The ledger · Small-business accounting
Full accounting in one straight-shooting system — AR, AP, GL, payroll, inventory, and reporting without spreadsheet gymnastics.
Built for owners and bookkeepers who want one honest ledger — not a pile of disconnected tools.
The core pillars of a real accounting system — without enterprise cost or complexity.
Set up your full chart of accounts, post journal entries, and run the GL and trial balance your accountant expects.
Create invoices, receive payments, apply credits, and track every open balance with AR aging built right in.
Enter vendor bills, convert purchase orders to bills, pay multiple bills at once, and keep AP aging clean.
Manage customers, create quotes, issue sales orders, and convert them to invoices without re-keying line items.
Maintain supplier records, raise purchase orders, and track commitments separately from the bills that follow.
Track items and warehouses, post stock adjustments, and pull stock ledger and valuation reports from one system.
Connect bank accounts, categorize transactions, and reconcile books to statements every month.
Run payroll, calculate withholding, and post payroll entries to the GL without requiring external tools.
Profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, AR aging, AP aging, and inventory reports in one reporting center.
Nothing to install. Open a browser, log in, and your books are there from any device.
Give bookkeepers, managers, and owners exactly the access they need and nothing they should not see.
Log billable and non-billable hours, tie entries to customers and jobs, then feed them directly into invoices.
Configure tax jurisdictions and rates, apply them consistently on AR and AP, and reduce rework when rates or rules change.
Set budgets by account or category, then compare to actuals in reports so variances show up before month-end surprises.
Tag transactions to jobs or projects, roll up labor, materials, and overhead, and see margin without exporting to spreadsheets.
Schedule repeating invoices, vendor bills, and journal templates so routine work posts on time without manual re-entry.
Capture employee receipts and mileage, route approvals, and post reimbursements or billable costs straight through to the GL.
See who created or changed key postings and when — a cleaner story for owners, CPAs, and anyone reviewing the books.
Store receipts, statements, and PDFs with bills, invoices, and journal entries so support lives next to the numbers.
Scores reflect common buyer-facing positioning (not an exhaustive RFP matrix). Yes = clearly advertised or widely accepted strength; Partial = varies by edition, partner, or scope; No = not a marketed advantage; Unclear = insufficient public detail.
| Dimension | GoodBooks | QuickBooks Online | Xero | Wave | Sage Intacct | Zoho Books |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic accounting + operations (table stakes) | ||||||
| General ledger + chart of accounts depth | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| AR invoicing, payments, and aging | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AP bills, approvals, and aging | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Bank feeds + reconciliation workflows | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Payroll posture (native or tightly coupled add-on) | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Inventory tracking for stock items | Yes | Partial | Partial | No | No | Partial |
| Time tracking tied to billing | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Purchasing flow (PO to bill continuity) | Yes | Partial | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Financial statements + accounting close reporting | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Specialized / control depth | ||||||
| Multi-entity / consolidation trajectory | Partial | Partial | Partial | No | Yes | Partial |
| Auditability controls (role-based permissions + traceability) | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Operational depth beyond bookkeeping (inventory + purchasing + payroll) | Yes | Partial | Partial | No | Yes | Partial |
| Commercial / delivery signals | ||||||
| Browser-first deployment (no desktop install required) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Role-based permissions for teams | Yes | Partial | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| SMB-focused implementation footprint | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Transparent pricing posture | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Lean implementation / time-to-value signal | Yes | Partial | Partial | Yes | Partial | Partial |
| Pricing (public signals) | $10/mo base + sync† | Tiered plans; advanced accounting and payroll typically add cost† | Tiered plans by org usage and feature set† | Entry-level free plan with optional paid upgrades† | Quote-led pricing oriented to mid-market finance teams† | Tiered plans with edition-based accounting depth† |
† Pricing row summarizes widely cited public signals and benchmarks — not a binding quote. Confirm current editions and totals with each supplier.
Reference materials
Demo walkthrough and links will be added here.
GoodBooks is built to stay affordable for growing teams with one predictable monthly fee plus sync where needed.
Final packaging and launch offers will be announced when GoodBooks leaves coming soon.
Release notes will be posted here as versions ship.