Correct by default
Double-entry validation rejects an unbalanced entry before it can distort a report.
For small businesses
Real books for your business, without QuickBooks
Hosted double-entry books for owner-run businesses: every balance traceable to the entries behind it, reports your accountant can read, and a ledger that stays yours if you ever leave.
View full screenshot- No lock-in
- Accountant-ready reports
- Nothing to install
Real books, without the bloat
Double-entry books that are correct by construction
Every transaction has to balance before it is accepted, so the numbers you read are numbers you can trust — without paying for features a small firm never uses.
See how it compares with other QuickBooks alternatives- Bank Sync and Smart Import turn statements into entries you review.
- Balance assertions catch a missing or doubled transaction early.
- See whether last quarter made money with one income statement.
Built for your accountant
A trail your accountant can read and verify
When a number looks wrong, nobody has to guess what produced it. Every balance traces back to readable entries, and every change leaves a history.
- Balance sheet, income statement and trial balance in one click.
- Invite your accountant as a collaborator instead of emailing exports.
- Hand over the complete ledger at year end as one readable file.
View full screenshotYour data, your decision
Books that outlive any software vendor
Your ledger is an open plain-text file, not a record inside someone else's database. That is the answer to the question every owner should ask: what happens if I cancel?
- Export the complete ledger at any time, history included.
- Open it with free, open-source Beancount and Fava, with or without us.
- No proprietary format and no conversion fee to leave.
Why owners switch
Accounting you can trust, explain and keep
Small firms do not need more features. They need books that are right, that their accountant can check, and that they will still be able to open in ten years.
Easy to review
Your accountant reads standard reports and can follow any number down to the line that produced it.
Hosted, nothing to install
Use it in the browser and on your phone. Backups, upgrades and servers are handled for you.
Yours, with no lock-in
The ledger is a standard Beancount file. Take it with you whenever you want, at no cost.
Questions small-business owners ask
What switching from QuickBooks to plain-text books means in practice.
Can Beancount replace QuickBooks for a small business?
For the books themselves, yes: double-entry accounts, bank imports, reconciliation and financial reports. Invoicing, payroll, payments and tax filing stay in separate tools whose results you record in the ledger. If you want all of those in one app, QuickBooks is the easier all-in-one choice.
Does my accountant need to learn Beancount?
Not to review your books. Your accountant reads a standard balance sheet, income statement and trial balance, and can trace any figure to the entries behind it. Editing entries directly takes learning a small, readable syntax, so most owners keep the books and share them for review.
What happens to my books if I cancel?
You keep them. Export the complete ledger, with its full history, as a plain-text Beancount file and open it with the free, open-source Beancount and Fava tools, or hand it to your accountant. There is no proprietary format to convert and no fee to leave.
Can it handle sales tax, GST/HST and more than one currency?
Yes, in the ledger. Record tax you collect in a liability account per tax and jurisdiction, so the balance shows what you owe. Every currency is first-class, with prices for conversion. Preparing and filing returns stays with you or your accountant.
Start your business ledger today
Free to start. Correct, accountant-ready books that stay yours — hosted, with nothing to install.