Best Online Accounting Firms for Small Business

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indinero blankets its clients with a wide range of accounting services, an easy-to-use platform, access to in-house experts, and a dedicated customer support team, making it our choice as the best overall accounting firm.

Since its founding in 2009, indinero has been perfecting its offering of an all-in-one accounting service for small businesses. In addition to one of the widest arrays of services, inDinero offers clients access to a team of staff accountants and financial experts, just a click or call away with its easy-to-use dashboard or mobile app. indinero checks all the boxes, making it our choice as the best overall accounting firm for small businesses.

While indinero's base plan may be a little pricier than other firms, its all-in-one accounting services still will save fledgling businesses time and money. For $750 a month, the Essential plan is stacked full of functions including easy invoicing, P&L and balance sheet creation, accounts payable and receivable tracking and reporting, monthly reconciliations, employee reimbursements, financial reporting, and document management. It also comes with a mobile app and a dedicated account manager. The Essential plan is designed for startups and smaller businesses that use cash basis accounting. If you need accrual basis accounting, you will need to step up to its Growth plan.

At $1250 per month, the Growth plan is designed for more established small and medium-sized businesses. It's pricier, but it adds some significant features, such as accrual accounting and regular controller support. Businesses that use the Growth plan are provided with processes that can be scaled as they grow.

For larger companies with more complex accounting needs and the need for business metrics analysis and audit support, indinero will design a custom plan that includes fractional CFO services, multiple entity support, cash flow projections, and payroll support.

In addition to its real-time dashboard, which offers self-support features, clients can tap into indinero's support team via phone, email, or live chat. 

On the downside, if you aren't using Gusto, Stripe, Expensify, Netsuite, or TriNet, you'll have to use indinero's software, which is powerful, but it's not portable if you ever decide to switch firms.

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For small businesses with straightforward accounting needs, 1-800Accountant offers a solid basic plan for a flat fee of $139 a month, making it our pick as the best accounting firm for basic plans.

Founded in 1999 by two former members of Price Waterhouse, 1-800Accountant is one of the more established online accounting firms. It combines personal support from a nationwide team of experts with the convenience of digital technology for a flat rate, which is why we selected it as the best accounting firm for a basic plan.

1-800Accountant offers a nationwide team of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), enrolled agents, tax professionals, and other experts lending their expertise to a full array of accounting services. Clients are matched with a local accountant or bookkeeper who can provide state- and industry-specific guidance in managing their books. 

For just $139 a month, clients receive a dedicated accountant and a detailed monthly reports. They also have the ability to create and send invoices and prepare financial reports. A dedicated bookkeeper sets up your account and connects your bank and credit accounts for synchronized transaction reporting. The software used by 1-800Accountant integrates with many of the top accounting software packages.

From there, clients can add services with an upgraded plan. For example, if your business reaches a growth threshold, you can pay $239 a month for a plan that will also prepare and file both your personal and business taxes.

You also can add bookkeeping, priority support, and financial reports with the Enterprise plan for $399.

Payroll services also are available from 1-800Accountant for getting your employees paid, withholding taxes, and taking care of your payroll taxes. The service maintains all required employee records.

Also, 1-800Accountant offers every business a free tax savings consultation with an expert. Better yet, 1-800Accountant guarantees its customers maximum tax savings by finding every deduction.

Once your account is set up, you have secure access to your assigned accountant via messaging, phone, email, or chat. A mobile app keeps you in contact with your financials.

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Businesses that prefer more direct business relationships can use Paro to match with an accountant or bookkeeper that best meets their finance and accounting needs. That makes Paro our choice as the best accounting firm for hiring freelance accountants.

Paro is not an accounting firm like others on this list. Instead, it operates as a marketplace that brings together businesses with vetted finance and accounting experts to directly work with you. For that, Paro makes our list as the best accounting firm for hiring freelancers. 

Paro uses a multi-step vetting process to review the applications they receive and build a database of thousands of CPAs, financial analysts, internal auditors, finance vice presidents, and bookkeepers. The vetting process, which consists of background and reference checks, a skill assessment, interviews, and completion of a hands-on project, has screened out 98% of its applicants, leaving only the top talent in its database. Many of Paro's freelancers have worked at highly respected companies such as Deloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG, and the IRS.

Once you complete a short questionnaire, Paro works with you to find the right match based on the size of your business, the financial role that needs to be filled, and your industry. It also will look for candidates who are conversant in your software, such as QuickBooks, Xero, Netsuite, and many other programs.

Paro's algorithm matches you with a few candidates for you to screen, and, when you find one you want to hire, Paro makes the introduction. You also are assigned a dedicated account manager to help facilitate the completion of the project.

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For businesses with straightforward financials that are ready to outsource their bookkeeping, Bench Accounting is equipped to take it all on, making it our pick as the best accounting firm for bookkeeping services.

Bench Accounting was launched in 2012 for the sole purpose of serving the bookkeeping needs of small businesses for both cash basis and accrual basis reporting. It's now the largest bookkeeping service, with in-house professionals doing the bookkeeping for more than 11,000 business owners, which is why we chose it as the best accounting firm for bookkeeping services.

Although it's a virtual service, Bench personalizes its clients' experiences by assigning them a dedicated team of in-house professionals. The team takes over all bookkeeping functions, including setting up your account and linking it with all your financial accounts to upload data. The team then categorizes all your transactions, reconciles your bank accounts, and prepares monthly financial statements. 

One downside to Bench is its use of proprietary software. Although it is powerful and effective, it doesn't sync with industry standards such as QuickBooks or Xero. That will make it difficult to switch providers in the future. The other downside is that its services don't include bill pay, sending invoices, or writing checks.

Bench's reporting functions also are limited. If you already work with an accountant or CPA, chances are good they prefer to work with QuickBooks rather than with proprietary software like Bench.

Clients can contact their team members during business hours from their computers or mobile app and expect a response within one business day or they can schedule a call.

Bench's pricing starts at $249 per month for the Essential plan while the Premium plan that includes tax advisory and filing runs $399 per month.

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Pilot is a relatively new firm established by former startup founders backed by entrepreneurs who clearly understand other startups and their accounting needs, making it our pick for the best accounting firm for startup companies.

Started by successful startup entrepreneurs, Pilot understands the challenges other startup entrepreneurs face in keeping the books and preparing their businesses for growth. That's why we chose Pilot as the best accounting firm for startup businesses.

The handholding begins as soon as you sign up with Pilot and are immediately assigned a dedicated bookkeeper as your account manager. That person is your point of contact who will come to know you and your business.

The next step is to work with your account manager to integrate your existing software and processes with QuickBooks. From that point on, you will receive monthly reports, including cash flow, profit and loss, and balance sheet statements.

In addition, Pilot performs automatic transaction imports, monthly account reconciliations, and cash forecasting. Inventory tracking, accounts payable and receivable reporting, as well as tax preparation and filing, are add-on options for an additional fee. That's a comprehensive offering for startups or small businesses that want to scale up quickly.

All price plans include unlimited accounts and are billed annually upfront with no early termination fee. The Starter plan starts at $499 per month for companies with monthly expenses between zero and $15,000. But the higher your monthly expenses go, the higher the fee. The Core plan starts at $699 per month and includes expedited books delivery and monthly phone reviews. This plan also has a sliding scale based on monthly expenses. Pilot offers custom pricing that includes support for multiple entities, accounts receivable, and payable reporting along with a fully customizable chart of accounts.