Best Accounting Project Management Software for 2023
Project management (PM) software is a universal need to keep track of goals, research, data, scheduling and everything else under the sun. If you have more specific needs, however, you may have to find a PM solution with a specialized focus. Accounting project management software can simultaneously help teams perfect their finances and exceed business goals.
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Top accounting project management software comparison
Not every software solution will have the same features, but below we compare some basic features that can do your team a lot of good.
| Time tracking | Billing | Integration | Free trial | Free plan | Pricing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jetpack Workflow | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, 14-days | No | Starts at $45 |
| Karbon | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Starts at $59 |
| Canopy | Yes, but for a fee | Yes, but for a fee | Yes | Yes | Yes, but additional fees may apply | Starts at $0 |
| Monday | Yes | Yes, with integration | Yes | Yes, 14 days | Yes | Starts at $24 |
| ClickUp | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, 14 days | Yes | Starts at $7 |
| Zoho Projects | Yes | Yes, with integration | Yes | Yes, 10 days | Yes | Starts at $4 |
| Trello | Yes, with integrations | No | Yes, but fees may apply | Yes, 14 days | Yes | Starts at $5 |
Jetpack Workflow: Best for high-volume data needs
Jetpack Workflow is enterprise-friendly software designed for streamlining the workflow of accounting teams. While it may be pricier, it’s designed to keep you on track with your priorities through automation, reporting and custom work views.
Pricing
Jetpack Workflow has two pricing plans:
- Organize: $45 per user per month if billed annually, or $56 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Scale: $49 per user per month if billed annually, or $63 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Service package add-ons start at $299 and are one-time buys.
Features
- Multiple work views, including dashboard, calendar and clients.
- Smooth email workflow to create jobs.
- 70+ templates to speed up setup.
- Tools for quick filtering through clients.
- Supports multiple browsers, including Internet Explorer and Chrome.
- Over 2,000 Integrations to upgrade your workspace.
- Unlimited documents, clients and storage.
Pros
- Support included in all plans and onboarding setup available.
- Billing sync with QuickBooks Online.
- Task automation for days, weeks or months.
- In-app team messaging and active progress reports.
Cons
- Fairly expensive for teams and freelancers just starting.
- Not as many features as other competing software.
If you want more information, check out Jetpack Workflow’s YouTube channel.
Karbon: Best for client management
Karbon is a great choice for businesses that prioritize taking care of clients but still need project management software stacked with functionality. You have tools for collaboration, alert automation and workflow improvement. The application is great for accounting firms sharing files with clients and offers onboarding services to get your team started.
Pricing
Subscriptions available include:
- Team: $59 per user per month if billed annually, or $75 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Business: $79 per user per month if billed annually, or $99 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Enterprise: Has custom pricing for scaling to your specific needs.
Features
- Work views like Kanban and timelines.
- Team collaboration with easy communication from the inbox.
- Task management and client management.
- Workflow templates to get started with assignments and scheduling.
- Client management and contact management capabilities.
- Built-in time tracking on Karbon or with QuickBooks Time integration.
- Storage for documents, from 2GB to 20GB.
- Integrations with Zapier, Gmail and Microsoft Exchange.
- Karbon AI for simplifying communication with clients.
- Filtering for clients and tasks.
Pros
- Stacking with features to connect with clients and improve daily workloads.
- Estimates for time and budgets to relieve financial stress.
- Built-in tutorials for faster learning.
- Automation for easy task assignment, scheduling and notifications.
Cons
- Costly for small or new teams.
- Minimal support for all plans but Enterprise.
Canopy: Best for cost saving with a large client base
The way Canopy offers its services is different from other project management tools. Its capabilities are specific to the practice management needs of the different cases you have, like tax resolution and billing. Pricing is entirely based on a user’s number of clients, and it offers its service for free if you have 500 or fewer clients. Canopy is very budget-friendly for small teams, startups and freelancers growing their client base.
Pricing
- Standard and Pro are its plan tiers.
- Client Management, Document Management, Workflow, Time & Billing, and Transcript & Notices are their feature sets, with Client Management being your starting option in the Standard plan.
- Client Management is free for your first 500 clients, with unlimited users.
- Standard is free if all you have is Client Management, but it will cost more depending on your add-ons.
- Pro comes with built-in features, but its cost still depends on your number of clients and add-ons.
Features
- Workflow management with automation for tasks and templates.
- Document management with storage, organization, sharing and client portal for file management.
- Time and billing features, along with QuickBooks integration.
- Transcripts and notices available.
- Collections and tax resolution available.
- KBA eSignature for document signing.
Pros
- It’s great for teams with a high volume of clients.
- It can be both freelancer- and startup-friendly.
- All features are added for a fee, so you can pick only the ones you need.
Cons
- As soon as you grow, you can end up paying for a lot more than you expected.
- There are implementation fees, even though under 500 clients are free.
