Financial software packages uk

Have a think about where and how you'll use your personal finance package. Most of us tend to spend money on the go, so having a software package that allows you to log and track outgoings means a mobile and app-based solution makes a lot of sense. Most packages offer both desktop and mobile solutions however. Reporting capability While personal finance package are great at helping you manage money and track spending, they're also vital for producing reports.

This data can subsequently be used for tasks such as filing your taxes or for sharing with an accounts person who does the job for you. Easy integration You'll want to check that any personal finance software you're considering will ideally work in tandem with other packages. This is crucial when it comes to logging items like expenses. Check your package can be used to move figures from one place to another for much more efficient tax filing purposes.

Help and support As is the case with any software package, it's always good to check there will be help at hand should you need it. Some personal finance packages come with free support, while others have it as part of a paid-for plan. How much help you will need depends on your confidence with the software. The best personal finance software is Quicken. Manage budgeting, bills, and investments from a single desktop or mobile app.

Quicken is a long-established tool for managing personal accounts, and while its reputation was built on a desktop version, it's now available to run as an app on your mobile devices. Quicken offers a good range of financial reporting tools. These are set around a few different areas, namely budgeting, bills, accounts, and even investments.

For budgeting, it offers you a chance to input your purchases and income so you can compare them both together to get a better idea of how much you are spending compared to how much you are earning. In terms of bills, you can also see which utilities and similar you are constantly paying out to, and see both the amounts to be paid and how much money you have left over. For accounting purposes you can even bring your banking and credit card bills together in one place so that you have a very clear idea indeed of how much you're paying out.

This is especially handy as people easily underestimate how much regular small purchases can add to costs. For investments it also offers the ability to track these, whether as part of your savings, investment portfolio, or k pension plan.

This means you have a clear idea of how much your savings and investments are worth, though it's fair to say you shouldn't panic about short-term fluctuations in the stock market. Altogether, Quicken brings together your budgeting, banking, and investment reporting into a single dashboard, which you can view from your desktop or even via your cell phone from the mobile app. Quicken - Try it for 30 days risk-free!

Because, hey, if you don't want to spend every single penny you have and more, you absolutely do need one. And perhaps you have more money than you thought? YNAB's primary mission, as you might expect, is to help you curb overspending and avoid living from paycheck to paycheck.

Stick to the program, temper your spending appropriately, and eventually YNAB will see you spending last month's money rather than that which you've just earned. It's quick to install, supports the majority of transaction information downloadable from banks, and appropriately configures itself for personal or small business use by changing its monetary categories depending on your needs.

If you get off track, YNAB — which is reasonably forgiving and understanding for a bit of software — will tell you what you need to do to get back to where you need to be. You'll have to make sacrifices, but if it's guidance you need, this sets itself apart from the likes of Quicken. There's a free day trial available currently, which will let you explore all of the features and functions, without any cash outlay.

BankTree is more than happy to support worldwide currencies, and in fact does a solid job if you're working simultaneously with more than one, offering balances in multiple currencies rather than rounding them off into a single total.

It's also good for keeping track of everything, allowing you to scan receipts with its mobile app and import them later on. It's not the prettiest software around, and it's slightly more awkward to use than many of its more refined cousins, although BankTree does produce very neat reports which you can break down by time, or by payee.

It may be worth experimenting with the free trial before you choose to invest in this one. The desktop software comes with one year of updates and support, though you are restricted to one PC and there is a charge for any additional PC you want to run the software on.

There's also a browser-based version available. Whichever version you opt for, there's a 30 day free trial available, so you can try before you buy to get an idea if BankTree will work for you. We will provide you with free email support, and free updates, and bug fixes to the current version of BankTree Desktop Personal Finance version 3. You can install the software on one computer.

Hook up every one of your UK bank and credit card accounts and you'll be able to see each of your balances in a single place with a single login.

That in itself is enough for us to recommend it. Zoho is a software provider for businesses to assist them in managing a variety of online resources including CRM, sales and marketing tools, remote working tools, email and finance tools which includes Books for accounting. Zoho Books is an end-to-end accounting software which helps automate business workflows. Zoho Books helps to manage receivables through sending estimates and converting them into invoices and assisting with payment reminders.

Manage payables through the creation of purchase orders and uploading receipts. You can also import your bank account transactions, track time spent on projects, manage contacts and run a wide variety of reports. Clear Books offers business accountancy software that is designed for small businesses and is easy to use. Their software allows businesses to take control of their invoicing, purchase tracking and financial reporting.

They offer two plans which are Small and Large. Pandle is an accountancy software developer who has created simple and easy software that has been designed to support small businesses with their bookkeeping. They offer two plans which are a free plan and a Pro plan. You can try out the Pro plan on their free trial. In addition, the Pro plan offers receipt uploads, manage projects, cash flow forecasting, manage user permissions, unlimited users, premium invoice templates and multi-company management.

Bokio is a financial software provider that offers bookkeeping and invoicing software as well as service add-ons. They cater for smaller businesses and the self-employed. Bokio offers cloud-based financial software that is automatically backed up and secure. Their free plan includes recording transactions, templates, unlimited invoicing, automated reports, HMRC compliant VAT returns, automatic bank feeds, management of expenses and support.

Priority Support incorporates all the free features but has support to set-up the account and hour support response time on business days. It offers customisable templates that can be branded with the business logo and desired fields to generate invoices, bills and reports.

Your invoices are also pay-enabled so you accept payments faster directly online and automatically send reminders to those pesky late payers. Payroll is directly integrated and you can set up in minutes. With their advanced payroll you get complete compliances even for complex schemes, CIS, salary sacrifice or even court order deductions and you can automate your entire pay run.

This includes multi-currency and up to 5 users, project profitability, estimate and quotes, budgets and time tracking. Previously known as Sage One. It requires very little accounting knowledge and is fairly easy to use. There is chat, telephone and email support if you need it. Additional support through the Sage Business Community is also available. Something that was previously lacking. Free day trial without a credit card.

FreshBooks — Best new UK accounting software for small business. FreshBooks is a major player in the cloud accounting space, and only recently launched in the UK last year. Best suited for service providers, freelancers and micro-businesses Freshbooks offers a whole suite of tools to help manage your business besides their popular accounts function. Those looking to centralise their operations within a single app will appreciate their project management, chat, file sharing, estimates and times tracking feature.

This makes it very easy to turn your billable hours into an invoice and then proceed to accept payment online, simplifying your workflow. The ability to setup recurring billing to credit cards for service-based businesses, professionals and freelancer is a must-have in our opinion.

A feature normally included at no extra cost in other accounting platforms. Free Agent — Best accounting software for self-employed and contractors UK. Geared towards the small business owner, freelancers or contractors without much accounting experience.

Easy to use and lets you input as many clients or projects as you need. Multi-user options and time-tracking features make it simple to track remote freelancers who can log in and complete their timesheets. Invoice creation is straightforward, with payment reminders at set dates after bills fall due. FreeAgent makes it dead simple to stay on top of your taxes. Their one-click reporting creates a self-assessment summary for income tax and you can even forecast your Corporation Tax ahead of time.

FreeAgent won numerous awards in at the Accounting Excellence Awards. Zoho Books is a very good online bookkeeping software for solopreneurs and micro-businesses. Especially those working with international customers. They might not have the name recognition of the major players but they make up for it in functionality and compatibility.

What makes it such a great value besides their pricing is the entire ecosystem. Instead of having to connect third party apps, Zoho has over 40 companion cloud apps that cover most business functions. If you also need a CRM, project management app, collaborations tools like chat and online bookings or even a BI solution, Zoho has you covered.