What to Look for in WooCommerce Accounting Software?
You’ve likely come across dozens of accounting plugins for WooCommerce, and figuring out which is the best one from first sight isn’t easy.
Most importantly, the solution must match your business needs. Let’s take a closer look at what great accounting software should offer.
Efficiency and Accuracy
Accounting software for WooCommerce must streamline your business processes through automation.
Nobody should ever have to manually do inventory tracking and financial reporting. With tedious tasks out of the way, you’ll have more time left for creative and strategic decisions.
Additionally, automation minimizes manual data entry errors. Human errors lead to discrepancies in financial records, and if you’ve ever dealt with balance sheets, you know that’s a headache to fix.
Compliance and Regulatory Requirements
The accounting software must help you adhere to tax laws and regulations. This includes automatically calculating taxes like VAT and GST and generating documentation required for tax filing purposes. Because there’s nothing worse than accidentally committing a financial crime.
Ideally, the software should calculate tax based on the customer’s country of residence to comply with import/export tax regulations and customs duties.
The ability to generate detailed tax reports with a clear audit trail minimizes the risk of fines and ensures your business has a clean compliance record.
Financial Management and Reporting
Real-time insights into your store’s revenue, expenses, and cash flow are essential to assess its financial health. But the best accounting software goes beyond that, helping you track KPIs like Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), and liquidity ratios.
Ideally, the software should let you customize the view of your reports and dashboards. Deriving insights from a plain spreadsheet may be challenging, whereas interactive visualizations give you a quick overview of the situation.
Talking about dashboards, your accounting software should empower informed decision-making. For example, it should help analyze trends, identify areas for cost reduction, and identify the most profitable products. With these insights, you can allocate resources effectively and maximize revenue.
At the very least, accounting software must generate cash flow statements, balance sheets, accounts payable aging reports, trial balance lists, and allow for budget variance analysis.
Payroll
If you run a large eCommerce business with many employees, payroll functionality may be useful. Most businesses can’t fully automate payroll, but accounting software can perform tedious calculations and save your personnel department plenty of time.
Scalability
The ultimate goal of most eCommerce businesses is growth. That’s why your accounting software must handle growing sales volumes, product lines, and customer databases without performance degradation.
Additionally, it should support multi-channel sales strategies. For instance, imagine you decide to expand your sales channels by opening an Amazon store in addition to your website. You wouldn’t want to change the software or run two separate systems simultaneously.
Choose accounting software that can grow with your business to avoid costly migrations in the future.
Integration with Other Tools
Your accounting software must integrate with more than WooCommerce. It must also be compatible with your payment gateways, CRM system, shipping platform, and other critical business applications.
Only in this case will the software be able to automate data transfer and eliminate manual entry errors.
Imagine you run a WooCommerce store with a Stripe gateway, HubSpot CRM, and ShipStation fulfillment. If your accounting software integrates with them all, transaction amounts, payment methods, customer information, and shipping expenses will be synced seamlessly.
But if the software doesn’t integrate with, say, HubSpot, you’d have to enter customer details manually every time. Without CRM integration, you’ll have trouble tracking customer-specific transactions and behavior.
User Experience and Support
Accounting is already tricky enough. So your accounting software must simplify it, not make it even more challenging. The importance of an intuitive interface that prioritizes accessibility and easy navigation can’t be overestimated.
However, every accounting tool has a learning curve due to the array of features it offers. For this reason, your chosen software must provide comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and training resources.
Customer support accessible via phone, email, and live chat to assist with urgent queries is another must-have. FAQs don’t resolve every problem, so the support should be quick to help minimize disruption to business operations.
Security and Data Protection
You wouldn’t want sensitive financial information to get into the wrong hands, so accounting software must be secure. This includes implementing encryption, access controls, and two-factor authentication.
Additionally, the software must comply with industry regulations, such as PCI DSS and GDPR, to ensure the confidentiality of customer data.
