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Updated Oct 03, 2024

The Best Accounting Software for Multiple Businesses in 2024

Running accounting for multiple businesses demands a powerful accounting software. Our best picks can help you stay organized.

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Written By: Max FreedmanBusiness Operations Insider and Senior Analyst
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This guide was reviewed by a Business News Daily editor to ensure it provides comprehensive and accurate information to aid your buying decision.
Adam Uzialko
Business Strategy Insider and Senior Editor
Business News Daily earns compensation from some listed companies. Editorial Guidelines.
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QuickBooks Online
Best Overall Accounting Software for Multiple Businesses
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  • Top-quality financial reports
  • Powerful mobile app
  • Expense and invoice management
Xero
Best Accounting Software for Tracking and Paying Bills
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  • One-click bulk bill pay
  • Over 1,000 integrations
  • High-quality mobile app
Oracle NetSuite Accounting Software
Best Accounting Software for Enterprises
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  • Enterprise resource planning tool
  • Extensive accounting automation
  • Multicurrency compatibility
FreshBooks Accounting
Best Accounting Software for Invoicing
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  • Highly user-friendly invoicing
  • Unlimited time tracking
  • Full expense management suite
ZarMoney
Best Accounting Software for Inventory Management
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  • Split-view inventory management
  • Multilocation stock features
  • Barcode management
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To find the best accounting software for multiple businesses, our team of small business finance experts researched the market to find the platforms that can handle more complex accounting needs. We attended live demonstrations and conducted firsthand testing to find the software that most effectively untangles the accounting of multiple businesses and makes it easy to get a clear picture of each operation’s fiscal health. We compared pricing plans to find the ones that are most flexible and provide the most value per dollar. We also looked at key features like the ability to reconcile transactions, create and send invoices, manage business taxes, and review key financial reports. Finally, we examined customer reviews to see how real-life users’ experiences lined up with our own during our testing. Learn more about our methodology.

Whether you own more than one business in the same industry or different ones, you must keep detailed financial books, with proper accounting, for all your companies. This daunting task becomes much easier with accounting software for multiple businesses. You’ll use this software to record and reconcile transactions; create, send and track invoices; review key financial data; and manage each of your businesses’ taxes.

To help you choose the best accounting software for multiple businesses, we researched and tested dozens of options. We narrowed these platforms down to five best picks based on criteria including usability, features and tools, cost, integrations, multi-currency support, and mobile app availability. Although you can add an unlimited number of businesses to these accounting platforms, each business must pay its own monthly subscription fee.

 

Compare Our Best Picks

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Our Top Picks for 2024
QuickBooks Online
Oracle NetSuite Accounting Software
FreshBooks Accounting
ZarMoney
Rating9.5/109.0/109.0/109.0/109.0/10
Use Case

Best Overall

Tracking and Paying Bills

Enterprises

Invoicing

Inventory Management

Starting Price

$30 per month

$15 per month

Custom

$17 per month

$15 per month

Free Trial Period

30 days

30 days

14 days

30 days

15 days

Number of integrations

Over 750

Over 1,000

>100

>100

Under 10

Multi-currency support

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Mobile app

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Review Link
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Quickbooks logo
Editor's Rating: 9.5/10
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With QuickBooks, you equip all your businesses with the gold standard in accounting software. QuickBooks has earned this esteemed reputation due to its bank reconciliation, finance management and invoicing features that suit businesses of all sizes. We like that, with higher tiers, you also get bill management, inventory management and project profitability tools. When we tested QuickBooks simultaneously for several small businesses, growing companies, new organizations and some of each, we were impressed each time.

We found that multibusiness owners stand to benefit a great deal from QuickBooks’ reporting suite. With basic reports such as profit and loss statements and, for Advanced users, fully customizable dashboards, QuickBooks streamlined our financial data review across organizations. When you’re managing the accounting for several businesses from one login, this consolidated, powerful reporting functionality is an absolute must-have. In our eyes, QuickBooks delivers on it and then some.

Xero company logo
Editor's Rating: 9/10
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Xero is often touted as the best QuickBooks alternative, and at least in terms of integrations, it’s indeed the winner. Whereas QuickBooks offers approximately 750 integrations, Xero includes more than 1,000. We found this greater set of third-party connections highly beneficial for keeping each of our businesses’ software platforms fully in sync. This connectivity also reduced each of our businesses’ number of tasks, and we appreciated the valuable time this freed up for us.

