Running a business is hard! As a small business owner, you have to wear many hats: accountant, marketer, salesperson, and more. And with the constant changes in technology, it’s difficult to keep up with all of the new tools that you need in order to be successful.
We’ve compiled a list of our favorite apps for small business finance so that you can focus on what matters most: running your business.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Small Business Finance
The basics of finances are never going to change: you always want your profit margin and cash runway to be looking healthy. What can change, however, are the tools you use. Technology has made it easier than ever to stay on top of business finances. Whether you’re looking to improve your credit score with timely bill payments or track your expenses more effectively, here’s a roundup of the top 5 iOS and Android apps to help you stay cool, calm, and collected when it comes to running your business.
- Xero
One of the leading names in accounting software, Xero can be used on desktop or as mobile app, available for Android and iOS. Xero serves as a central hub of all your business finance needs, including:
Invoicing – send on desktop or from the app, creating easy click-to-pay emails for customers
Inventory management – keep track of what’s in stock and what’s selling out
Bank transactions – connect your bank account to the Xero app
Pay bills – store your bills, pay them on time, or schedule early payments
Payroll (through Gusto for an additional fee)
Xero also allows easy collaboration, and you can give access to contractors and remote workers so you’re all working with the same up-to-date data. Xero’s mobile app marketplace is also full of extras you can add to make your workload run smoother. There are over 800 third-party android apps and iOS apps that you can add to your Xero experience, from PayPal to Dropbox.
Xero, like most apps, works on a monthly pricing model, so you can choose which plan suits you. Choose from Early, Growing, or Established (plans are based on the size of your company and what you might need). Established, for example, includes support for multiple currencies and expense claims, while Growing does not.
The Xero mobile app is free with all subscription plans.
- QuickBooks
QuickBooks is a huge name in mobile app accounting and you’ll find that you can utilize it no matter what phone app you do go for – QuickBooks integrates with many other apps. The app’s features are seemingly endless, including:
Income and expenses tracking
Sending and tracking invoices
Connecting to bank accounts
Payroll, complete with penalty protection
Inventory management
Time tracking
QuickBooks even lets you connect with an online bookkeeper to make sure everything is maintained and managed correctly, something small businesses without permanent accountants may find particularly useful. There is also a QuickBooks mobile card reader app, so you can complete a sale wherever you are.
The QuickBooks pricing plan covers multiple tiers: Simple Start, Essentials, Plus, and Advanced. It also has a freelancer option.
The QuickBooks app is free with all subscription plans.
- FreshBooks
Completing the triad of best apps for accounting is FreshBooks. Similar to QuickBooks and Xero in terms of its features, FreshBooks is completely web based, so as long as you’re online, you can gain access. The app boasts the following:
Easy invoicing – see when your invoices are sent, viewed, and paid
Expense tracking – no more receipt shoeboxes!
Time tracking – track hours and add them to an invoice automatically
Easy collaboration – secure communication and file sync
Double-entry accounting – automatic checks help keep your accounts accurate and compliant
FreshBooks has a long list of integrations, including Gusto and HubSpot, so you can make it the center of your whole business. Available plans include Lite, Plus, Premium, and Select.
- Wave
If you’ve ever been on the lookout for a phone app to help run your business, then you’ve probably heard of Wave. It’s not the prestige offering of Xero or QuickBooks, but that’s precisely what gives it the edge – Wave can be used completely free. If you opt for the pay-per-use, you can add credit card processing to your arsenal. Features include:
Unlimited income and expense tracking
Work with collaborators
Double entry system
Connect to your bank
Run several businesses in the one account
Invoice in any currency
Receipt scanning
For small businesses that are just getting started and need a cost-effective option, Wave is one of the best apps to choose. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of larger names, but it’s still a robust service, especially when you consider that it’s free and unlimited.