Of course, the responsibility for keeping your financial and customer information private also lies with you. Be aware of social engineering techniques and maintain cybersecurity best practices, such as setting strong passwords.
Value
WooCommerce accounting plugins have varying pricing, but cheaper isn’t always better. Saving on the software may cause you to spend more in the long term.
Compare pricing plans, licensing models, and features of each solution. Note that the most expensive option isn’t necessarily the best either. There’s no reason to pay more for functionality you don’t need.
Be aware of any additional costs. For example, some software providers may charge more for extra users or features.
In short, balance costs with features and ensure they meet your business needs. Often, accounting plugins offer a money-back guarantee or free trial, so you can test them before committing.
Shortlist: The Best Accounting Software for WooCommerce in 2024
Reviewing and comparing dozens of accounting plugins available for WooCommerce would take ages. That’s why we did it for you!
Our research found NetSuite to be the most advanced accounting software suitable for mid-sized businesses and enterprises. However, each company’s needs are different, so here’s a breakdown of the market’s leading solutions:
- NetSuite — The Top All-in-One Accounting and ERP Software for eCommerce at a Scale
- Zoho Accounting — Small Business-Oriented App with Bank Reconciliation and Stock Management
- Xero —Simple yet Powerful Tool with Unlimited Users
- QuickBooks — Tax-Compliant Accounting and Inventory Management Software with Multi-Channel Support
- Odoo — Streamlined Accounting with AI-Powered Automation
- MYOB AccountRight — Best Choice for Australia and New Zealand-Based Dropshipping Businesses
- Cost & Reports by Consortia AS — Simplicity of Reporting for Excel Advocates
- WP ERP — Build Your Own Plan and Only Pay for Features You Really Use
- Zapier — Integrate Any Third-Party Accounting Software with WooCommerce
Top 9 Best WooCommerce Accounting Software Reviewed
1. NetSuite: The Top All-in-One Accounting and ERP Software for eCommerce at a Scale
NetSuite is the best-rated accounting software for WooCommerce, and rightfully so. While it’s also one of the most expensive plugins available, the array of features is impressive.
As a leader in enterprise resource planning, NetSuite also offers tools for order management, HRM, and CRM, all integrating seamlessly with each other. For this reason, NetSuite is the best choice if you need to set up large store management from scratch.
Pros
- Supports over 190 currencies, including USD, EUR, and GBP
- Automates tasks like tax calculation and data entry
- Offers bi-directional refund sync
- Allows cloud collaboration with your accountant
Cons
- Expensive plans
- Poorly suited for small businesses
- Steep learning curve due to the number of features
NetSuite goes beyond basic accounting software functionality. Apart from providing a comprehensive overview of your store’s financial state, it allows automating tasks like order fulfillment and refunds. Bi-directional refund sync ensures your financial data is accurately reflected across all integrated systems.
Many eCommerce business owners manage accounting on their own. But if you have an accountant, NetSuite might be your best bet for collaboration. The SuiteAccountants cloud platform supports real-time monitoring from any device at no charge to either of you.
NetSuite Point of Sale retail solution instantly syncs with the accounting platform, making it a perfect choice for businesses running both brick-and-mortar and online stores.
On a special note, we appreciate the clean, easy-to-navigate interface of NetSuite’s financial dashboard, allowing you to assess the key metrics at a glance. While data visualization isn’t unique to NetSuite, its quality is top-notch.
Pricing
NetSuite accounting plugin costs $299 annually, considerably more than its top competitors. Additionally, you must pay an annual licensing fee that depends on your business size and revenue. The good news is that you get a 30-day money-back guarantee.
| Best For | Price | Mobile App | Trial Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprises | Custom | Yes | Yes, on request |
2. Zoho Books & Inventory: Small Business-Oriented App with Bank Reconciliation and Stock Management
Zoho Cloud-Based Business Suite is another comprehensive solution for eCommerce companies. However, if you aren’t looking for a CRM or project management solution, you can use Zoho Books separately, as it integrates with numerous third-party plugins.