Additionally, Xero’s bill pay suite is the most powerful we’ve found in any accounting software platform. Year after year, the ability to pay multiple bills across multiple vendors in one click has thrilled us. We also like how easy Xero has consistently made it to schedule payments and store all our outstanding bills in the same location. When you’re running multiple businesses, the planning and organization that the Xero bill pay suite offers are beyond important. For high-functioning accounting software and streamlined multibusiness bill pay, go with Xero.

NetSuite logo
Editor's Rating: 9/10
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Links to Oracle NetSuite Accounting Software

Oracle NetSuite is our top pick for multi-enterprise accounting software since the platform’s advanced features are designed with large companies in mind. In fact, NetSuite’s accounting features are part of its ERP platform, a type of technology exclusively used among large businesses and megacorporations. We found that NetSuite’s reporting, billing and financial planning tools made it easy to manage finances across our enterprises. We particularly liked two NetSuite features in particular for multibusiness accounting and bookkeeping.

The first of these features is Oracle NetSuite’s extensive multicurrency usability. Often, those in need of a multibusiness accounting solution are operating subsidiaries across borders, requiring the multicurrency functionality in which NetSuite excels. The second feature is NetSuite’s astonishing breadth of automation features. We executed fundamental accounting tasks without any actual labor on our end, and that’s invaluable for huge businesses operating at a massive scale. Oracle NetSuite hits the marks for even the most complex organizations.

Freshbooks company logo
Editor's Rating: 9/10
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Links to FreshBooks Accounting

In all of the years we’ve tested FreshBooks, the platform has blown other vendors’ invoicing interface and features out of the water. We love that we can create invoices from one tab since other platforms often lack this capability. With this simplified invoice creation interface, we never accidentally jumped to another one of our companies’ tabs and took information from there instead. FreshBooks enabled us to get all our invoicing exactly right across our organizations.

Over our years of testing FreshBooks, it’s always been easy to customize and brand our invoices as well. When you want all your businesses to look equally professional, FreshBooks’ invoicing suite reinforces your branding. Plus, we appreciate that FreshBooks has always included its full expense and time management suites across all its pricing packages. This way, as you invoice for each of your businesses, you can incorporate billable hours and expenses without any extra digging. That time back is huge when running multiple businesses.

ZarMoney company logo
Editor's Rating: 9/10

Sure, ZarMoney is an accounting software in name, but we’ve found over the years that it could entirely substitute for a dedicated inventory management platform. We’ve long been elated that ZarMoney includes barcode management, two-step warehouse transfers and split-view multilocation inventory management. These are the kinds of features we expect from dedicated inventory software, not accounting platforms, and ZarMoney is all the better for including them.

We especially like ZarMoney’s split-view multilocation inventory management tool for multibusiness accounting software users. We found this tool incredibly user-friendly and powerful for comparing our products’ history and status side by side at our different business locations. This was true whether these were locations for one business or across several, and this tool fueled smarter stock management decisions for all our businesses. For multibusiness inventory and accounting in one fell swoop, ZarMoney is the clear winner.

Costs of Accounting Software for Multiple Businesses

Most accounting software platforms charge solely a flat monthly subscription fee. For the best multibusiness accounting software, these fees start at $15 per month. However, accounting software add-ons that cost extra may be helpful or, less commonly, fully necessary. For example, QuickBooks offers a helpful live-assisted bookkeeping add-on for $50 per month. Additionally, FreshBooks requires an additional per-user payment of $11 per month after your first user. These additional per-person fees, though, are rare with accounting software.

Notably, the starting rate for any multibusiness accounting software is per business you own, not for all your businesses together. For example, let’s say you’ve decided that Xero is your best bet for managing your two businesses. In this case, your starting price isn’t the platform’s lowest rate of $15 per month. It’s two businesses * $15 per month per business = $30 per month. Consider the potential ballooning of costs when assessing costs for multibusiness accounting software.

Unlike some other types of business technology, accounting software vendors rarely charge you for anything related to the implementation process. In fact, these platforms are among the easiest types of business software to set up yourself. Should you need help, customer service will be available immediately via phone or several hours later via an online support ticket.

Bottom LineBottom line
The starting rate for the best multibusiness accounting software platforms is $15 per month per business. You’ll pay this rate for each business you add to your accounting software. Adding advanced features or, in rare cases, extra team members may increase your costs.

