6 Best Accounting Software For Photographers (2024)

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If you’re a photographer juggling your photo management and accounting activities can be a daunting task.

And accounting is an inevitable aspect of your business that you need to successfully take cognizance of to know if your business is doing well or not.

From expense tracking to invoice creation, and from payment tracking to automating the mileage and other aspects of your business, there are so many tasks for you to do.

The truth is combining bookkeeping tasks with your core photography workloads might not be easy especially if you don’t have a background in accounting or the right accounting software to manage your business finance.

The good thing is if you already have a photo studio management solution and now looking for accounting software for the accounting aspect of your business, there are countless number of accounting solutions available to integrate your photography projects and accounting tasks in one software.

However, choosing the right software can be confusing if you’re to consider the enormous options out there.

But this does not necessarily need to be a big deal if you know what to look for in your best accounting software.

Why You Need Accounting Software?

You’re probably wondering why you need accounting software for your photography company.

Well, you need not just an accounting package; you need the best one on the market.

As a photographer, you are bound to incur some expenses to ensure the smooth running of your business and to earn money.

Some of these expenses could fall into either variable or fixed expenses.

You must keep track of both types of expenses so you can have accurate and clear insights into the business performance.

Fixed expenses like equipment costs, marketing costs, etc. are easy to remember because of their nature and direct linkage to the core operations of the business.

But you can simply neglect other variable expenses like cost of travel, hotel, gas, etc.

And losing track of these expenses will overstate your income, which is not good enough when you’re trying to know the true profitability of the business.

To eliminate this kind of oversight, you need accounting software to keep track of all financial activities taking place in your business.

So you’re beginning to see the need for accounting software for businesses including your photography business.

The benefits of accounting software are limitless.

You need an accounting package to track your expenses.

You need it to track your invoices (that is, your credit sales) and you need accounting software to follow up on your invoices and get paid fast.

Above all, you need accounting software to determine whether or not your business is making a profit or a loss.

This, of course, is the number one reason you started the business – to make profits.

So without adequate monitoring of every aspect of your business, you may not know how the business is doing.

Top 6 Best Accounting Software For Photographers

Ready to choose accounting software for your photography business but don’t know which one will be best for you?

1. FreshBooks
2. Patriot
3. Wave
4. ShootQ
5. StudioCloud
6. Studio Ninja

1. FreshBooks

A web-based accounting software designed for all kinds of businesses including photographers to trim down their time and help them focus on the core aspects of their business.

FreshBooks helps you create invoices, track expenses, create clear and insightful financial reports, track your time, and many more.

This accounting software also offers you collaboration functionality which lets you give access to your team members.

With this invitation granted your team members, they can input their own hours and record expenses.

Designed with an easy-to-use dashboard, FreshBooks lets you have accurate and real-time insights into your business’ expenses and income, and also streamlines the process of generating all your financial reports without necessarily having to have an accounting background.

With FreshBooks’ time-tracking feature, you can seamlessly plan your next photoshoot, schedule your project hours and send reminders to your customers on overdue payment.

Also, this app helps you monitor your invoices and provides your customers with a secure online payment so you can get paid faster.

If your business is such that involves dealing with repeat customers, the app will help you automate your invoice generation and send invoices to your customers on time thereby saving you time.

Most interesting of it all, if you’re already using a studio management software or other accounting apps, FreshBooks lets you integrate with third-party apps like Google, Wufoo, Zapier, Gusto, Zoho, Basecamp, OneSaas, and more.

What We Like About FreshBooks

• Double-entry accounting feature
• Seamless integration with lots of other apps
• Excellent customer support
• Secure online payment capability
• Recurring profiles that lets you automatically create and send invoices to your repeat customers
• Excellent financial reports generation
• Easy-to-use dashboard
• Robust time-tracking capability for planning and scheduling your next photography projects

Pricing

FreshBooks offers a 30-day free trial with no credit card required and a 30-day refund policy if you’re not satisfied with what you got.

Thereafter, if you’d like to continue, there are three paid plans for you to explore such as the Lite, the Plus, and the Premium.

The Lite plan starts at $13.50 per month and it’s suitable for those professionals whose needs are basic.

The Plus costs $22.50 per month and it’s specifically meant for business owners who need more automation and insights.

The Premium plan goes for 45.00 per month and this is the best option to choose if you’re looking for a way to expand your growing business and your employees.

2. Patriot

Patriot Software offers accounting and payroll software that is quick, easy, and economical.

Patriot developed technologies to assist businesses in retaining the two resources that they lack: time and money.

Patriot Accounting Software offers Smart Suggestion, which helps users save time and clicks by categorizing their bank transactions.

This accounting software also has a patented cash to accrual toggle switch.

Users can enter data using the cash basis and store the information to see reports using the cash, modified cash, or accrual basis.

What We Like About Patriot

• When it comes to processing payrolls, Patriot Payroll offers a very quick and simple approach.
• Employee data can be easily added and edited.
• Complete and customizable reports are available.
• Customer support is excellent.
• It is very easy to set up.
• All for a very affordable price.

