Best Bookkeeping Software for Self-Employed Individuals

Bookkeeping can be a time-consuming process, especially for self-employed individuals, who often juggle their core business activities with a multitude of administrative tasks. When you rely on manual bookkeeping, tasks like tracking transactions across multiple clients, reconciling books with bank statements, and calculating tax estimates can take time and energy away from revenue-generating work. Whether you do your own bookkeeping or outsource it, the right software saves time while improving the timeliness and accuracy of your books.

Software	Price	Verdict
FreshBooks	$21/mo	Best for freelancers and solo ecommerce owners
Wave	$0/mo	Best free self-employed bookkeeping software
QuickBooks	$20/mo	Best for outsourced bookkeeping
TrulySmall Accounting	$20/mo	Best for ease of use
Xero	$20/mo	Honorable mention

Note: All amounts listed are in USD.

Features to Look For

On top of core features like automated expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting, self-employed bookkeeping software should accommodate unique needs:

• Integrations — with banks, payment apps (PayPal, Zelle, Venmo), sales channels (Amazon, eBay, Shopify), and time-tracking tools (Clockify, QuickBooks Time).
• Separation of business and personal accounts — manual tagging or custom auto-categorization rules.
• Invoicing — create, customize, and send invoices, auto-record paid income, track payment statuses, and send reminders.
• Tracking billable hours and mileage — built-in time tracking and GPS mileage tracking for tax deductions.
• Receipt scanning, device availability, multi-user access, user-friendliness, and customer support.

FreshBooks: Best Overall

FreshBooks has the best of all worlds: affordable pricing, comprehensive features, ease of use, and scalability. Its built-in time tracking, mileage tracking, and client communication come built-in with all plans, making it particularly suitable for self-employed individuals. The time tracking feature logs hours as you work and adds billable time to invoices, integrating with Asana, Basecamp, Trello, and Teamwork. Plans run Lite ($21, up to 5 clients), Plus ($38, up to 50 clients), and Premium ($65, unlimited). You get the best value if you’re a project-based freelancer with few clients.

Wave: Best Free Option

Wave is excellent for the self-employed individual on a budget. Its free Starter plan offers all essential features — unlimited invoicing, expense tracking, and payment acceptance — and generates key reports like profit and loss statements. The caveat is the lack of automated bookkeeping, forcing manual bank feed imports and categorization. For $16/mo, Wave Essentials automates bank feed imports, transaction categorization, late payment reminders, and unlimited digital receipt capture.

QuickBooks: Best for Outsourced Bookkeeping

QuickBooks is trusted and known by the majority of accountants and bookkeepers worldwide, making it the best choice for outsourced bookkeeping. QuickBooks Solopreneur ($20/mo) is designed specifically for freelancers, with automated income/expense tracking, invoicing, mileage tracking, and a standout ability to separate business and personal expenses. QuickBooks Simple Start ($35/mo) adds bookkeeping automation, one sales channel integration, and bill management.

TrulySmall Accounting: Best for Ease of Use

TrulySmall Accounting is the best solution for self-employed individuals with no prior accounting knowledge — the company claims 70% of users had no prior accounting experience. It automatically records, categorizes, and posts transactions using IRS/CRA-approved categories, and auto-reconciles paid invoices. It costs $20/mo, with cheaper TrulySmall Invoicing and TrulySmall Expenses packages at $8.99 each. The downsides are no multi-business support and no free plan.

Xero: Honorable Mention

Xero sees widespread use in the accounting community and offers a comprehensive set of features with an easy-to-navigate interface. It comes with all the self-employed essentials — bank reconciliation, invoicing, reporting, tax calculation, and Hubdoc receipt capture. The main issue is that the Early plan ($20/mo) limits you to 20 invoices and 5 bills, and the next tier costs more than twice as much. Plans run Early ($20), Growing ($47), and Established ($80).

Why Use Bookkeeping Software Over Spreadsheets?

Many small business owners, contractors, and sole proprietors use Excel or Google Sheets — flexible and easy, but not built for bookkeeping, so they can end up slowing you down. Dedicated software like QuickBooks, Xero, and FreshBooks links to your accounts and automatically tracks and organizes transactions, reducing manual load while keeping records accurate. The benefits: saving time, increasing accuracy, and generating financial insights.

Outsource Self-Employed Bookkeeping through EpicBooks

Although most self-employed individuals pride themselves on their independence, wearing too many administrative hats can lead to burnout. Bookkeeping is not a burden you need to bear on your own — consider working with the experts at EpicBooks. Our self-employed bookkeeping packages cover expense tracking, cash flow management, and tax preparation.