Best Bookkeeping Software for Small Business in Canada

Updated October 2026. Prices checked on each vendor’s Canadian website on October 14, 2026. Prices and promotions change often, so confirm on the vendor’s site before you buy.

The best bookkeeping software for a small business in Canada depends on what you do. For most incorporated businesses with a few employees, QuickBooks Online or Xero is the usual choice. A sole proprietor with simple books can start free with Wave or Zoho Books. Freelancers who mostly send invoices often like FreshBooks, and businesses with inventory that prefer software on their own computer still use Sage 50. Below we compare all six on Canadian prices, payroll and what each is good at, with no affiliate links and nothing paid for placement.

Bookkeeping software in Canada compared

Regular prices in Canadian dollars, before tax, for the cheapest plan most businesses would actually use. Most vendors run first-months discounts on top of these.

Software	Regular price (CAD)	Good fit for
QuickBooks Online	Lite $20/month, EasyStart $30/month, Plus $110/month	Incorporated businesses that want payroll and an accountant in the same system
Xero	Starter $25/month, Standard $60/month, Premium $80/month	Growing businesses that want unlimited invoices and bills from the Standard plan
Wave	Starter $0, Pro $25/month or $250/year	Sole proprietors and very small businesses on a tight budget
FreshBooks	Lite $26/month, Plus $42/month, Premium $72/month	Freelancers and service businesses that bill clients
Zoho Books	Free (revenue under C$50,000), Standard C$20/month	Small businesses that want a free start and room to grow
Sage 50	Pro $916/year, Premium $1,371/year	Businesses with inventory that prefer desktop software

QuickBooks Online

QuickBooks Online is Intuit’s cloud bookkeeping software. On the Canadian pricing page, Lite is $20 a month for one user with invoicing, sales tax, mileage and two bank connections, but no accountant access. EasyStart is $30 a month for one user plus your accountant. Plus is $110 a month for up to five users and adds inventory, budgets, project profitability and multi-currency. Advanced is $220 a month for up to 25 users.

Payroll is an add-on: Payroll Core is $30 a month plus $5 per employee, Premium is $55 plus $8 per employee and Elite is $80 plus $15 per employee. Payroll includes tax forms and Records of Employment.

Good: one system for books, sales tax and payroll; accountant access from EasyStart up.
Watch for: the jump from EasyStart ($30) to Plus ($110) if you need inventory or more than one user. The large launch discount only applies if you buy instead of taking the 30-day free trial.

Xero

Xero’s Canadian plans are Starter at $25 a month, Standard at $60 and Premium at $80, in Canadian dollars before tax. Starter limits you to 20 invoices and 5 bills, which a busy business outgrows quickly. Standard removes those limits and adds budgets and dashboards. Premium adds multiple currencies and deeper reporting. Hubdoc, for capturing receipts and bills, is included in all three plans.

Good: bank reconciliation and receipt capture (Hubdoc) in every plan, and plain monthly pricing.
Watch for: payroll is not part of Xero’s Canadian plans on its pricing page, so plan on running payroll in a separate app. Starter’s invoice and bill limits.

Wave

Wave’s Starter plan is free and includes unlimited estimates, invoices, bills and bookkeeping records. Card payments cost 2.9% plus $0.60 per transaction on Starter. The Pro plan is $25 CAD a month or $250 CAD a year and adds automatic bank imports, transaction categorizing and unlimited receipt capture.

Good: genuinely free to start, easy for one person.
Watch for: the free plan does not import bank transactions automatically. Fewer features for inventory, projects or several users. Payroll is an add-on, so check it covers your province before you rely on it.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks started as invoicing software and it shows. Canadian regular prices are Lite at $26 a month (invoices to 5 clients), Plus at $42 a month (50 clients, accounting reports, receipt scanning and accountant access) and Premium at $72 a month (unlimited clients and project profitability). Extra team members are $13 a month each. Payroll is offered through PaymentEvolution.

Good: polished invoicing, estimates, proposals and retainers.
Watch for: client limits on Lite and Plus, and Lite does not include accountant access.

Zoho Books

Zoho Books has a free plan for businesses with revenue under C$50,000 a year (one user plus your accountant). Paid plans start at C$20 a month for Standard (C$15 a month billed annually, 3 users), then Professional at C$35, Premium at C$50, Elite at C$200 and Ultimate at C$350 a month. Each step adds users and features such as purchase orders, multi-currency and inventory.

Good: a free plan, a clear upgrade path, and federal and provincial sales tax returns generated from your data (per Zoho’s Canadian pricing page).
Watch for: once revenue passes C$50,000 in a financial year, the free plan ends. Ask your bookkeeper or accountant whether they work in Zoho before you commit.