Features of Accounting Software for Multiple Businesses

The key features you should look for in the best accounting software for multiple businesses are mostly the same as those for single-business accounting. These features include the below.

Bank Feed and Reconciliation

Your accounting software should give you access to a full record of all money moving in and out of your business bank accounts. It should also reconcile each transaction with an expense, invoice, bill or another document indicating a transaction.

Bill Pay

Great accounting software allows you to pay vendor bills directly from the platform or, at the very least, record payments. Managing multiple businesses may be especially easy with software through which you can quickly pay bills in bulk across vendors.

Dashboard

When you log in to your accounting software, you should see your key financial data in visualizations that are easy to understand. You should also have no trouble customizing your dashboard to suit your exact needs.

Expense Management

The best accounting software for multiple businesses automatically captures key spending data from receipts you snap photos of via the platform’s mobile app. It then stores, tags and categorizes this data as expenses and reconciles them with your bank transactions.

Another expense management must-have is GPS mileage tracking within the platform’s mobile app. This feature converts distances driven for business purposes into reimbursable or billable mileage expenses.

Financial Reports

Especially for multibusiness users, accounting software must excel at generating both basic and advanced financial reports. This way, you can quickly see financial snapshots of all your companies and lay the groundwork for business decisions that improve your bottom line.

Inventory Management

With some accounting software platforms, you can create purchase orders and track your stock. Additionally, with a small number of platforms, you get highly advanced inventory management features such as multisite stock management and two-step warehouse transfer. These advanced features are ideal for multibusiness accounting, but you’ll still fare plenty well with standard accounting software inventory tools.

Invoices, Estimates and Quotes

The ability to create invoices, then send and track them, is among the most important accounting software features. Many platforms also include tools for reminding clients to pay their invoices and adding late fees for overdue invoices.

Additionally, with most accounting software platforms, you can convert client-approved estimates or quotes into invoices in just a few clicks. In many cases, you can also set recurring invoices to generate and send automatically while including payment links directly in your invoices.

Mobile App

Most of the best accounting software platforms for multiple businesses offer robust mobile apps for dedicated on-the-go usage. This feature is among the most important to look for since, as someone who owns multiple businesses, you’re likely on the move pretty often. Accounting software mobile apps keep you connected to, and in control of, all your companies’ accounting while you’re in transit or working remotely.

Multicurrency support

Often, someone who owns multiple businesses operates a core domestic business alongside separate subsidiaries in other countries. That’s why you stand to benefit greatly from accounting software that you can use in more currencies than just U.S. dollars. Look for platforms with dozens of available currencies, particularly those of the territories in which your businesses operate.

Third-Party Integrations

The more businesses you run, the busier and more disorganized your work can get. Accounting software platforms’ integrations with third-party platforms largely solve this problem. Connect your accounting software with your payroll service, POS system, and other technology to sync your information across these platforms. You’ll unify and organize your information while saving invaluable time on manual data entry.

FYIDid you know
We reviewed the best payroll services and the best POS systems to help you decide which of these platforms is best for your businesses.

Time Tracking and Billable Hours

Some accounting software platforms include tools for tracking the time your team spends on billable and non-billable work. This way, you can compare your team’s input to your revenue and add billable hours to your client invoices.

Sales Tax

If you own multiple restaurants or retail businesses, sales tax accounting software features are paramount. Through these features, you can record the sales tax you charge on top of the items you sell. You’ll likely still need to manually remit these taxes to city and state authorities, but merely recording them can be a major help. In fact, nearly all the best accounting software platforms for restaurants emphasize sales tax management.

Choosing Accounting Software for Multiple Businesses

Here’s how to find exactly the right multibusiness accounting software for your companies’ needs.

1. Know exactly what you’re seeking from accounting software.

Determine whether your businesses need just accounting fundamentals, such as invoicing, or more advanced features, such as the in-depth reports available with higher-end pricing packages. Move vendors that offer high-quality tools for your most important needs to the top of your list.

2. Compare and contrast vendors, including their customer reviews.

In addition to professional accounting software reviews like this article, vendors’ pricing tables and customer reviews offer a wealth of valuable information. Browse these tables and reviews to identify exactly what you get and pinpoint any red flags (or praise) from actual customers. With pricing tables, assess how much value you get per dollar you spend, and with reviews, look for commentary about customer service and usability.

