Small business owners often scramble come tax season. There is a lot to worry about as a business owner, and the last thing most businesses want to think about is paying their taxes. Keeping the lights on is far more important to a business owner.

But you don’t have to scramble last minute to figure out your taxes.

There are tools that can help make tax season a little less taxing on a small business owner.

1. QuickBooks Online

Quickbooks offers an online version that is ideal for small businesses. The “standard” for small businesses, this software makes bookkeeping systematic. The good news is that you can use QuickBooks and then allow access to the account to your accountant.

You’ll eliminate the need for a year-round accountant and still be able to be confident in your tax return at the end of the year.

QuickBooks has features for:

• Expenses
• Bill management
• Invoicing
• Payroll
• Inventory

You’ll pay a minimal monthly fee to use the software, and you can connect it right to your business’ bank account. You can also download your account activity to make working with QuickBooks easier. The great thing is that you can pass the activity to your personal accountant to tax advantage of complex business tax deductions.

2. Xero

Xero offers a plethora of accounting tools that help small businesses get their accounting under control. The tool allows you to do it all, from bookkeeping to getting paid. You can send invoices and quotes right through Xero and get paid in 160 currencies.

The company even takes care of exchange rates and conversions on an hourly basis.

Xero goes a step further by allowing you to:

• Reconcile your accounts
• Track inventory
• Send invoices
• Send quotes
• Track expenses
• Conduct payroll

You can try Xero for free, and you can even generate reports with the click of a button. If you want to move to the company’s online software from QuickBooks, you can convert your entire account from QuickBooks into Xero.

It’s simple and easy to get started, and there is a real-time view of your cash flow and accounts right in your dashboard.

You can log into your account any time on PC, phone, tablet – any Internet connected device.

You can even calculate payroll, manage taxes and pay employees right through Xero. If you want to send purchase orders, you can do that, too.

3. Wave

Wave is a great starting point for every small business. The company’s app is free, and there are advanced features for free, too. The idea is that every small business deserves free accounting software, so the company makes their money in a pay-as-you-go manner.

You’ll be charged:

• Credit card processing fees of 2.9% + $0.30
• Bank payment processing fees of 1%
• Payroll fees of $15 per month plus $4 per employee

The company offers discounts for larger businesses or businesses that have higher credit card processing needs.

But for a free tool, Wave does a lot.

You will gain access to four main sets of tools:

1. Accounting tools that allow you to track income and expenses.
2. Invoicing tools that allow you to create and send professional invoices from your dashboard.
3. Payment processing for both bank payments and credit cards.
4. Payroll processing where you pay for each employee and can even handle taxes.

The app allows you to set recurring billing so that repeat customers can pay on a recurring basis. Receipts can also be scanned right from your phone to make keeping track of your expenses intuitive.

While we always recommend working with a local accountant to get a handle on your small business’s accounting, you can use the tools above to get your books under control today.