Best Accounting Software for Tax Assistance

QuickBooks Plus doesn’t just keep your books straight – it actually can be a lifesaver at tax time. While you cannot prepare or file taxes via QuickBooks Plus, you can let your accountant (up to two accountants to be exact) access your profile for faster processing.

Also, there are a variety of reports with Plus that help you input categories for spending and transfer them to your tax software – if you’re doing your own taxes.

If you have employees, you can still input their time and create W2s as well as 1099s for any contractors you’ve paid over the year. If you have upgraded to the payroll plan as part of your Plus account, then you can file and pay your payroll taxes through the program too.

A Few Details about this Software:

QuickBooks Plus starts at $23.97 per month for the first six months and then you will pay $39.95 per month after that.

Customized Invoices:	Credit Card/Paypal Processing: Added Fee
Expense Tracking:	Import Bank Transactions:
Estimates or Quotes:	Employee Time Sheets
Converts Estimates/Quotes to Invoices:	1099's:
Managing and Paying Bills:	W2's:
Inventory Tracking:	Prints or Electronically Processes Payroll Checks:

WorkingPoint is a lesser known accounting program – and it’s tragic. They have a great number of features, especially when it comes to filing taxes at the end of the year.

With WorkingPoint, you cannot file your taxes in the program, but the amount of prep work it does for you will make transferring it over to your tax program easier – plus you can give an accountant access to the file if you need to. Just a few things offered with WorkingPoint include the ability to track sub-contractors and print out 1099s for the work you’ve paid for over the year. Also, if you are a freelancer or small business that must file a Schedule C with your personal taxes, you can create a Schedule C in WorkingPoint and print it out for easier input when you file your taxes online. You can also calculate estimated quarterly tax payments and monitor your payment activity in WorkingPoint.

A Few Details about this Software:

To unlock all of the tax prep features, you will need to upgrade to Thunderstorm. You can try WorkingPoint first for 30 days then you will pay $19 per month after that.

Customized Invoices:	Credit Card/Paypal Processing: Added Fee
Expense Tracking:	Import Bank Transactions:
Estimates or Quotes:	Employee Time Sheets
Converts Estimates/Quotes to Invoices:	1099's:
Managing and Paying Bills:	W2's:
Inventory Tracking:	Prints or Electronically Processes Payroll Checks:

GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping (which you may know as Outright), offers a surprising number of features that make tax time a lot easier for self-employed contractors and small business owners. While not as robust as QuickBooks Plus, the features they do include certainly make filing taxes simpler and that’s something all small business owners can appreciate.

Tax-wise, GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping can automatically calculate estimated quarterly tax payments and track payments. It can also categorize your expenses into IRS-approved Schedule C categories so that all you have to do is print the Schedule C report and input into your tax program. GoDaddy’s tax estimates are in real-time – so they constantly update each time your income changes to ensure accurate calculations year-round.

You can also automatically retrieve 1099-K’s from third parties like Amazon and PayPal.

A Few Details about this Software:

GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping doesn’t have a free trial – something we hope they add in the future. But, they are relatively affordable coming in at just $9.99 per month flat.

Customized Invoices:	Credit Card/Paypal Processing: Added Fee
Expense Tracking:	Import Bank Transactions:
Estimates or Quotes:	Employee Time Sheets
Converts Estimates/Quotes to Invoices:	1099's:
Managing and Paying Bills:	W2's:
Inventory Tracking:	Prints or Electronically Processes Payroll Checks:

QuickBooks Self-Employed is designed for independent contractors and freelancers – and they even make tax time something that a freelancer will no longer dread.

QuickBooks Self-Employed is the only program so far that can actually file taxes; as long as you pay for the TurboTax Bundle.

The Self-Employed version automatically calculates quarterly estimated tax payments and tracks your payments. These are updated in real-time too – so as your income decreases or increases for the year it will automatically adjust the quarterly estimates for accuracy.

You can also generate a Schedule C with ease and then transport it into TurboTax to file your state and federal taxes from a single program – something no other online accounting software offers at this time.

A Few Details about this Software:

QuickBooks Self-Employed comes with a very generous price – just $4.99 per month for six months. After that, you’ll pay a regular retail price of $9.99 per month.

Customized Invoices:	Credit Card/Paypal Processing: ~
Expense Tracking:	Import Bank Transactions:
Estimates or Quotes:	Employee Time Sheets
Converts Estimates/Quotes to Invoices:	1099's:
Managing and Paying Bills:	W2's:
Inventory Tracking:	Prints or Electronically Processes Payroll Checks:

Xero Accounting tries to simplify taxes and they do a good job of it. They also include payroll as part of their regular service fee – so it’s not an add-on. That means you can file and pay your payroll taxes right in Xero too.

With Xero, you get to print and prepare employee W2s as well as 1099-Miscs. You can only access the payroll tax feature if you have the plans that include payroll in their service fee.

You can also export your tax file into a tax software program, calculate sales tax due for the year and quickly file all sales tax returns via Xero Accounting. You cannot calculate estimated quarterly tax payments or prepare a Schedule C, but most companies with employees don’t have to worry about those anyway.

A Few Details about this Software:

Xero Accounting comes with a higher price tag, but that is only because you are getting payroll with some plans.

If you don’t have employees or only have a handful, the Starter plan is perfect and starts at $21 per month for six months and then $30 per month after that (covering up to five employee payrolls).

If you have 10 or more, you will need one of the Premium packages, which range from $49 per month for six months to as much as $126 per month for six months.

Customized Invoices:	Credit Card/Paypal Processing: Added Fee
Expense Tracking:	Import Bank Transactions:
Estimates or Quotes:	Employee Time Sheets
Converts Estimates/Quotes to Invoices:	1099's:
Managing and Paying Bills:	W2's:
Inventory Tracking:	Prints or Electronically Processes Payroll Checks: