Accountancy is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations.
Accounting software is a computer program that assists bookkeepers and accountants in recording and reporting a firm’s financial transactions. The functionality of accounting software differs from product to product.
There’s a fair degree of overlap between personal finance software and accounting software. Both often provide double-entry bookkeeping functionality. The ratings featured here consider only the accountancy aspects of software. For example, you’ll notice GnuCash that scores much higher as a personal finance tool.
Here is our opinion on the finest accountancy software available for Linux. We only include free and open source software.
Let’s explore the 16 accountancy tools. For each program we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources.
| Accountancy Software | |
|---|---|
| Ledger | Powerful, command-line double-entry accounting system |
| hledger | Elegant, versatile accounting program |
| Akaunting | Online accounting software for small businesses and freelancers |
| Frappe Books | Desktop accounting software for small and medium businesses |
| Beancount | Double-entry accounting from text files |
| InvoicePlane | Self-hosting invoicing for freelancers and small businesses |
| SQL-Ledger | Double entry accounting system |
| Bigcapital | Accounting and inventory software |
| LedgerSMB | Double entry accounting system based on SQL-Ledger |
| rustledger | Rust implementation of Beancount |
| GNUKhata | Business software for small/medium size companies |
| GnuCash | Personal and small-business financial accounting software |
| Ledger (Go) | Command line application for plain text accounting |
| Kraft | Handles quotes and invoices |
| Fruit Credits | Keep plain text accounts |
| Abandon | Text based, double-entry accounting system |
This article has been updated to reflect the changes outlined in our recent announcement.
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