you download the app, create an account, and start entering your data. The app will do the calculations for you. It will also suggest categories for organization and store everything related to accounting in one place. Most accounting apps can be integrated with other apps such as mobile banking, customer relationship management (CRM), and mileage tracking.
Some helpful accounting app features include:
Bank connections
Double-entry accounting
Financial reports
Invoicing
Payroll
Tracking multiple businesses
How Much Does Accounting Software for Independent Contractors Cost?
The costs of accounting software for independent contractors vary. There are free and paid versions, and typically the paid versions have more features. Some apps offer free 30-day trial periods and others offer discounts for paying annually in advance. Typically, expect to spend anywhere from $4.50 per month for a basic version with a limited number of clients to $300 per month for more custom options with 50 clients, connected bank accounts, and live customer service.
Is Accounting Software for Independent Contractors Worth the Cost?
Accounting software for independent contractors is worth the cost. An independent contractor is responsible for their own accounting and bookkeeping, as well as tax preparation and deadlines. Using an accounting app will save you time and money and help you keep track of how much money is coming in and how much is going out.
If you’re just starting out or only have a few clients, then start with a basic version of accounting software that is less expensive. You can always upgrade to a version with more features once your business grows.
Who Should Use Accounting Software for Independent Contractors?
It’s a good idea for all independent contractors to use accounting software. You could be a new independent contractor with just a few clients or be an established contractor with more than 50 clients—either way, you’ll benefit from the features that accounting apps offer. Accounting apps can be used in addition to the help of a CPA or even in place of a CPA if you’re comfortable doing your taxes yourself.
How We Chose the Best Accounting Apps for Independent Contractors
There are so many accounting apps on the market. We narrowed them down to the top eight after reviewing the most popular ones. We chose these as our best accounting apps for independent contractors based on their functions, features, and integrations. We also looked at their pricing, number of versions offered, and whether they tailor the app to the specific needs of independent contractors.
Conclusion
Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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