Unlike NetSuite, which targets enterprises, Zoho is small business-oriented. Many of its features, including reports, invoicing, and contractor management, are available for free to businesses with under $50,000 in annual revenue.
Pros
- Available for free
- Offers bank reconciliation
- Flexible pricing structure
- Offers stock management features
- Over 70 report types
Cons
- Annual transaction cap depending on the plan
- Maximum of 15 users
Zoho Books offers powerful reporting capabilities, with over 70 types and a scheduling option. What’s even better, you can customize the financial dashboard and reports to only display metrics relevant to your business.
As evident from the plugin’s name, Zoho Books & Inventory is also an excellent solution for stock management. You can set low-stock alerts based on reorder points and keep track of order fulfillment.
Lastly, Zoho Books helps stay on top of your account payables. We found managing vendor bills incredibly easy with recurring bills. Another noteworthy feature is the ability to track landed costs so you can determine the right selling price.
Pricing
Zoho Books has a free version and five paid plans ranging from $10 to $275 monthly. The free plan doesn’t include sales tax tracking or recurring billing, but it’s a great way to test the tool.
Another pro is that the licensing fee is included in the monthly cost. On top of that, you must pay $99 annually for the extension.
| Best For | Price | Mobile App | Trial Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small online stores | Starting from $0/month | Yes | Yes, forever free pan |
3. Xero: Simple yet Powerful Tool with Unlimited Users
Similar to Zoho Books, Xero is an ideal accounting software for small and growing eCommerce businesses. Its affordable pricing and simple interface make Xero stand out among costly enterprise-grade solutions with a steep learning curve.
Pros
- Affordable plans starting with $3.75/month
- User-friendly interface
- Unlimited user count
- 30-day free trial
Cons
- Basic features — for example, no payroll management
- Multi-currency support only with the highest subscription tier
Most accounting tools charge extra for additional users, which may be a hurdle for rapidly expanding stores. Xero’s key advantage is unlimited user access with all plans, simplifying scalability and collaboration.
We found Xero to be the most simple, if not basic solution on this list. Limited functionality compared to NetSuite might be a drawback for enterprises but a major benefit for beginners. There are no unnecessary features, only essentials like several reports, an overview dashboard, invoicing, and inventory tracking.
Multi-currency support, project tracking, and analytics are only available with the highest-tier subscription. Xero doesn’t have a payroll management system, but you can get a special deal on the Gusto payroll software (also available only with the Established plan).
Pricing
Xero plugin is considerably cheaper than most alternatives. Furthermore, you can try the software for free for 30 days. Plans range from only $3.75 to $19.50 monthly, and you don’t even have to pay extra licensing fees. The plugin itself costs $99 annually.
| Best For | Price | Mobile App | Trial Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collaboration | Starting from $3.75/month | Yes | Yes,30 days |
4. QuickBooks: Tax-Compliant Accounting and Inventory Management Software with Multi-Channel Support
QuickBooks is the golden standard of accounting software, not only in eCommerce but also across other industries. Thanks to diverse pricing plans and advanced features, it’s equally suited for small stores and enterprises.
Pros
- Flexible pricing structure
- Numerous report customization options
- Tex regulations-compliant
- Unlimited invoicing
- Multi-currency and channel support
Cons
- Online support may be unresponsive
- May be pricey for enterprises
QuickBooks is the most customizable accounting software. Everything from dashboards to invoices and product categories can be tailored to your unique business needs.
Multi-currency and unlimited sales channel support make QuickBooks the go-to choice for international eCommerce companies. You can seamlessly sync data from Etsy, WooCommerce, Facebook Marketplace, and other platforms with no manual entry whatsoever.