Sage 50

Sage 50 is desktop accounting software with cloud access, sold by annual subscription. Pro Accounting is $916 a year for one user, Premium Accounting is $1,371 a year for two users (a four-user option is available), and Quantum starts at $6,341 a year for five users. Bundles with payroll are $1,758 a year for Pro and $2,248 a year for Premium.

Good: strong inventory and job tracking, works well for businesses used to desktop software.
Watch for: higher yearly cost for one user, and sharing files with your accountant takes more setup than fully online tools.

How to choose bookkeeping software for your business

Are you incorporated? A corporation needs full books for its T2 return. Pick software your accountant can log into.
Do you have employees? If yes, check that payroll runs in the same system or connects to it, including source deductions and T4s.
How many transactions a month? Plan limits (invoices, bills, clients, bank connections) matter more than the headline price.
Do you sell products? Inventory tracking usually needs a higher plan.
Who will do the work? If you will hand the books to a bookkeeper, ask what they use. Switching later costs time.

Tip: compare the regular price, not the promotion. A plan at 80% or 90% off for the first few months returns to full price after that, and most plans renew automatically.

What Canadian businesses need from any bookkeeping software

GST/HST tracking. Once your taxable sales go over $30,000 in four consecutive calendar quarters, you generally have to register for and charge GST/HST. Your software should track GST collected and paid so your return is easy.
BC PST, tracked separately. In British Columbia, PST is a separate provincial tax with its own returns. Make sure your software can hold GST and PST as two different taxes.
Bank feeds. Automatic imports save the most time. Check that your bank is supported and whether the plan includes it.
Accountant access. Your accountant should be able to log in without sharing your password.
Records you can keep. The CRA generally requires you to keep records for six years from the end of the last tax year they relate to. Make sure you can export your data if you cancel.

Switching bookkeeping software

Changing programs mid-year is possible but messy. If you can, switch at the start of your fiscal year so one year’s books live in one system.

Finish and reconcile the old system to the switch date.
Export your chart of accounts, customer and supplier lists and opening balances.
Connect your bank feeds in the new program and start from the switch date.
Keep the old data (or a full export) for six years, as the CRA requires.
Give your accountant access to both for the year of the change.

What your accountant needs from your software at year end

A trial balance, income statement and balance sheet for the fiscal year
Bank and credit card reconciliations for the last month of the year
A GST/HST (and PST, if registered) report for the year
Lists of what customers owe you and what you owe suppliers at year end
Payroll summaries and T4 totals if you have employees

Example: a corporation with a December 31 year end that keeps QuickBooks or Xero current all year can usually hand over these reports in an afternoon. The same business with a year of unreconciled transactions needs catch-up bookkeeping first, and that adds time and cost.

Do you need software at all?

Not always. If you are a sole proprietor with a few transactions a month, a separate business bank account plus your statements and receipts may be enough. At tax time we can do the year-end bookkeeping and your return together: our self-employed return with books done for you starts at $245. See self-employed tax returns.

Software or a bookkeeper?

Software does not keep your books by itself. Someone still has to categorize transactions, reconcile accounts and fix mistakes before year end. If you would rather not do that yourself, outsourced bookkeeping for an incorporated business starts at $195 a month at JHG, with your corporate tax return included. Read how much a bookkeeper costs in BC or see our bookkeeping and payroll prices.

Already using a program? Tell us what you use on the first call. We work mostly in QuickBooks, so if you are choosing a program now and want us to keep the books, QuickBooks Online is the easiest fit. If you do not use any yet, bank statements and receipts are enough to start.

Want us to keep your books, whatever software you use? Book a free call.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best bookkeeping software for a small business in Canada?

It depends on your business. QuickBooks Online and Xero suit most incorporated small businesses. Wave and Zoho Books have free plans for very small businesses. FreshBooks suits freelancers who bill clients, and Sage 50 suits businesses with inventory that prefer desktop software.

Is there free bookkeeping software in Canada?

Yes. Wave’s Starter plan is free, and Zoho Books has a free plan for businesses with revenue under C$50,000 a year. Free plans have limits, for example Wave’s free plan does not import bank transactions automatically.

Is QuickBooks worth it for a small business?

For many incorporated businesses, yes, because books, sales tax and payroll can run in one system and your accountant can log in. If you only send a few invoices a month, a cheaper or free tool may be enough.

Which bookkeeping software handles payroll in Canada?

QuickBooks Online and Sage 50 sell payroll for Canada as an add-on or bundle. FreshBooks offers payroll through PaymentEvolution. Xero’s Canadian plans do not list payroll, so it is run in a separate app.

Do I need bookkeeping software if I am self-employed?

Not necessarily. Many sole proprietors keep a separate business account and hand their statements and receipts to an accountant once a year.

Should I hire a bookkeeper or use software?

Software is the tool and a bookkeeper does the work. If you do not have time to keep your books current every month, outsourcing is usually the better use of your time.

Sources we used

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