For small business and personal use. Not very rich in functionalities. Open-source software literally means that the source code of the program is open to programmers, unlike traditional commercial closed-source software.
In this article, we will be looking at professional Accounting software specifically and will highlight some of the popular open-source products on the market today, their functionalities as well as the systems they run on. Please note that an accounting system may include impressive functionalities, but it is also important to consider whether the business owner would be able to use it when comparing the functionalities of various options.
Other considerations when comparing free open source accounting software are the speed of the program, how many users can use it at the same time, if the program allows for multiple companies, departments, or cost-centers (where this is important), whether the program is considered relatively bug free and whether it is web-based or not.
If you consider implementing one of these software solutions, please check first which other software in your organization would need to be imported into this program and confirm whether such imports would be possible with the desired accounting software solution. For seamless integration, Try Sage50 Cloud for FREE – Online accounting software for small businesses.
Usually, with free open source Accounting software, the software provider will make his profits by providing professional training, consultation, or manuals for the software at a fee. Some even receive donations.
Here follows a list of free open source Accounting software that could be used in a business:
- Easy, free accounting software for your small business
- Hard-working payroll for your small business
| Modules | Included |
|---|---|
| Accounting | Yes |
| Invoice | Yes |
| Lending | Yes |
| Payments | Yes |
| Payroll | Yes |
| Receipts Management | Yes |
- GnuCash is ideal for small businesses and is a desktop application for Linux, Windows and Mac OSX.
- Includes graphs and scheduled transactions.
| Modules | Included |
|---|---|
| General Ledger, Trial Balance | Yes |
| Stock Control | Yes |
| Debtors control, invoicing and statements | Yes |
| Creditors control | Yes |
| Reports | Yes |
| Manufacturing | No |
- TurboCASH is a windows desktop application suitable for small businesses with more than 70,000 users.
| Modules | Included |
|---|---|
| General Ledger, Trial Balance | Yes |
| Stock Control | Yes |
| Debtors control, invoicing and statements | Yes |
| Creditors control | Yes |
| Reports | Yes |
| Manufacturing | No |
- Before Lazy8 Ledger was only compatible with Sun-Java but now it will work with OpenJDK which is the standard Java in Linux distributions.
- Available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
| Modules | Included |
|---|---|
| General Ledger, Trial Balance | Yes |
| Stock Control | No |
| Debtors control, invoicing and statements | No |
| Creditors control | No |
| Reports | Yes |
| Manufacturing | No |
- For small business and personal use.
- Not very rich in functionalities yet.
- Runs on PHP.
| Modules | Included |
|---|---|
| General Ledger, Trial Balance | Yes |
| Stock Control | No |
| Debtors control, invoicing and statements | No |
| Creditors control | No |
| Reports | No |
| Manufacturing | No |
- Rich in functionalities within the various accounting modules that is covered and can handle multi-currency, multi-department, and multi-company organization’s accounting.
- Includes graphs and provides for scheduled transactions. It is also web and email enabled and provides for full employee records.
- Runs on Windows.
| Modules | Included |
|---|---|
| General Ledger, Trial Balance | Yes |
| Stock Control | Yes |
| Debtors control, invoicing and statements | Yes |
| Creditors control | Yes |
| Reports | Yes |
| Manufacturing | Yes |
| Cashbook / Bank Reconciliation | Yes |
Also, do check out this post by Proper.ai on How to Close your Books like an expert property accountant.
Good work! Thanks for the listing. I would always go with open source software considering the cost cutting. Addition to your listed open sources, I would like to share another free online tool which helps in your billing department. It is called as Billing Boss.
Billing Boss is an online tool launched by the business management software providers The Sage Group plc. You can create instant invoices and send it to your customer for free of cost. It’s highly secures and your data and your customer information is encrypted and stored in a state of the art facility with regular backup. You don’t require any software to download and install as it is a free online tool. It has been widely used by the freelancers and the small business owners. To get a quick access, visit http://www.billingboss.com
Hope this helps