Seeking a Mobile-Friendly Alternative to QuickBooks Self-Employed
For several years, I relied on QuickBooks Self-Employed to effortlessly manage my financial inflows and outflows. This app stood out because it allowed me to categorize each transaction in my bank account and on certain credit cards, distinguishing between personal and business expenses. It offered additional classification by type—such as supplies, inventory, gas, and rent—making it remarkably straightforward to handle tax computations. Moreover, its feature to automatically assign categories based on the source of the transaction, like PayPal, Venmo, or specific supply stores, was a significant time-saver.
However, in a surprising turn of events, I discovered in June that this application was discontinued back in April 2024. Unfortunately, I also learned that I had been billed for these past three months for a service that no longer existed, an inconvenience beyond the core issue at hand.
I’m now in search of a suitable replacement to track my income and expenses by connecting directly to my bank account. My primary requirement is a user-friendly mobile solution compatible with my iPhone. Ideally, I’d prefer everything to be managed within an app, but a comprehensive phone-browser option is acceptable if it performs efficiently.
My search so far, including trials with FreshBooks and Xero, proves that many popular alternatives fall short of my needs. They seem predominantly focused on expense tracking and fail to adequately handle income without manual input, as I don’t utilize an invoice system for my earnings. Therefore, if anyone is aware of a more fitting solution, I would greatly appreciate your advice. I’m open to options regardless of their fees, considering that many alternatives already match or exceed the cost of QuickBooks Self-Employed, yet still lack the features crucial for my operations.
One Comment
Thank you for sharing your experience and detailed overview. Your emphasis on seamless bank integration and transaction categorization highlights a common challenge for mobile accounting solutions—balancing ease of use with comprehensive feature sets.
One option worth exploring is **Zoho Expense** or **Zoho Books**—both offer mobile apps with bank feeds and automated categorization, and they are known for their user-friendly interfaces. While primarily designed for expense tracking and invoicing, Zoho’s platform allows customization and may suit your need for automatic income recording, especially if set up with automation rules.
Another alternative is **Moneypenny** or **Wave**, which focus on straightforward expense and income tracking, connecting directly with bank accounts to minimize manual entry. Wave, in particular, is free and mobile-optimized, and supports automatic transaction importing, making it a popular choice among small business owners.
Additionally, exploring **Pabbly** or **SlickPie** could be worthwhile, as some are tailored for freelancers and small-scale entrepreneurs, offering mobile-friendly solutions with automatic bank feeds and expense/income categorization.
Since your workflow relies heavily on automatic income recognition without invoicing, it might also be beneficial to look into accounting apps that integrate with popular payment platforms like PayPal, Venmo, or Square, streamlining categorization directly from these sources.
Ultimately, the best solution might involve combining a mobile expense tracker with a simple bank feed app or leveraging multi-app workflows that sync seamlessly. It’s a reminder that sometimes, customizing