As many of us start our business, we don’t always have the funds to invest in accounting software or tools right off the bat. Lucky for us there are a host of Free, or nearly free, tools that will allow you to start your business off on the right foot.
Here are my Top Four Free Money Tools for Entrepreneurs
1) Wave Accounting – I have written whole articles just on the awesomeness of Wave Accounting which you can read here. Wave is specifically created with small businesses in mind. The free version of Wave includes Invoicing, accounting aka income and expense tracking, receipt uploading, and email support. It is a very easy program to use and they have an excellent training video series on their Wave University page. They also have mobile apps for invoicing and receipt snapping on the go. There are a couple paid features to Wave that you can enable including accepting credit card payments directly on Invoices, premium support, and payroll if you need it. Check them out at https://www.waveapps.com/
2) Mint.com – When you are starting a business it’s not just about your business finances, your personal budgeting is important to keep tabs on too. Mint is a wonderful tool to help you track all your finances. You can link up all kinds of bank, credit card, and loan accounts to get a clear picture of your financial health. Set a monthly budget and goals and use their notification settings to help keep yourself on track. Mint is an Intuit product so it is pretty powerful. They have added a lot of cool paid features recently like bill pay and credit tracking. They also have a great mobile app for checking your budget while out and about. Check them out at https://www.mint.com/
3) Paypal for Business – If you are buying things online, or accepting payments, then you need to be set-up with a proper business Paypal account. It should be completely separate from your personal Paypal, so you don’t have purchase confusion. Most people don’t realize that you can send pretty nice looking invoices straight from PayPal. While it is not 100% free to get paid via Paypal for a business, there is no upfront cost to setting up the account or sending an invoice. https://www.paypal.com
4) Google Drive – Rather than list each element of Google Drive, I will just say that all of it is awesome! When we’re talking about finances though, Google Sheets is a lot more powerful than you initial think. With the latest updates there are now pre-built templates, including a Monthly Budget, that you can customize and use as a Profit and Loss report. You can also track inventory within Google Sheets if you sell physical products. I know a TON of business owners who are still bootstrapping their financial tracking using Google Sheets. If you have some knowledge in spreadsheets, then Google Sheets is a simple and free option to track all sorts of things. Check them out at https://drive.google.com
Don’t let a small start-up budget keep you from using great tools. Give these a test drive and see what fits best for you, and your business.
Have another free tool you love? Comment below or Tweet me @WhaleyBookkeep !
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Hello there, I’m Melissa Whaley, owner of Whaley Bookkeeping. I specialize in virtual bookkeeping and tax preparation for entrepreneurs. It excites me to help people understand and take control of their finances, especially in their businesses. I believe that anyone is capable of success if their passions are accompanied with the right tools. I love working with new business owners to help them set-up systems that will take the stress out their finances.
I am a licensed tax preparer in the state of California and have been helping small business owners since 2009. I am a Wave Accounting Pro, Quickbooks Online ProAdvisor, and Freshbooks Bookkeeper.
You will often find me drinking a cup of coffee while hanging out in Facebook Groups, or on my YouTube channel making videos to help Etsy sellers with their bookkeeping. In my personal life I am married to a wonderful husband, have a 6 year old daughter and a 1 year old son.
