Just because you’re a Mac person doesn’t mean you have to settle for less with your accounting software. Check out these 6 great options.

A few years ago, we published an article on the best accounting software options for Mac users. This is an update of that article, but here’s the thing: There’s no such thing as “accounting software for Mac” anymore.

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Sure, there’s plenty of accounting software that you can use on your MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, etc. But while there used to be Mac software and PC software, it’s now virtually all the same with the ever-increasing expansion of cloud-based software that works seamlessly in any browser.

In other words, you’d have a much harder time finding accounting software that doesn’t work on your Mac than a program that works only on Macs. In fact, with more than 100 million active Mac users, if you found an accounting program that somehow wasn’t compatible with Mac, that alone would be cause for alarm.

Cloud software is here to stay, and the market is only getting bigger. Gartner predicts that by 2022, 28% of enterprise IT spending will have shifted to cloud applications, up from 19% in 2018. (Full report available to Gartner clients.)

6 user-friendly accounting software options for Mac

Rather than giving you a generic list of accounting software that works on Macs (which would basically just be our accounting software directory), I decided to determine which top factors users have for choosing Mac over PC and then find accounting software that best suits those users.

Macs are typically high-end machines with consistently strong reviews from users, so I included only accounting tools with an overall rating of 4.5/5 stars or higher in our directory (based on verified user ratings) and with at least 100 reviews.
In general, Macs are considered easier to use than PCs, so I’m including only products with an ease-of-use rating on our site of 4.5/5 or higher.
Finally, I included only products with a native iOS app with a user rating of 4/5 or better on the App Store, since Mac users typically use iPhones and iPads as well as their desktop or laptop computers.

With those factors in mind, here’s what I found, listed in order of rating and reviews from highest to lowest:

1. QuickBooks

User rating: 4.5/5.0
Ease-of-use rating: 4.5/5.0
Reviews:14,700+

It’s no surprise that the big name in accounting software is available on Mac operating systems. QuickBooks has even had a desktop-only (not cloud-based) option available for Macs since at least the mid-1990s, making the company something of a pioneer for cross-platform functionality.

Now, any of QuickBooks’ cloud-based offerings will work fine on your Apple device, and Intuit even still offers a desktop version for Mac. The desktop version for Mac even has a few features designed specifically for Mac users:

QuickBooks for Mac 2020 takes advantage of the Mojave OS Dark Mode.
You can upload text searchable images with the iPhone scanner.
Documents can be automatically shared through iCloud.

Pros	Cons
QuickBooks is available on virtually every device, so whether your team has Macs, PCs, or smartphones, you know that everyone can use it together.	QuickBooks has very attractive entry-level pricing, but it doubles after three months.
With hundreds of integrations, QuickBooks is highly customizable.	QuickBooks is an enormous company, and some reviewers find that the customer service isn’t as hands-on as they’d like.
How much does QuickBooks cost?
QuickBooks Online starts at $25/month. QuickBooks Desktop for Mac is a one-time payment of $299.
What about the iOS app?
The QuickBooks iOS app has a 4.7/5 rating on more than 100,000 reviews. It allows users to create invoices, manage expenses, and view reports.

The QuickBooks Online dashboard (Source)

2. FreshBooks

User rating: 4.5/5.0
Ease-of-use rating: 4.5/5.0
Reviews:3,000+

Designed specifically for small businesses and the self-employed, Toronto-based FreshBooks has been around for more than 15 years. FreshBooks also has Mac users in mind. Best free daily planner app for mac. They say that their easy-to-use accounting software works on any device—desktop, mobile, or tablet—and “plays nicely” with Mac.

Pros	Cons
Users rave over FreshBooks’ customer support, and the company stakes their reputation on it.	If your company is rapidly growing—for example, if you plan on going public—you may quickly outgrow FreshBooks.
Even though it’s targeted at smaller companies, FreshBooks has all the important accounting features you would need, so it can handle much more than lemonade stands.	Freshbooks does a great job of keeping your books clean, but if you love forecasting and crunching numbers, it’s a little skimpy on the reporting side.
How much does FreshBooks cost?
FreshBooks starts at $15 per month for five clients and goes up to $50 per month for 500 clients. *At the time of writing, FreshBooks has a fall sale of 60% off for six months on all plans.
What about the iOS app?
The FreshBooks app has a 4.8/5 rating on almost 8,000 reviews. It allows you to run invoices, record expenses, track time, and accept payments, all while you’re away from your computer.

The Invoices dashboard in FreshBooks (Source)

3. Accounting by Wave

Free Software For Small Business

User rating: 4.5/5.0
Ease-of-use rating: 4.5/5.0
Reviews:800+

Accounting by Wave is one of the youngest tools on this list, having launched out of Toronto in 2010 before being acquired by H&R Block earlier this year. Its biggest differentiator is that it has a completely free version, as long as you don’t need to use it to accept payments or run payroll (those are optional, paid features).

So what makes Wave an attractive option specifically for Mac users? As mentioned, it’s free, so it’ll help you save for the next iPhone or MacBook upgrade. It also scores high for ease of use, making it fit in nicely with the intuitive Mac ecosystem.

Pros	Cons
It’s free without limitations on users or transactions as long as you don’t need to accept payments or run payroll.	Wave is missing an audit trail feature, leaving it vulnerable to fraudulent employees.
Wave offers above-average reporting features for a free tool.	The free version offers only email support, an

Just because you’re a Mac person doesn’t mean you have to settle for less with your accounting software. Check out these 6 great options.

6 user-friendly accounting software options for Mac

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1. QuickBooks

Pros

Cons

How much does QuickBooks cost?

What about the iOS app?

2. FreshBooks

Pros

Cons

How much does FreshBooks cost?

What about the iOS app?

3. Accounting by Wave

Free Software For Small Business

Pros

Cons

Simple Accounting Software For Small Business Mac