Pricing

Patriot Accounting has 2 pricing editions, from $20 to $30/month. A free trial of Patriot Payroll is also available. 

You can as well request for custom quote.

3. Wave

Wave is a free software designed particularly for photographers to help them save time on bookkeeping so they focus on other aspects of their business.

As photography accounting software, the app is useful for managing your business’ inflow and outflow so you’ll have an accurate picture of how the business is doing.

Wave offers amazing features like automated reminders, customizable reports, accurate financial reports, an exciting dashboard, and flexible software to suit your changing needs, double-entry accounting, and tax filing, among others.

There are some other mouth-watering free features such as a free invoicing app, free receipts scanning software, and recurring billing features.

What We Like About Wave

• Automatic import from your banks to Wave
• Easy-to-generate mobile invoicing
• Cost-free software with lots of amazing features
• Easy to set up and use

Pricing

Wave is 100% free to use.

4. ShootQ

ShootQ is one of the photography studio management solutions solely created “by photographers for photographers”, and it works like magic when it comes to integrating your entire business within one centralized software.

This app helps you automate your workflow, stay organized, and manage your time automatically.

With ShootQ handling most of your daily tasks for you, you have enough time to focus on shooting and selling.

Plus, this software comes with an all-inclusive dashboard that provides you with all the information about your business, all in one place.

There is also the Lead Board, a feature in ShootQ that lets you monitor your lead performance right.

The Lead Board monitors you’re your lead from when they’re newly created as a brand to when they’re ready for booking.

This app takes you through all these stages and helps you track your lead progress effortlessly.

Also interesting about ShootQ is the multi-purpose templates that you can customize to meet your needs.

With this feature, you can set up templates for different purposes like contracts, proposals, emails, questionnaires, etc.

And last but not least, ShootQ offers you extensive financial reports about your business.

From bookkeeping to invoices, and analytics, you have all insights there is to know about your business’s financial health.

With this information, you can clearly say which aspect of your business is doing well or not.

What We Like About ShootQ

• An insightful dashboard showing your business financial health at a glance
• Numerous payment collection methods
• Attractive client interface
• Seamless contact and job management

Pricing

ShootQ offers a 30-day free trial but the paid vary by features.

To get started with the Start-Up plan, the pricing is $24.00 per month billed annually, while the Studio plan starts at $40.00 per month billed annually.

And for the Hub plan, the pricing is $67.00 per month billed annually.

5. StudioCloud

StudioCloud is a web-based free business management solution designed for photographers and other business owners.

Offering robust portrait photographers CRM and workflow management, as well as other amazing features like invoice generation, workflow management, and bookkeeping capability, this accounting software for photographers will save you lots of precious time and help you get your shooting job done fast.

This app supports integration with Mac and Windows, and it also offers iPhone and Android apps so you can access the software on the go.

Designed with accounting features in mind, StudioCloud is a photography studio management solution that combines all the bookkeeping essential features such as transactions reconciliation, income and expense tracking, Bookkeeping reports, and many more.

What We Like About StudioCloud

• Mobile apps, Mac and Windows compatibility, which makes it easy for you to have easy access to your data anywhere you are.
• Multi-user and employee support
• Robust client relationship management capability
• All-inclusive bookkeeping features
• An easy-to-use calendaring feature that lets you manage your clients by ensuring your employees are in the right place every time.
• Ease of use with a short learning curve
• Excellent customer support

Pricing

StudioCloud offers a wide range of pricing plans to suit all budgets and business needs.

You can get started with their basic plan (called Add-on) for $10.00 per month, or pick their Partner Booster option which costs $30.00 per month to get started.

There is also the EmployeeBoost plan, and it goes for $60.00 per month.

However, the prices given above are only for when billed annually.

You can check out their official website here for more information on their monthly subscriptions and pricing for all their Ad-on features.

6. Studio Ninja

We chose Studio Ninja as one of our best accounting software for photographers because of its extreme simplicity.

With a very clean interface, this app offers a holistic client management solution for photographers trying their productivity by personalizing their workflows, schedule payment plans, and effect automation for their emails.

Additionally, Studio Ninja lets you keep track of every job and task completed so you can follow up on your clients for payments.

What We Like About Studio Ninja

• Seamless integration with other apps like Gmail, Xero, Google Calendar, etc
• Smart payment and income tracker
• Customizable workflows

Pricing

Studio Ninja offers a 30-day free trial without credit cards.

After this trial expires, you can get started with their paid options. Their Pro plan starts at $19.20/month or $230.00/year billed annually.

There is also the Master plan. This plan costs $29.10/month billed annually.

Wrapping Up On Best Accounting Software for Photographers

Now you know why you need good accounting software for your business.

Plus, you have the list of the best accounting software for photographers.

All you need to do is to compare the benefits and features that each of the apps offers and then make a decision.

By taking all these steps, we trust you wouldn’t go wrong.