- Bill.com
Every part of business finance can be stressful, but the always changing nature of double entry can be understandably difficult to master. Bill.com lets you stay on top of it all:
Create invoices
Credit customers
Set automatic payment reminders
Integration with QuickBooks and FreshBooks
Whether you prefer Android apps or use iOS, Bill.com is available for both, and at a relatively low price-point. If you want Bill.com to help with both account payables and receivables (rather than one or the other) you’ll have to pay a little extra. Choosing Bill.com doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from other apps, as it integrates with almost every other name on this list.
QuickBooks vs. FreshBooks vs. Xero
As the three biggest names in the mobile app space, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, and Xero are constantly vying for the top spot when it comes to best android apps – so who’s the winner? Annoyingly, the answer isn’t clear cut.
FreshBooks lends itself well to freelancers and gig economy workers, not only in terms of its flexible cloud-based interface, but also regarding how it supports time tracking for users to invoice clients. It’s incredibly user-friendly, making it accessible to even the newest of business owners.
QuickBooks and Xero are better suited to sales or product-based businesses. It’s fair to say that they are probably the two best apps for larger businesses. Both apps offer an extensive list of features, making them great tools not just for accounting, but also team and talent management. The pricing structure may help with your decision – QuickBooks bases pricing on features and number of users, while Xero bases their price plans on features and – on its smaller plans – how many invoices you can send.
Of course, with integrations across so many iOS and Android apps, you don’t have to settle on one. If you’re a small business owner with a small budget, you don’t have to opt for any of the big names – Wave is an excellent choice, and the reasonably priced Bill.com can be a great option for assistance with your bookkeeping.
We can help
GoCardless helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of admin your team needs to deal with when chasing invoices. Find out how GoCardless can help you with ad hoc payments or recurring payments.
online business apps
Mobile applications are changing the face of business. They’re becoming more prevalent and more powerful, and most importantly, they can help your business run more smoothly. Want to improve daily operations? Organize your ideas? Manage travel expenses? There’s literally a small business app for that.
As a small business owner, the more you can automate tasks, stay organized, and streamline your processes, the more efficient and productive your business will become. Thankfully, there are a ton of tools on the market to help — in addition to DreamHost’s managed hosting plans, of course.
Here are the 30 best small business apps in 2021.
Cloud Computing Apps
Running a small business usually requires delegating tasks to several talented people — think designers, copywriters, project managers, your significant other. If you don’t have the right tools to keep everyone on the same page, it’s easy to miscommunicate. The following apps will help you share files, organize ideas, and stay up-to-date on your team’s to-do lists.
- Google Workspace
Google Workspace website home page.
Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) lets you port files among PCs, tablets, and smartphones. The standard package comes with 30 GB of online storage per user with options to upgrade to unlimited. And it allows you to create docs, spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, and more.
Key Features:
Offers a popular set of intelligent business apps
Stops the need to use different apps for basic business functions
Provides professional and ad-free business email experience.
Price: Plans start as low as $6 per user per month.
Related: How to Sign up for G Suite in Your DreamHost Panel
- ShipStation
Best Small Business Apps DreamHost
If you sell and ship products online, you need a time-saving e-commerce solution to streamline your shipping. Cloud-based ShipStation is simple to use and allows you to process online orders, get order alerts, print shipping labels, track shipments, and more.
Key Features:
Works with most e-commerce platforms, including WooCommerce and Shopify
Streamline the order processing system to fit your business’s needs
Create custom shipping labels that show off your brand
Price: Plans start at $9 per month
The Host with the Most
We don’t just know a lot about the best apps for small business owners. We’re also really great at helping businesses improve their bottom line.
Learn More
- SurveyMonkey
Small Business Apps DreamHost
Stop guessing what your customers want, and ask them yourself. With SurveyMonkey, you can create surveys to measure user engagement and get anonymous customer feedback on your products, pricing, website, and any unmet needs of your target market. Build simple or more complex surveys, and find tips on the SurveyMonkey website about question types and how to word them. Survey creation is collaborative, and results and reports can be viewed by different team members without sharing login information.
