The best accounting software for trades
Start with the job software you already run. QuickBooks Online takes invoices straight from Jobber, Housecall Pro and ServiceTitan. Xero connects to Jobber, ServiceM8 and FieldPulse, but not Housecall Pro. Wave and FreshBooks have no direct link at all. Pick the wrong one and someone in your office retypes every invoice, every week.
Who wins where
I want the tool that covers the most ground. Ranked by how many of this category's jobs the tool does out of the box. Features that cost extra count for less than ones that are included, and we do not reward a long feature list if half of it is an add-on.
- 1
QuickBooks Online4 of 5 included outright.Our review - 2
Xero4 of 5 included outright.Our review - 3
FreshBooks2 of 5 included outright.Our review - 4
Wave1 of 5 included outright, 1 sold as add-ons.Our review
What decides it in accounting & bookkeeping
The sync to your job software comes first
Almost every trade shop already runs something for scheduling and invoicing. What matters next is whether your books can take those invoices without anyone keying them in. QuickBooks Online is the safe answer here, because Jobber, Housecall Pro, ServiceTitan and most others push invoices straight in. Xero has native links to Jobber, ServiceM8, Simpro and FieldPulse, and no Housecall Pro connection at all. Wave and FreshBooks have no native job-software link, so you are stitching them together with Zapier and hoping it holds. If you run Housecall Pro, that narrows the choice to QuickBooks Online fast. If you run ServiceM8, Xero is the cleaner fit and costs less at the low end.
Cheap tiers cap invoices, clients and seats
The entry price on these tools rarely matches what a working shop needs. Xero Early is $25 a month but stops at 20 invoices and 5 bills, so one busy week breaks it. FreshBooks Lite is $23 a month and caps you at 5 billable clients, and every extra team member is $11 a month on top. Xero counts people differently. Its flat tiers include unlimited users, so ten logins cost the same as one. QuickBooks Online runs $38 for Simple Start, $75 for Essentials and $115 for Plus, with seats built into each tier (all as of August 2026). Xero has also announced a US price rise on October 1, 2026. Count your monthly invoices and your logins before you look at features.
None of these file your taxes for you
It is easy to buy accounting software thinking it handles tax. None of these do the filing. FreshBooks gives you tax-ready reports and a sales tax summary, and files nothing. Wave tracks and reports sales tax, and files nothing unless you buy its payroll add-on. QuickBooks Online works out sales tax by address and tracks 1099s, but filing those costs extra. Xero comes closest, with auto sales tax through Avalara on every plan, and e-filing set up through Avalara as its own step. So budget for a bookkeeper or an accountant either way. What the software buys you is a clean set of books at tax time, not a filed return.
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