Your best bet for customer reviews are Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website. That said, angry customers are more likely to leave reviews than happy ones, so take negative commentary with a grain of salt. An abundance of positive commentary, on the other hand, is something you can take at face value and as a major vendor advantage.

3. Accept free trial offers.

All the best accounting software platforms for multiple businesses offer free trials of 14 to 30 days, and you should absolutely accept these offers. A free trial is the most in-depth, hands-on way to assess a platform’s fit, and it typically requires no commitment on your end. Move the platforms you enjoy using the most toward the top of your list.

There’s one case in which you might feel hesitant to pursue a free trial. Namely, an exceedingly small number of vendors eliminate your initial discount if you sign up for their trial. However, we still recommend pursuing the trial in this case. It’s better to spend more money upfront than lock yourself into a long-term contract with an ill-fitting platform you never got to test.

4. Go over your notes on features, usability and price, then make your final decision.

You now have all the information you need to make your decision, so go for it. Additionally, consider both the value you get per dollar spent and whether you can really afford what you’re paying for without excessively stretching your budget. As you evaluate all of this, the right choice of multibusiness accounting software will become clear as day.

TipTip
When reviewing accounting software features and pricing, you’ll rarely see explicit mentions of multibusiness capacity. However, you can safely assume that each business you register and manage for the same accounting software package will get the same tools.

Advantages of Accounting Software for Multiple Businesses

Multibusiness accounting software benefits each of your companies in ways including, but not limited to, the below.

1. Minimized human error

Accounting software automatically captures your businesses’ bank transactions and matches them to the right invoices, vendor bills, expense receipts and other key documentation. This substantially reduces the likelihood of recording an erroneous payment amount or pairing cash inflows or outflows with the wrong transactions.

2. Streamlined quoting and invoicing

Most accounting software platforms make it easy for each of your businesses to create quotes or estimates and convert them to invoices. These documents will also include each of your companies’ full branding. You’ll look highly professional while fully managing your accounts receivable.

3. Organized recordkeeping

Between your invoice management and bank reconciliation features, your multibusiness accounting software will get your companies well organized. When you have multiple businesses’ books to worry about, this top-notch organization is beyond invaluable.

4. Straightforward tax calculation, reporting, filing and compliance

Many multibusiness accounting software platforms automatically calculate the taxes resulting from your transactions. Often, the platform will file the corresponding tax forms and make the necessary payments as well. These platforms’ built-in rules engines, which their teams regularly update to reflect the newest regulations, keep you compliant with authorities.

5. Seamless time tracking

When accounting platforms include time tracking, you improve your labor management and build out the capacity to bill your clients per hour of work. Your invoicing and accounts receivable improve as much as your team’s productivity.

Accounting Software for Multiple Businesses FAQ

We recommend QuickBooks Online Advanced for multibusiness accounting. Although this is QuickBooks Online’s most expensive package, its exceptional breadth and depth of reporting features make multibusiness financial management much easier.

Yes, QuickBooks Desktop allows for multiple business users. However, we recommend QuickBooks Online, not QuickBooks Desktop, for multibusiness accounting.

Yes, accountants use FreshBooks. In fact, you can add each of your businesses’ accountants to their respective FreshBooks accounts as team members.

No. Despite their similar names, FreshBooks and QuickBooks are two entirely different platforms. We recommend FreshBooks for multibusiness invoicing, whereas QuickBooks is our top overall pick for multibusiness accounting.

The answer to this question depends on your team size and the package you choose. Before add-ons, QuickBooks costs at most $200 per month, whereas FreshBooks’ packages with publicly available pricing cost at most $55 per month for one user. However, each team member you add to FreshBooks results in an additional charge of $11 per user per month. For especially large accounting teams, FreshBooks could wind up being the more expensive option.

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Written By: Max FreedmanBusiness Operations Insider and Senior Analyst
Max Freedman has spent nearly a decade providing entrepreneurs and business operators with actionable advice they can use to launch and grow their businesses. Max has direct experience helping run a small business, performs hands-on reviews and has real-world experience with business technology. At Business News Daily, Max covers accounting software, POS systems and digital payroll solutions, as well as leading medical software and text message marketing services. Max has written hundreds of articles for Business News Daily on a range of valuable topics, including small business funding, time and attendance, marketing and human resources.
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