Guide
Bookkeeping software for small businesses in the United States and Canada
If you run a one-person business, the hardest part of bookkeeping is usually not the accounting. It is finding a tool that fits how you invoice, what your tax office expects, and a price that does not eat a week of revenue.
What actually matters in a small-business ledger
Most freelancers and small shops need five things from bookkeeping software: a way to invoice customers, a way to record expenses, a ledger that keeps debits and credits in balance, financial statements an accountant can use, and a backup you control. Everything else is convenience.
That list sounds obvious, but plenty of tools get the last two wrong. Some apps produce attractive dashboards from data that never reconciles. Others keep your books in a format you cannot export. Before you pay for any subscription, check that the reports are generated from posted journal entries and that you can download a complete backup file.
Create one invoice and one expense, then open the trial balance. Total debits should equal total credits. If the tool cannot show you that, it is a billing app, not a bookkeeping system.
United States: what your records need to support
US recordkeeping requirements depend on how your business is organized. A sole proprietor or a single-member LLC, by default, files Schedule C with their personal return. A partnership files Form 1065, an S corporation files Form 1120-S, and a C corporation files Form 1120. In every case, the underlying records are similar: income, expenses, asset purchases, loan payments, and the tax you collected from customers.
Sales tax
Sales tax is a state and local issue, and the rules changed for remote sellers after South Dakota v. Wayfair in 2018. You may owe tax in a state once you have economic nexus, which is usually based on sales volume or transaction count. A bookkeeping system does not need to calculate every jurisdiction, but it should let you separate the tax you collect from your own income. A dedicated Sales Tax Payable account is the simplest way to do that.
1099-NEC records
If you pay an unincorporated contractor $600 or more during the year for services, you may need to file Form 1099-NEC. Keep vendor names, addresses, and payment totals in one place so January is not a scavenger hunt. WilyBooks stores vendor contact details and every expense, but it does not file 1099 forms for you.
Quarterly estimated taxes
Self-employed people generally pay tax quarterly rather than through withholding. A profit & loss report for the quarter gives you the income figure your estimate is based on. Your accountant can help with the percentage and the due dates.
Canada: GST/HST, PST, and year-end
Canadian small businesses deal with a different set of forms but the same core job: record revenue and expenses, keep tax collected separate, and produce statements at year-end. A sole proprietor reports business income on form T2125 with their personal return. Corporations file a T2. GST/HST registrants file returns based on the tax they collected and the input tax credits they can claim.
When you need to register
The small-supplier threshold is generally $30,000 in taxable supplies over four consecutive calendar quarters. Once you cross it, you usually need to register for GST/HST. Voluntary registration is possible earlier, which can be useful if you buy a lot of supplies and want to claim input tax credits. Confirm your situation with the CRA or an accountant.
GST/HST and provincial tax
GST is a federal tax. HST combines federal and provincial portions in participating provinces. Quebec has QST in addition to GST, and British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba have their own provincial sales taxes. Alberta has no provincial sales tax. Rates and rules change, so WilyBooks does not hard-code them. It gives you a payable account and lets you add the tax as an invoice line, so the amount you owe stays visible and separate from income.
What to check before choosing a tool
- Double-entry, not single-entry. A real ledger posts both sides of every transaction, which is what makes a balance sheet meaningful.
- Reports you can hand over. Profit & loss, balance sheet, and trial balance should print cleanly or save as PDF.
- Currency. If you invoice in USD and CAD, or you simply want your books in your own currency, the display should follow your choice.
- Your data is portable. Export a complete backup whenever you want, without asking support.
- Price that matches your size. A solo business does not need a finance platform with a per-seat contract.
- Honest limits. If a tool has no bank feeds, payroll, or multi-user access, it should say so before you pay.
How WilyBooks fits
WilyBooks is a browser-based bookkeeping app for freelancers and small businesses in the US and Canada. It does invoices, expenses, a double-entry journal, a chart of accounts, and the three statements most small businesses actually use. You can switch between USD and CAD in Business settings. It costs $5 USD a month, runs without an install, and keeps your books in your browser instead of a vendor's cloud.
It is deliberately small. There are no bank feeds, no payroll, no multi-user login, and no tax filing. If those are requirements, WilyBooks is not the right tool. If you need clean records at a low price and you are comfortable exporting a backup, it is a good fit.
Try it with sample data first
Open the demo, click through the dashboard and reports, and see whether the workflow matches how you work. No signup and no email.
This guide is general information, not tax or legal advice. Tax rules differ by state and province and can change. Confirm your obligations with a qualified professional.