7 Best Business Budgeting Software for 2024 (2024)

QuickBooks Online: Best overall

Our first entry in this list needs almost no introduction, but for the sake of thoroughness, we’ll scribble one here anyway. QuickBooks, part of the Intuit family of financial apps, is used by numerous businesses across pretty much every industry and vertical. As one of the original digital accounting tools, it’s capable of quite a bit and integrates with almost everything.

While QuickBooks isn’t always the best tool for the job, especially in certain niche cases where generalized accounting software can’t fully support the needs of the organization, it boasts a feature set deep and broad enough to contend with specialized solutions anyway.

Pricing

• Simple Start: $30 per month.
• Essentials: $60 per month.
• Plus: $90 per month.
• Advanced: $200 per month.

Features

• Management functions for income, expenses, invoices and payments, mileage tracking, contractors and more.
• Fully integrated with all Intuit products (like TurboTax).
• Allows users to bank with Intuit at 5.00% APY.

Pros

• One of the most comprehensive financial tools on the market.
• Optional add-ons to increase functionality, including payroll.
• Offers access to expert help from seasoned accountants and finance pros.

Cons

• Limited functionality on cheaper plans
• Features not as specialized for use cases or industries as some apps.
• Integrations prioritize Intuit products and add-ons.

For more information, read the full QuickBooks review.

Xero: Most user-friendly budgeting

Offering many of the core features of bigger brand solutions, Xero positions itself as a tool geared primarily toward smaller businesses. With an intuitive interface, easy-to-master functionality and more affordable plans, it’s easy to see what makes Xero a good fit for that very use case.

For up-and-coming teams (even teams of one), Xero can simplify tracking bills, expenses, invoices, contractor fees and more. Higher-tier users can tap into advanced features like project tracking, analytics, multiple currency support and more. And with add-on integration with Gusto payroll, you can even take care of your W-2 staff.

Pricing

• Early: $15 per month.
• Growing: $42 per month.
• Established: $78 per month.

Features

• Hubdoc allows professionals to automatically capture bill and expense data, so you can stop carting around all those receipts.
• Paperless records and native reporting tools make it easier to track cash flow, analyze trends and chart the course for your finances.
• Xero offers a broader range of integration options, simplifying the process of fitting it into your current workflows.

Pros

• Robust budgeting and accounting functionality at an affordable price.
• Largely platform-agnostic with third-party integrations.
• Built-in banking connections, payment processing and bill pay keep all the important data in a single place.
• More user-friendly for non-accountants than most.

Cons

• Most advanced features are restricted to higher-cost plans.
• No option for additional licenses, i.e., there’s only one user account.

For more information, read the full Xero review.

Zoho Books: Most scalable tool

Quickbooks may seem like a behemoth in the finance space, but they’re not the only heavy hitter, and in some cases, they’re far outclassed by the breadth of offerings of a competitor. That, in a nutshell, is Zoho. While Zoho Books provides the financial tools needed to manage cash flow, budgeting and accounting tasks, the Zoho suite covers a lot more ground than just profitability statements.

With tools designed to support teams in sales, marketing, human resources, legal and even infrastructure and operations (I&O), Zoho can meet nearly any software need a growing team will have, excluding specialized tools. And because each module can be used separately, it’s perfect for teams that want their apps to scale with them.

Pricing

• Free: $0.
• Standard: $12 per team per month, or $10 per team per month when billed annually.
• Professional: $24 per team per month, or $20 per team per month when billed annually.
• Premium: $36 per team per month, or $30 per team per month when billed annually.
• Elite: $129 per team per month, or $100 per team per month when billed annually.
• Ultimate: $249 per team per month, or $200 per team per month when billed annually.

Features

• Can connect with any part of the expansive Zoho suite.
• Supports a wealth of uncommon features, like recurring expenses, timesheet management and multi-lingual invoicing.
• Free users benefit from all the most essential accounting functions and can continue to use Zoho for free until they hit $50,000 yearly revenue.

Pros

• Some of the most expensive feature lists in the industry.
• Free to use for many small businesses, and affordable for most beyond that.
• Automation features can help streamline and simplify workloads for busy startup professionals.
• Zoho tools can be added on as needed to dramatically expand functionality.

Cons

• User counts cap out at just 15 at the highest tier. Beyond that, subscribers need to pay for additional licenses at a per-head rate.
• Growing teams will quickly find themselves needing to upgrade their subscription to get access to needed functionality.
• The price jump from Premium to Elite is significant, making it more costly for larger teams.

For more information, read the full Zoho Books review.