Another standout feature is QuickBooks’ robust tax calculation capabilities. The tool automatically looks up sales tax in different jurisdictions and informs you how much you owe each authority.
Last but not least, all QuickBooks plans allow collaboration with other users and accounting firms. QuickBooks is accessible via desktop application, browser, or mobile, so your team can stay connected at all times and promptly resolve issues.
Pricing
QuickBooks plugin for WooCommerce is free, but you need to get a MyWorks subscription ranging from $18 to $99 monthly. Additionally, you need a QuickBooks plan, which starts at $18 monthly (currently available at only $1 monthly).
Custom Enterprise plans are considerably more expensive and can reach $4,600 annually. However, the WooCommerce store offers free plugin download.
| Best For | Price | Mobile App | Trial Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tax compliance | Starting from $18/month | Yes | Yes, 30 days |
5. Odoo: Streamlined Accounting with AI-Powered Automation
Odoo is a suite of open-source business solutions, including CRM, accounting, productivity, and HRM. We found it simultaneously feature-rich, affordable, and easy to use, which is a rare combination.
Pros
- AI-powered automation
- User-friendly apps
- Clear financial data visualizations
- Synchronization with over 28,000 banks
Cons
- Not suited for large businesses
- Expensive WooCommerce integration
AI integration has long stopped being surprising; we see it everywhere, from Excel to LinkedIn. Still, Odoo’s AI-powered invoice data capture saves enormous amounts of time, virtually eliminating the need for manual data entry.
Apart from filling invoices, Odoo’s AI recognizes data from receipts. Take a picture of your expenses, upload it to Odoo, and an accurate report will be ready in five seconds.
The tool synchronizes with over 28,000 banks worldwide and automatically matches your transactions with financial records. That’s right, the feature was made possible with AI.
Another reason to love Odoo is the appealing, easy-to-navigate mobile app. Many accounting tools have mobile versions, but Odoo excels due to its attention to user experience.
Pricing
The Odoo WooCommerce plugin is on the expensive side ($149 annually), but the software itself costs under $37.40 monthly. In fact, Odoo Online is available for free, so we advise trying it out if you’re only starting your entrepreneurial journey.
| Best For | Price | Mobile App | Trial Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Automation | Starting from $0/month | Yes | Yes, 15 days |
6. MYOB AccountRight: Best Choice for AU and NZ-Based Dropshipping Businesses
MYOB is a suite of accounting tools created specifically for dropshipping, digital download, and small eCommerce stores based in New Zealand and Australia. That’s a pretty narrow niche, so if you operate in a different region, scroll down to the next plugin!
Despite a very specific target audience, MYOB offers wide functionality. You can manage taxes, generate reports, track payrolls, handle invoices, and keep records of customer data.
Pros
- 30-day free trial
- Comprehensive financial dashboards
- Report automation
- Customizable invoice templates
Cons
- Only for businesses from New Zealand and Australia
- Not suitable for large businesses
Like Odoo, MYOB automatically matches purchases to your bank transactions and fills in report data from receipt pictures.
To further simplify your workflow, MYOB provides a quick overview of your store’s financial health with well-designed, comprehensive dashboards.
Finding a great invoicing tool is surprisingly challenging, so we loved MYOB’s customizable templates with automated GST calculations and pre-fill functionality. MYOB even integrates a Pay Now button into your invoices so your clients are prompted directly to the payment page.
Pricing
In addition to the annual plugin cost of $99, you have to get a subscription. MYOB pricing plans cater to eCommerce businesses of all sizes. The best thing is that you can try all the features for free with a 30-day trial.
| Best For | Price | Mobile App | Trial Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropshipping and digital goods | Starting from $5/month | Yes | Yes, 30 days |
7. Cost & Reports by Consortia AS: Simplicity of Reporting for Excel Advocates
Cost & Reports by Consortia AS was developed specifically for WooCommerce and focuses on core financial reporting. The level of report detail combined with simplicity is what truly makes this plugin shine.