Key Features:
Create surveys from a template and brand with your own business colors and logos
Review survey results as they come in from any device
Send your surveys out into the world via your website, email, social media accounts, and more
Price: Freemium, with advanced packages starting at $32 per month (there are discounts for students and educators)
- FreshBooks
Best Small Business Apps DreamHost
This cloud accounting software will make your invoicing (and more!) quick and simple. With FreshBooks, you can create and personalize invoices, and set up automatic billing. You can also track business expenses — and create a minute-by-minute record of how you spend your time for a real eye-opening accounting of your productivity.
Key Features:
Accessible from any and all of your screens
Accept credit cards on your mobile device
Converts estimates into invoices
Price: $15/month for five clients; Free Invoice Template downloads
- Dropbox Business
Dropbox Business is a cloud computing app that allows you to sync files and folders across various platforms. The mobile app gives you access to all your files on the go and offers plans for really small businesses — we’re talking just three users.
Key Features:
Offers cloud storage of all important files
Prevents lost files
Provides flexible storage plans
Price: Starts at $12.50/month for 3+ users
- Microsoft OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive allows cloud storage and file sharing through synced folders. You can view and edit OneDrive files from any smartphone or tablet with the OneDrive mobile app. Though it works for both Macs and PCs, additional services like settings backup and automatic photo upload are reserved for Windows 8 and Windows Phone users.
Key Features:
Offers convenient file sharing
Stops lost folders and files
Provides easy collaboration tools
Price: Starts at $5/month per user
Related: How to Choose the Best Cloud Applications
- Unifyle
Unifyle is a cloud storage management solution that pairs with other storage services like DropBox, SugarSync, Access Box, and more. It also organizes email from different providers, allowing you to view, send, and search across accounts.
Key Features:
Pairs with top-of-the-line apps
Stops security breaches
Provides virtual file management
Price: Free
- Evernote
Evernote can help you capture and remember all the brilliant ideas you come up with while on the move. It’s available on multiple platforms and allows you to store your ideas by voice, text, or photo. You can search your notes by keywords and tags.
Key Features:
Offers quick Google sign-in
Stops you from losing your best ideas
Provides on-the-go note taking
Price: Free for basic plan; upgrade to a business account for $14.99 per user per month
- DocuSign
DocuSign allows you to easily collect signatures online or via a mobile device. This is the perfect tool for collecting necessary information from clients and remote employees.
Key Features:
Offers rapid app development
Stops inconvenience of collecting signatures in person
Provides powerful integrations with Salesforce, Google, Microsoft, and more
Price: Starts at $10/month
- Polaris Office
Polaris Office is a good mobile alternative to Apple’s iWork suite or Microsoft’s Office Suite for spreadsheets and docs. It allows you to read and edit docs via the mobile app.
Key Features:
Offers outstanding compatibility to view and edit all documents
Stops increase on costs related to purchasing an office suite
Provides mobile and desktop access
Price: Pro plans start at $5/month
- SOS Online Backup
SOS Online Backup automatically backs up your files online and provides military-grade encryption.
Key Features:
Offers secure online backup
Stops loss of files
Provides 100%privacy
Price: Starting at $4.99/month
Cloud Computing apps truly are the way of the future when it comes to making sure your team has secure access to the right information.
Related: Safeguard Your Site with 13 of the Best Security Plugins
Communication Apps
Whether you’ve got a team of part-time workers or remote freelancers, it’s vital to have a way to stay connected. Here are some of the top tools to make virtual communication easy.
- Slack
Slack is one of the most popular communication apps on the market. With Slack, you can create different communication channels, send group messages, and even break off into one-off meetings within a slack channel.
Key Features:
Offers easy communication between teams
Stops confusion among team members
Provides targeted channel communications
Price: Freemium
- Fuze
Fuze is a great communication app for times when a simple chat isn’t enough. Fuze is a video conferencing tool that works across all platforms and devices. No matter where anyone is on your team, they can hop on Fuze and make it to your meeting on time.
