Find all you need to know before selecting the best accounting software in Nigeria – used by small and growing businesses for their record keeping.
Many business owners in Nigeria usually dread the rigours of bookkeeping – having to calculate and reconcile large numbers. However, since bookkeeping is not just an integral but vital part of the business, they have no other option than to get along with it or rather employ someone good at it.
Interestingly, with the advancement in technology, many accounting software have been designed to help calculate and reconcile these large accounting figures. So, with just a few clicks – you could crack difficult accounting calculations without the need to acquire finance degrees.
Therefore, many businesses have or are gradually moving from manual accounting techniques to the use of accounting software. However, the challenge now for local business startups and growing businesses is in choosing the best accounting software in Nigeria because there are various options in the marketplace.
This software would usually require some form of training to understand its workings, though some are simple and easy to use.
8 Best Accounting Software in Nigeria – Used by Small and Growing Business.
If you are looking for the best accounting software used by small businesses in Nigeria – the following will help you identify options based on your needs, industry standards so you can make an informed decision in buying the right accounting software.
These top accounting softwares are:
- QuickBooks
- Sage
- Tally ERP
- FreshBook
- XeroX
- Zoho
- SAP Business One
QuickBooks
QuickBooks is one of the leading accounting software for small businesses that comes with an in-depth, extensive, flexible and easy to use dashboard. The software ranks as the first choice for many small businesses that need bookkeeping software to automate their accounting systems and processes.
QuickBooks software helps you maintain and organize your cash flow and finances, creates invoices, track expenses and monitors your profit and loss reports.
Quickbooks has three variants of its desktop applications, which are; QuickBooks Pro, QuickBooks Premier, and QuickBooks Enterprise.
Features Of QuickBooks
- Company setup – customers, vendors, inventories, multi-currencies, chart of accounts, VAT, fixed assets,, banks, report customizations.
- Accounting receivables – invoicing, WHT receivables deductions, payments, ageing summary and receivable balances.
- Account payable – vendors, WHT payables, expense processing and recurring payments to vendors.
- Banking – payments, fund transfers, reconciliations, foreign currency transactions, account statements.
- Inventory management – inventory uploads, on-hand balances, track movements and reconciliations.
- Financial reporting – general ledger, profit/loss statement, balance sheet, cash flow, budgeting, cash flow forecast and audit trail.
- Data security – local/cloud backups, automatic updates, user control and password recovery.
- Industry customizations – retail, wholesale, manufacturing, real estate, property management, constructions, procurements, consulting, project management, NGO, co-operative, financial services, etc.
Pros
- Great user interface and navigation
- Manage multiple companies without incurring additional cost (for desktop use only).
- Customizable reports
- Multi-currencies
- Generate transaction forms
- Export your financial reports to excel.
- Supports multiple users on a local network or cloud server.
- Can manage both business and personal finances
Where to Buy QuickBooks Software in Nigeria
- For desktop versions (one-off) – See Price Offers
- For remote access with a cloud server (subscription-based) – contact us at bigresourcessolutions@gmail.com
Sage
Sage started as peachtree in Nigeria but it was renamed – the application was initially designed for use on a desktop computer before the released more versions to allow for remote access.
Sage accounting software helps small businesses to track sales, expenses, banking, manage customers’ data and generate reports.
Depending on users’ preference, Sage offers desktop versions which come as Pro, Premium or Quantum and the cloud version; Sage Business Cloud or ERP.
Interestingly, users can decide on the core modules they want in Sage, depending on their line of business but would be required to pay additional fee to have it activated. This is where QuickBooks seems to have an upper edge in the small and growing business market compared to Sage.
On the other, Sage comes handy for established business or enterprises looking for a complete package that integrates all the departments into a central system – from sales, purchases, banking, finance, to human resources.Besides, it can integrate with Microsoft 365 to create a hybrid, balanced accounting solution. It helps to manage cash flows, performance analysis, boost sales, and gives access to various available tax structures.
Features Of The Sage Accounting Software
- Invoice Tracking – It helps businesses track sent invoices which show the ones that are overdue and the ones that are not yet paid.
- Banking – You can monitor all cash flows into your bank, match them to your invoices, this gives real-time receivable balances and make the month-end reconciliation process easy.