More features aren’t always better because you may end up paying extra for something you don’t need. Many accounting software solutions also offer CRM, HRM, or order fulfillment functionality. But what if you already have separate plugins for these purposes.
Pros
- Affordable with no hidden fees
- Simple spreadsheet-like view
- Automatic price suggestions
- Automated alerts
Cons
- No multi-channel support
- No advanced features such as payroll management or dashboards
One of the features we found handy is automatic price suggestions based on your cost of goods and markup. Cost & Reports also considers factors like purchase price, shipping, and retail value when generating reports.
Automated functions, including alerts for negative profit or missing prices, dramatically decrease time managing a store with thousands of products. Advanced filtering also speeds up product and variation search.
Frankly, there’s not much else to be said about Cost & Reports by Consortia AS. Its interface is essentially a compilation of spreadsheets with no data visualization, so you’ll appreciate the tool if you’re used to managing finances in Excel.
Pricing
Cost & Reports by Consortia AS is priced similarly to Xero or MYOB, which may seem odd considering it doesn’t offer nearly as many features. But unlike other options, this plugin doesn’t impose any additional fees.
You won’t even find a pricing page on the provider’s website because it can only be purchased through the WooCommerce store.
| Best For | Price | Mobile App | Trial Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reporting | Free | No | No |
8. WP ERP: Build Your Own Plan and Only Pay for Features You Really Use
WordPress Enterprise Resource Planning, or WP ERP, is a complete business management solution with HR, CRM, and accounting systems. It made it to our list due to user-friendliness, customizability, and flexible pricing structure.
Pros
- Suitable for businesses of any scale
- Supports up to 500 users
- Hassle-free integration with WooCommerce
- Customizable pricing plans
Cons
- Can get pricey
- Lack some important features
Unlike most accounting plugins that offer several pre-built feature plans, WP ERP lets you create your own plan. Such a smart move ensures you only pay for features you actually need. For example, you may pay extra for payroll but leave our inventory management.
By default, you get basic expense tracking and reporting capabilities that may be sufficient for small eCommerce businesses.
We appreciate how clean and easy to navigate WP ERP’s interface is. The main dashboard provides a holistic view of your store’s financial state without the need to scroll through endless spreadsheets.
But while WP ERP is a great tool, it lacks some features offered by competitors like QuickBooks and Obdoo. For example, there are no automated recurring invoices or cash flow statements.
Pricing
WP ERP pricing depends on the user count and add-ons you select. The Pro plan starts at $9.99 for one user but doesn’t include payroll or inventory management. WooCommerce integration costs $5.99 monthly. Enterprises with high demands may have to spend several thousands of dollars each month.
| Best For | Price | Mobile App | Trial Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customization | Starting from $9.99/month | No | Yes, on request |
9. Zapier: Integrate Any Third-Party Accounting Software with WooCommerce
Technically, Zapier isn’t a finance management software, but it deserves a special mention.
Accounting plugin selection in the WooCommerce store is limited. Although each of the tools on our list is worthy, you may not find the perfect match for your business.
Zapier resolves the problem by connecting WooCommerce with thousands of apps and automating processes.
Pros
- Allows integrating almost any third-party tool with WooCommerce
- Automates routine tasks
- Affordable, with a free plan available
Cons
- Complicated setup
- Delays in data synchronization
Many excellent accounting apps, like Freshbooks or Sage, are unavailable in the WooCommerce store. Luckily, Zapier can send your WooCommerce data to nearly any external software, even if you’re old-fashioned and prefer managing finances in Excel.
Instead of updating all data manually, you can set triggers to automate actions. For example, when a product is sold, Zapier can instantly update its quantity in your accounting software.
Of course, such a solution has limitations. On the one hand, you get the freedom of accounting software choice. But on the other hand, you may experience challenges in trigger setup and a delay in data synchronization.