Key Features:
Offers user training and materials
Stops remote employees from missing meetings
Provides “go-live” transition support
Price: Varies per plan — contact Fuze for more information
- Skype
Skype group call
Skype is a trusty app for simplifying team communication. Skype allows you to chat with team members from any location. And since the app is so popular, you can rest assured that your team members and clients will know how to use it.
Key Features:
Offers trustworthy calling, chatting, and video conferencing
Stops loss of easy collaboration
Provides free calls to friends
Price: Freemium
Of course, you could just pick up the phone to sync with your team members and clients, but if you really want to stay connected, these platforms make it easy to build open communication right into your workflow.
Related: 6 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs to Get Online
Finance Apps
As a small business, the last thing you want to do come tax time is scramble around looking for crumpled receipts. Make sure you invest in one of the following finance apps. You’ll be glad you did come April 15.
- Quickbooks
Best Small Business Apps DreamHost
Quickbooks connects to your business bank account, PayPal, and Square (plus thousands more) and uploads real-time data to help you keep tabs on your company’s financial well-being. You can even use this accounting app to track expenses and upload pictures of receipts from your phone — a definite boon when tax season rolls around.
Key Features:
View profit and loss reports
Track unpaid invoices
Pay employees
Price: Starts at $7.50/month for freelancer plan
- Expensify
There are plenty of expense trackers out there, and Expensify is one of the simplest. It keeps track of expenses and mileage via multiple platforms. Receipts can be scanned and uploaded. Expenses can be submitted to employers by a click of a button. It can also read and import expenses from a linked bank account or credit card.
Key Features:
Offers top-notch integrations
Stops confusion at tax time
Provides help with expense tracking across several industries
Price: Contact Expensify for more information
- Abukai Expenses
With Abukai Expenses, you just snap a photo of your receipts with a smartphone, and the info gets entered into the tracking app’s interface. You can also take a photo of a map or itinerary to calculate and report mileage.
Key Features:
Offers easy record-keeping of receipts
Stops messy receipt tracking
Provides multiple expense tracking at one time
Price: Freemium
- InDinero
InDinero syncs with bank accounts and credit cards to predict future cash flow based on current trends and past expenses.
Key Features:
Offers excellent bookkeeping services
Stops the need to invest big in bookkeepers
Provides tax services for small businesses
Price: Starts at $300/month
- Time Doctor
Time Doctor home page.
This time tracking app records billable hours, workers’ time on the clock and on projects. The app estimates that it can increase your workplace productivity by 22%.
Key Features:
Offers screenshot monitoring
Stops payroll confusions
Provides powerful reporting tools
Price: $10/user per month
If it’s your goal to get your finances in order before Uncle Sam comes calling next April, these apps can help.
Travel and On-the-Go Networking Apps
As a small business owner, chances are you find yourself on the road (or up in the air) more often than you imagined when you first started your business. Travel is expensive, and it can be difficult to stay on top of all the details. Unless you have the right scheduling app to help you, that is.
- TripIt
TripIt allows travelers to keep business trip arrangements, itineraries, and information together all in one location, including meeting times and flights details. It also corrals weather forecasts, maps, and directions.
Key Features:
Offers a master itinerary for every trip
Stops travel hiccups
Provides access plans from anywhere on any device
Price: Freemium
- Inigo
No more carrying stacks of business cards. Inigo is a networking app that allows you to create and share a virtual business card by tapping your smartphone with someone else’s.
Key Features:
Offers easy sharing of business cards
Stops business cards from getting lost
Provides a real-time networking solution
Price: Freemium
When it comes to business travel and networking on-the-go, you can either fly by the seat of your pants or download these apps. We know which option we’d prefer.
Operations Apps
Do you find you need help with daily business operations? You’ll be happy to know there are several apps on the market to help automate your processes and stay organized.
Conclusion
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