NetSuite: Best ERP

Another tech industry juggernaut, NetSuite by Oracle, is more than just an accounting app. Similar to the wide-reaching offerings of Zoho, NetSuite offers solutions to a plethora of business needs, from enterprise resource planning (ERP) to field service management to data management and security.

Most relevant to this discussion is the ERP. NetSuite can turn mountains of illegible data into critical business insights, potentially making the difference between financial growth and catastrophe. It’s a more involved solution and better suited to larger organizations, but for teams with room in the budget and the data needs to justify it, it’s hard to beat.

Pricing

• Contact NetSuite for a quote.

Features

• NetSuite’s ERP is built to facilitate management of global businesses and large-scale supply chains.
• The software is end-to-end, able to manage orders, inventory, supply chains, warehousing, procurement and finances.
• With proper implementation, NetSuite can facilitate advanced reporting and analytics, leading to the insights needed to achieve impressive optimizations.

Pros

• Uniquely suited to meet both the ERP and IT needs of a global organization.
• Accounting and budgeting go hand-in-hand with first-class data management.
• Manage every aspect of resources and logistics from beginning to end.
• Extensive add-ons and products, covering a wide range of verticals.

Cons

• No publicly listed pricing on their website.
• Less effective at meeting the needs of smaller organizations.

For more information, read the full Netsuite review.

Spendesk: Best expense management

Spendesk is a slightly different solution, offering a very particular functionality. The platform, along with its companion app and other features, is built to simplify and streamline the process of spending and expensing for business teams. Manually handling expenses, reimbursem*nts, approvals and related tasks can be a nightmare for accountants.

With Spendesk, it doesn’t have to be. Spendesk allows managers to more effectively control spend — from how much is spent to how the money is used and beyond. It provides powerful automation to minimize labor and potential errors, and it can turn expense tracking into real-time monitoring.

Pricing

• Contact Spendesk for a quote.

Features

• Control expenses, invoices and company-issued spend cards from a single platform.
• Exercise tighter control on approvals, budgets, reports and more, and get full, real-time visibility.
• Turn month-end expense reporting into an automated, hassle-free process.

Pros

• Specialized to solve pain points related to expense management.
• Easily integrates into other tools and solutions to aid in facilitating automations.
• Can even issue physical credit cards for use by company staff.

Cons

• Limited pricing transparency.
• Minimal functionality outside the central use case.

Workday Adaptive Planning: Best cash forecasting

Workday bridges the gap between Spendesk’s laser-focused expense solution and the more broadly designed tools in this list. The reason for this is simple: by improving the accuracy of expense data and the speed at which it can be reported, teams can more effectively plan and budget in advance.

There’s more to it than that, though. Workday products cover quite a bit, including HR and industry-specific use cases like healthcare supply chain management. But the advantage is still the same. It’s strategic analytics, turning accurate and up-to-date reporting into accurate forecasting.

Pricing

• Contact Workday for a quote.

Features

• Solutions cover everything from financial planning to workforce planning to operational planning.
• Faster, more accurate spend, payroll and financial data reporting helps achieve more effective financial planning.
• Optional products include local and global payroll, talent management and employee experience.

Pros

• Workday offers much of the same experience that NetSuite does, but it’s also geared toward midsize businesses.
• Workday has specialized functionality to meet the needs of several complicated industries, including healthcare, life sciences, public services, hospitality, professional services and more.
• Mobile app functionality makes it easy for every member of the team to use, and unlimited user licenses make it less expensive for them to do so.

Cons

• Minimal pricing transparency.
• Some businesses with less complicated needs may find that more generalized software can serve them well at a lower cost.

For more information, read the full Workday review.

Cube: Best for stakeholder collaboration

Last on our list is Cube. The other entries all had one or more accounting functions that could be handled natively on the platform. Cube, on the other hand, doesn’t handle those things internally. Instead, it aggregates information from other apps, platforms and sources.

The reason for this is visibility. Cube serves as a single source of truth, leading to easier reporting, streamlined collaboration and less frustrating implementation.

Pricing

• Cube Go: Starting at $1,500 per month.
• Cube Pro: Starting at $2,800 per month.
• Enterprise: Pricing by custom quote.

Features

• Automation and integration with ERP tools, spreadsheets and much more.
• Dedicated customer success manager to help achieve financial goals.
• Advanced financial planning and analysis (FP&A), with visualization and reporting all in a single tool.

Pros

• Achieve easier, more effective collaboration with less manual work.
• Simplify reporting and increase transparency without increasing workload.
• Boost data accuracy and maximize recency of information.

Cons

• Highest listed starting costs.
• Limited functionality outside the core use case.