Best Bookkeeping Software for Small & Medium Businesses

Tally Solutions |Updated on: May 25, 2023

TallyPrime: A fast and comprehensive bookkeeping software for your business

TallyPrime is a powerful bookkeeping software that simplifies business management by handling accounting, inventory, banking, taxation, payroll, and more. By managing complex tasks, TallyPrime enables you to prioritize business growth.

Key features of TallyPrime's bookkeeping software

An all-inclusive bookkeeping software, TallyPrime comes with the following features:

1. Record and bookkeeping TallyPrime streamlines the process of recording transactions and bookkeeping with its exhaustive all-in-one accounting system.
	2. Invoicing and billing With TallyPrime, you can quickly create, print, and email professional-looking invoices in just a few seconds. Its fully customizable features allow you to configure information on the invoice, add a logo, choose billing formats that suit your business needs, and more. TallyPrime is a tailored bookkeeping software solution that is perfect for your business.
3. Pre-defined chart of accounts You can create and organize the chart of accounts the way you want. What’s more? TallyPrime comes with a pre-defined chart of accounts. All you need to do is just create and map your ledger accounts.
	4. Accounts receivable and payable management TallyPrime's automated management of accounts receivable and payable on a bill-by-bill basis allows you to keep track of all outstanding bills. This efficient system offers insightful reports and powerful tools like ageing analysis, credit control utilities, and multiple bill settlement to manage your receivables and payables effectively.5. Insightful accounting and financial reports.
5. Insightful accounting and financial reports TallyPrime comes with a diverse set of readily available business reports with numerous views and actionable insights to help you make informed decisions for your business growth. These reports are designed to aid in analysis such that you can slice and dice the information in reports and create various viewpoints to understand the reports better.
	6. Complete GST solution Right from recording tax invoices to filing accurate GST returns, TallyPrime is a one-stop solution for all your GST needs. The prevention, detection and correction technology ensures your books and returns are always accurate.
7. Inventory management TallyPrime is a flexible software for inventory management enabling businesses to manage the optimum level of inventories always.
	8. Multi-currency support You can record invoices, quotations, orders, accept payments, and receive bills in multiple currencies of your choice. The gains or losses in forex that occur due to daily variations in currency rates are auto-calculated.
9. Sales and purchase management TallyPrime is designed with complete flexibility to suit various purchase and sales processes followed by businesses.
	10. Online business reports Securely access your business data anytime, anywhere using a web browser on any device.
11. Multi-company support With TallyPrime, you can manage multiple companies and easily handle the complexities associated with them. What’s more? You can easily toggle between companies' books and make a quick comparison between two or more companies irrespective of business nature.
	12. Payroll management Using TallyPrime, you can organize your employees into departments/functions, record attendance, and auto-process salary calculations.

What is the difference between bookkeeping and accounting software?

Accounting is a broad subject. It calls for a greater understanding of records obtained from bookkeeping and an ability to analyze and interpret the information provided by bookkeeping records.

Bookkeeping is the recording phase while accounting is concerned with the summarizing phase of an accounting system. Bookkeeping provides necessary data for accounting and accounting starts where bookkeeping ends.

The distinction between Bookkeeping and accounting can be tabulated as under:

S.No	Bookkeeping	Accounting
1.	Yield of bookkeeping is an input for accounting	The yield of accounting permits informed judgments and decisions by the user of accounting information
2.	Purpose of bookkeeping is to keep a systematic record of transactions and events of financial character in order of its occurrence	Purpose of accounting is to find results of the operating activity of business and to report the financial strength of a business
3.	Bookkeeping is a foundation of accounting. It is done by bookkeepers, who do not require any special skill or knowledge	Accounting is considered as a language of business. Accountants, on the other hand, require special accounting knowledge and skills
4.	The objective of bookkeeping is to summarize the cumulative effect of all economic transactions of business for a given period. This is done by maintaining a permanent record of each business transaction with its evidence and financial effects on accounting variable	The objective of accounting is not only bookkeeping but also analysing and interpreting reported financial information for informed decisions

Automate your tasks with a bookkeeping software

Using bookkeeping software, you can manage a host of tasks right from recording transactions to generating reports. Here are some of the key tasks that you can manage using bookkeeping software:

Flexible invoicing - allows sending invoices as soon as jobs are done and getting paid for works your company does
	Automate bank reconciliation – allows you to quickly reconcile the long list of bank transactions with the bank statements
Send reminder letters – allows you to send track and send reminder letters for overdue invoices.
	Remote access - allows access to crucial business reports on a web browser, anywhere, anytime.
Inventory tracking – allows managing the flow of products and goods in and out of the company and getting the real-time stock valuations.
	Instant reports – allows getting customized reports anytime they are needed.
Payroll – allows tracking employees attendance and automatically processing salary calculations.
	Paying bills – allows receiving, storing bills and managing the frequency of payables, especially towards suppliers.
Tax Management – allows automatically calculating GST on invoices to generate accurate tax returns related to GST, TDS and TCS.
	Purchase order – allows simplifying the purchase order process and maintaining the control.

Significance of bookkeeping software

For small businesses that need to maintain up-to-date books of accounts daily, bookkeeping software can be incredibly beneficial. Such intuitive software simplifies data entry, organizes vital information, generates reports, and provides accountants with easy access to critical financial data related to various aspects of the business.

Bookkeeping process

Bookkeeping is a mechanical task that involves the following steps:

Collection of basic financial information
Identification of events and transactions with financial character i.e., economic transactions
Measurement of economic transactions in terms of money
Recording financial effects of economic transactions in order of its occurrence
Classifying effects of economic transactions
Preparing an organised statement known as trial balance

Who needs bookkeeping software?

For small businesses with a daily practice of keeping their accounts up-to-date, bookkeeping software can be extremely helpful. Such software streamlines data entry, organizes vital information, generates reports, and provides accountants with easier access to essential financial information related to various aspects of the business.

How does bookkeeping software work?

The process of the bookkeeping software begins with the recording of financial transactions and continues until the generation of business reports. This is how it operates:

Billing for goods sold or services provided to clients
Recording receipts from customers
Verifying and recording invoices from suppliers
Recording payments made to suppliers
Processing employees' pay, ESI, PF, etc.
Monitoring individual accounts receivable
Recording depreciation and other adjusting entries
Providing financial reports

Factors to contemplate before purchasing bookkeeping software

Automation of recoding and bookkeeping tasks
Auto-generation of business reports
Scalability & incremental implementation of features/modules as the business grows
Complete solution to manage GST and other statutory compliances as applicable to your business
Integrates several functions such as accounting, inventory, taxation, etc.
Online access to business reports
Quick to on-board and easy to use
Data security
Option of free trial to experience the software

Get your bookkeeping software free trial today!

Video guide - Bookkeeping software with TallyPrime

Frequently asked questions on bookkeeping software

What is bookkeeping?

A. Bookkeeping entails the systematic recording and organization of all business transactions that have taken place during operations. It is a crucial aspect of accounting and primarily emphasizes the documentation of the day-to-day financial activities of the business.

Detailed Read: What is bookkeeping?

What are the types of bookkeeping?

A. The two frequently utilized methods of bookkeeping are single-entry and double-entry systems. Although each approach has its pros and cons, businesses must determine the most appropriate method based on their specific requirements.

Related Read: Types of bookkeeping systems

What are the bookkeeping principles?

A. To maintain systematic recording and organization of transactions, bookkeeping principles are employed. The following are the fundamental bookkeeping principles:

Revenue principle
Expense principle
Matching principle
Cost principle
Objectivity principle

What are the elements of bookkeeping software?
A. Bookkeeping processes are regulated by the final output, which is the financial statements. Financial statements encompass the profit and loss account, balance sheet, as well as any schedules and notes that form part of the accounts. The three main elements of bookkeeping software are the journal, ledgers, and financial statements.
Do I need bookkeeping and accounting software for my small business?

A. As a sole proprietor with a modest income, using bookkeeping software can adequately run your business smoothly. Bookkeeping is the initial phase that involves recording and providing essential data for accounting. Accounting takes over where bookkeeping ends. However, when your business expands and additional processes are required to manage it, using accounting software can streamline your processes more effectively. It can generate more analytical reports that help in faster decision-making.
What are the benefits of bookkeeping software?

Bookkeeping aids in monitoring receipts, payments, sales, purchases, and all other transactions made by the business, recording them for future reference
It helps to summarize the income, expenditure, and other ledger records periodically
Financial reports created using bookkeeping data offer specific information about the business, such as its profits and the value of the business at a given point in time

How to choose the best bookkeeping software?

TallyPrime is an intuitive bookkeeping software that simplifies data entry, organizes crucial information, and generates reports. It enables accountants to access vital financial data about various aspects of the business. You can explore the features of TallyPrime as your bookkeeping software and avail of a free trial, today!
What is meant by bookkeeping and accounting?

Bookkeepers and accountants may have overlapping responsibilities, but typically, a bookkeeper's primary duty is to record transactions and maintain financial organization, whereas accountants offer consultation, analysis, and are better equipped to provide advice on tax-related matters.

Check out: What is the difference between an accountant and a bookkeeper?