- Expenses: You can also record all payments for services rendered or product supplies.
- Reports – which include; profit and loss, account payable, trial balance, sales revenue, sales tax, balance sheet, general ledger, stock movement, receipt, and payments.
- Support – Users can access support from an online community that can provide answers to important questions.
Pros
- Great customization
- Can be upgraded to higher versions
- Connects with over 100 apps
- Has a strong and reliable inventory management feature
Where to Buy Sage Software in Nigeria
- For desktop version (one-off) – See price offers here
- For setup and deployment – send a mail to bigresourcessolutions@gmail.com
Tally ERP
The Tally ERP accounting software is complete management software that helps to manage a wide range of business-related ventures. It comes as a Silver Edition which is limited to a single user or Gold Edition that allows multi-users to access central data on the server.
The Tally ERP software is recommended for a small and medium-sized organizations. It promotes remote usage which is user-friendly, fast, and easy to use. Also, using the software makes it easy to find qualified personnel
Features of Tally ERP
- Credit management
- Interest calculation
- Accommodate several companies
- For unlimited cost and profit centers
- Sales management and purchase management – Invoicing and order management
- Accounting and finance management – Balance sheet
- Payroll management – Pay structure, attendance, the profile of employees, and reports
- Audit and data security
Pros
- Easy to use interface
- Support several languages – making it convenient for users to use in their preferred language
- Accounts can be accessed remotely through the use of the Tally.net
- Comes with less risk error
Where to Buy Tally ERP Software in Nigeria
- For desktop or in-premise – see price offers
- Setup and user training – reach us at bigresourcessolutions@gmail.com
Xero
It is cloud-based accounting software that allows over 850 integrations, allows unlimited users, and allows ample reports.
Xero is suitable for small business owners who want to manage their businesses from anywhere around the world. So, businesses in IT, e-commerce, legal, and others can make use of Xero software to conduct their businesses globally.
Besides the 30-day free trial, it offers three subscription offers – early plan (five invoices, five bills, and twenty bank transactions/month at $9), growing plan (unlimited invoices and twenty bank transactions/month at $30), and the established plan (unlimited invoices, bills, and bank transactions – the only plan that allows projects and expenses and supports multiple currencies).
Features of Xero accounting software
- Customizable dashboard
- Sale overview page with charts and graphs to explain estimates and invoices
- Single invoicing templates
- Quotes that can be easily converted to purchase orders, invoices, or bills
- Client portal which allows clients to view and directly pay invoices online
- Contact management where you can add customer’s details with discount and sales tax rate
- Expense tracking and expense claims
- Bank reconciliation and charts of accounts
- Fixed asset management account payable
- Checks
- Inventory, budgeting, and reports
- Multiple currencies – Supports over 160 currencies
- Tax form and support
- Sales tax
- Purchase orders and projects
- Charts of accounts
Pros
- It is easy to set up with many assignments to acquaint users with the software environment
- The dashboards show charts and graphs for bills, invoices, and account balance
- Xero can run over 50 different reports – which include general ledger, profit and loss, and receivables.
- It can integrate over 700 third-party applications
- It supports unlimited users
Cons
- There is no live customer support for users
- The early plan is limited
- Limited mobile apps
- It is a bit pricey
FreshBooks
This is one of the best cloud accounting software. It helps small business ventures to run smooth, secured, easy, fast, and profitable business processes. Also, the software comes with tools to help business owners run a stress-free venture while handling all accounting activities.
The FreshBooks accounting software is arguably a preferred invoice generating software among startups in the business world. It also comes with amazing features that will make all your accounting activities hassle-free.
Therefore, FreshBooks is a straight-forward and easy accounting software that sends invoices and receives online payments. It comes in two variants; which are the classic version and the newer version.
Features Of FreshBooks
- Accounting (billing and invoicing, bank reconciliation, project accounting, expense tracking, tax management, and payroll management
- Account payable (this include invoice processing)
- Account receivable (online payment, ACH payment processing, and recurring billing
- Billing and invoicing such as mobile payment, payment processing, multi-currency, tax calculation, and customizable invoices
- Expense report (receipt management and spend control
- Financial management (financial reporting, project management, and tax management)
- Time and expense (expense tracking, activity tracking, project tracking, and billing & invoicing
Pros
- It gives a detailed customer record
- Support double-entry accounting
- Exciting user-experience
- Inventory tracking
Cons
- Tax estimation is done manually
- Invoicing section of the software is more developed than the accounting section
- It is not built to keep an automatic numeration for the invoices – this is been done manually
- Poor chat and phone support
- The app version lacks some features
Zoho Books
The Zoho Books is another cloud-based accounting software that is ranked as the best accounting software for micro-business – this is due to its amazing features which come at an affordable price.