Pricing
Zapier is an affordable plugin ($79 annually) with no hidden fees. The tricky part is that you have to pay extra for the accounting software of your choice, so the final price may vary drastically.
| Best For | Price | Mobile App | Trial Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Third-party tool integration | Starting from $0/month | Yes | Yes |
How We Ranked the Best WooCommerce Accounting Solutions
Each WooCommerce accounting software has its advantages and limitations, so comparing the options isn’t easy. Here are the factors that influenced our conclusions:
- Integrations: We hand-picked tools that seamlessly integrate with WooCommerce and other popular business software, such as payment gateways and CRM platforms.
- Inventory Management: Built-in stock management ensures your financial reports accurately reflect reality.
- Tax Compliance: The ability to calculate taxes based on your jurisdiction is essential for accurate reporting and avoiding fines. This is particularly important for businesses operating in multiple countries or dealing with complex tax structures.
- Reporting: We evaluated the availability of different report types, customization options, and their accuracy.
- Scalability: The tools on our list cater to businesses of different sizes. However, we strived to pick ones that support multiple currencies and sales channels, as well as offer several feature plans.
- User Experience: We made sure all plugins have an easy-to-navigate, appealing interface and top-notch customer support.
- Pricing: We picked software with a flexible plan structure and made sure it provided value for the money. The availability of a free trial or money-back guarantee was another point we evaluated.
Can You Create an Accounting Software for WordPress?
As you can see, even the cheapest accounting software may be out of budget for small eCommerce businesses. That’s why some store owners go the DIY route.
You can create accounting software yourself with some technical knowledge. To do this, you have to first define the necessary functionality. For example, do you need expense tracking? Accounts payable management? What types of reports?
Then, you can either develop the plugin from scratch using PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript or customize existing solutions.
To integrate your tool with WooCommerce, you have to embed it within a page or create a separate admin panel. Then, use hooks and functions to integrate your tool with the WordPress environment.
For example, you might use WordPress shortcode API to embed your tool into a page or the WordPress admin menu API to add a new menu item for your tool. Lastly, you need to test, debug, and deploy the software.
If all of this sounds like a headache, that’s because it is.
On the one hand, building your own software is cheaper, and you can customize it to your preference. On the other hand, it requires knowledge of back-end and front-end web development, along with some understanding of accounting.
So, unless you’re a professional, we advise going with a tried and tested tool from our list.
The Best WooCommerce Accounting Software Compared
With so many factors, deciding on the best accounting software for your needs isn’t easy. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the top nine contenders to help you decide:
| Software | Pricing (extension) | Pricing (software) | Mobile App | Trial Version | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NetSuite | $299/year | Custom | Yes | Yes, on request | Enterprises |
| Zoho Books | $99/year | From $0/month | Yes | Yes | Small online stores |
| Xero | $99/year | From $3.75/month | Yes | Yes | Collaboration |
| QuickBooks | Free | From $18/month | Yes | Yes | Tax compliance |
| Odoo | $149/year | From $0/month | Yes | Yes | Automation |
| MYOB | $99/year | From $5/month | Yes | Yes | Dropshipping and digital goods |
| Cost & Reports by Consortia AS | $89/year | Free | No | No | Reporting |
| WP ERP | Custom | Custom | No | Yes | Customization |
| Zapier | $79/year | From $0/month | Yes | Yes | Third-party tool integration |
Best Accounting Software for WooCommerce – Takeaways
At the very least, accounting software for WooCommerce should streamline tedious tasks and eliminate errors in reports. At best, it should help you spot areas for optimization, help manage stock levels, and enable collaboration with employees and contractors.
Our research shows that Oracle NetSuite is the best accounting solution overall, integrating with the most popular business tools and providing powerful reporting capabilities. Not sure whether it will suit your needs? Get in touch with NetSuite’s sales team and request a demo version!
FAQs
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References
Human Errors Plague Financial Reporting (FEI)
