QuickBooks, NetSuite, Intacct, Xero and FreshBooks Earn High Marks in Accounting Software Rankings

The updated GridSM report for accounting software, published today by business software review site G2 Crowd, ranks nine products to help purchasers in their selections.

The Summer 2015 report is based on more than 425 reviews written by business and finance professionals.

The GridSM, which is created from G2 Crowd’s software review platform, factors in customer satisfaction reported by users and vendor market presence determined from social and public data to rank products.

Accounting platforms maintain a business’s ledger, tracking incoming and outgoing transactions and automating the processes surrounding these accounts, such as invoicing and reconciliation. Depending on the business’s needs, accounting software can include dunning, payroll, time tracking, or expenses, and might be an application of or integrated with a business’s ERP software or CRM platform.

Accounting systems vary widely in complexity with some focused on SMBs with ease of use, and others optimized for enterprise scalability or designed for the standards of a specific industry.

To qualify as a Leader, a product must receive a high customer satisfaction score and have substantial market presence. QuickBooks Desktop, NetSuite ERP, Intacct and Xero were named Leaders. High Performers have high customer satisfaction scores with a smaller market presence than Leaders. FreshBooks was the only High Performer named. Intacct earned the highest overall customer satisfaction score.

Across all accounting systems, reviewers reported the product they use meets their requirements at an average rate of 79%, and on average reviewers said they were 75% likely to recommend the product they use. Highly rated features include internationalization, journal entries and AR automation.

Some highlights from the accounting software reviews on G2 Crowd:

“It is very easy to seamlessly transition between accounting tasks like payables and receivables [with QuickBooks Desktop]. I also love how easy it is to directly download transactions from most banks and credit cards which saves so much time when reconciling.”

– Josh Smuckler, Staff Accountant at Ontic BBA Aviation

“The available customization is by far the best feature of NetSuite [ERP]. Nearly any business process can be mapped out and worked into the NetSuite system by creating custom forms, workflows and scripts. We are continuously adding customizations to make work more efficient for our employees.”

– Jason McDaniel, Technical Operations Manager at AidaPak Services, LLC

“The [Intacct] platform is very flexible, saves considerable personnel time to manage, and allows for far greater transparency than our previous system. Everything about the system can [be] custom tailored, and we have actually created read only access for our Finance Committee to improve our reporting, as well as access for our auditors which greatly improves the audit process…as well as its efficiency.”

– Hunter Johnson, Director of Operations at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church

“The interface is simple and intuitive, making using Xero extremely easy. Not only that, but the bank feeds make reconciling bank accounts a breeze…It’s well equipped too, coming with the usual array of accounting features such as balance sheet & profit and loss, and also management reports & budgeting. You can also use tracking and extra invoicing details to help create a wealth of important information you can use to run your business.”

– Thomas Szczepanski, Chartered Accountant at Mr & Mrs Accountant

“Freshbooks gets plenty right. Tracking billable time against customers or customer projects is a breeze, and their invoicing and methods for collecting payments is really hard to beat. Plus, they integrate with so many other services, it makes it really easy to get addicted to.”

– Steve Skinner, Owner at DotComSecrets

Of the more than 75 software vendors listed in G2 Crowd’s Accounting Software category, the nine ranked products each received 10 or more reviews to qualify for inclusion on the GridSM.

Satisfaction rankings are generated from the user reviews, and market presence is calculated from vendor size, market share, and social impact. Based on a combination of these scores, each software solution is categorized as a Leader, High Performer, Contender, or Niche.

Premium research access can be purchased on the site for $599. This offers the original data for filtering and weighting, as well as individual profiles of each platform with the most helpful positive and negative accounting software reviews, detailed company information, user satisfaction ratings, feature scores and customer metrics. Future refreshes of the GridSM will provide updated rankings based on the latest reviews and social data.