Besides, Zoho Books is accounting software that is built with full accounts payable and account receivable. It is available in three service plans, these are the basic plan ($9/month and allows only two users – create an invoice, tracks, and reconcile accounts), the standard plan ($19/month and allows only three users – track bills, print checks, and manage vendors), and the professional plan ($29/month and allows up to ten users – create sales orders and customize software URL and customer portal with your domain name).
So, for accounting software that manages finance and automates business workflow and at a cheap rate – then the Zoho Books accounting software is the right choice.
Features Of Zoho Books
The following are the features of the Zoho Books accounting software;
- Customizable invoice
- Estimates
- Client portal
- Transaction approval and matching
- Expenses
- Automated bank feeds
- Bills
- Inventory adjustment and inventory tracking
- Projects
- Sales orders
- Recurring expenses
- Purchase orders
- Multiple project management
- Tax management
- Online payments
- Mobile applications features
Pros
- It is cheap
- It has a 14-day trial version
- Real-time inventory tracking and reporting
- It offers valuable integrations
- Offers access to helpful analytics
- It generates automatic invoicing
- CRM integrations
- Great mobile apps and user-interface
- Excellent document management
- Unlimited access to customer support
Cons
- It lacks payroll functionalities
- It does not permit a 3rd party data input
- Limited storage
- It is not designed with fixed asset management
- There is a transaction cap of 5,000/month on the highest plan
Wave Accounting
The Wave accounting software offers excellent invoice creation and management features that help business owners with their accounting activities.
Interestingly, the Wave accounting software delivers 100 percent free and real double-entry accounting solutions to small business owners. With the Wave software, users can have access to their data from anywhere around the world and can work on all transactions using one login.
However, the free plan includes; unlimited income and expense tracking, unlimited customizable invoices, can accommodate many businesses in a single account, online payment, receipt scanning, unlimited credit card, and bank connections, and unlimited guest registrations
Therefore, for invoicing, accounting, payments, and receipts – payment is based on usage while others are free.
So, it is charged $0.30/transaction and a $35/month base fee for payroll services in addition to $6/month for each contractor or employer.
Features Of Wave Accounting Software
- Account receivable
- Expense tracking
- Seamless integration with QuickBooks, FreshBooks, PayPal, and so many others
- Billing and invoicing
- Statements (such as cash flow statements, sales tax reports, and profit and loss statements
- Project accounting
- Reminders for invoicing and bills
- Fixed asset management
- Payroll management
- Purchase order management
- Tax management
- CPA firms
- Easy to understand dashboard
- Bank reconciliation
- Fund accounting
Pros
- Being free makes it easy for startups (except for payroll and payment)
- Create and send invoices from anywhere
- It supports multi-currency
- Allows double-entry accounting
- Excellent user-interface
- Superb transaction and invoice management
Cons
- It does not offer a discount
- Lacks dedicated time-tracking feature
- Weak invoice customization
SAP
This compilation will not be complete with the SAP’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. It is one of the best accounting software for small businesses around the world. It makes users be able to account for both goods and funds.
Also, it can be used for keeping inventories, product orders, and reservations. Others are cost accounting, processing of bank statements, payments, reporting, and financial analytics. Interestingly, users can access customer’s details in real-time from anywhere they are.
Final Thoughts
All these accounting software are among the best accounting software in Nigeria. So, if you run a small to medium-sized business, you could take advantage of these tools to groom your business from that small stage to the next level.
However, the highlighted accounting software are QuickBooks, Sage, Tally ERP, Xero, FreshBooks, Zoho Books, Wave Accounting, and SAP.
So, which of these is more appealing to you?
Let our business support software consultant talk to you on how you can pick the best accounting software for your line of business, reach out to us at bigresourcessolutions@gmail.com or call 08105090001.