- Adding features makes it more expensive, and it doesn’t come fully stocked.
- Features have user caps before upgrading to Pro.
Monday: Best for popular project management features
While it may not be an accounting-only project management tool, monday.com is such a popular and affordable option for universal project management needs. You can track tasks, do project analytics and record time tracking for employees. For those that need more functionality, you can integrate with tools like QuickBooks.
Pricing
Plans offered are Free, Basic, Standard, Pro and Enterprise:
- Basic: $8 per user per month if billed annually, or $10 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Standard: $10 per user per month if billed annually, or $12 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Pro: $16 per user per month if billed annually, or $20 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing.
Features
- Multiple work views, including Kanban, calendar, timeline and chart.
- Over 200 templates you can customize or use right away for speeding up projects.
- Time tracking individual tasks.
- Unlimited documents and boards.
- Management of incoming workloads.
- Strong security, including HIPAA compliance.
- File storage, from 5GB to 1,000GB in paid plans.
Pros
- 24/7 customer support in paid plans.
- Allows teams to add guests and has unlimited free viewers.
- Two-factor authentication in all tiers.
- Integrations for handling invoices and financial data, including QuickBooks.
Cons
- 3 user minimum for all paid plans.
- Limited integrations and automation per plan.
- Admin permissions only in Enterprise.
Teams can learn more from our review of monday.com.
ClickUp: Best for more features on a budget
Teams that want a variety of features and affordable plans may consider ClickUp as their project management solution. The software is suited for several different types of teams, including those with finance and accounting needs. Accounting teams can benefit from its reporting, time tracking and client dashboard features.
Pricing
Aside from the free plan, subscriptions offered are:
- Unlimited: $7 per user per month if billed annually, or $10 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Business: $12 per user per month if billed annually, or $19 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Business Plus: $19 per user per month if billed annually, or $29 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing.
Features
- Multiple work views such as Gantt chart, timeline, calendar and more.
- Unlimited storage and unlimited teams for your workspace.
- Project time tracking across multiple devices.
- Workload management and templates.
- Over 50 native integrations as well as Zapier integration for access to more apps.
- ClickUp AI to improve writing with prompts, text generation and editing.
Pros
- Has an abundance of features.
- Affordable with a variety of plans for teams at different stages of growth.
- Task dependencies and time tracking in all plan tiers.
- Custom role creation and permissions.
- Two-factor authentication available on all plans.
Cons
- Sprint reporting is only offered in the Business plan and up.
- Automations have monthly limits.
- It has limited exporting in the Free and Unlimited plans.
- Priority support is only offered in Business Plus and Enterprise.
- Onboarding is only available in Enterprise.
You can find out more in our full ClickUp review.
Zoho Projects: Best for bundling powerful integrations
The Zoho suite of business software can meet a variety of team needs, and Zoho Projects integrates with those apps. Teams can incorporate Zoho Analytics, Zoho Books, Zoho Invoice, Zoho Expense and many more. The software solutions are a great choice for keeping track of your data, tasks and business processes.
Pricing
Aside from the free plan, subscriptions include:
- Premium: $4 per user per month if billed annually, or $5 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Enterprise: $9 per user per month if billed annually, or $10 per user per month if billed monthly.
Features
- Work views such as Kanban and list, with the ability to sort by tasks and progress percentage.
- Unlimited projects with custom task statuses.
- Task management and task dependency for staying on track.
- Time tracking for all paid plans.
- Project templates to help you get started.
- Integrates with git repositories and is well-suited for development projects.
- 5GB to 120GB of storage space.
Pros
- Access to other Zoho apps for payments and billing.
- Great for Agile Scrum workflows with sprints.
- Tracks issues to protect your data and ensure productivity.
- Allows you to add client users to your account.
Cons
- The free plan is very limited, with 2 users and 1 project at a time.
- Plan tiers are limited by the Zoho apps they can integrate.
- Not great for collaboration outside of official users.
- Only Enterprise lets you have read-only users (up to 10).
If you’re interested in learning more, see our review of Zoho Projects.
Trello: Best for simple workflows
Trello is one of the easiest project collaboration tools for teams to adapt to. It’s affordable enough for individuals, startups and small teams but also has an Enterprise plan with security and permissions. Use cases for the software can include tracking finances, offering professional services to clients, managing tasks, handling CRM and more.
Pricing
Subscriptions the platform offers include Free, Standard, Premium and Enterprise:
- Standard: $5 per user per month if billed annually, or $6 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Premium: $10 per user per month if billed annually, or $12.50 per user per month if billed monthly.
- Enterprise: $210 per user billed annually, with no monthly option.
Features
- Different work views like Kanban, table, calendar and timeline.
- Unlimited cards, boards and workspaces, depending on the plan.
- Over 200 integrations through its power-ups capability.
- Templates and custom fields for easy setup.
- Butler tool for task automation available in all tiers.
Pros
- The Enterprise plan has a flat rate and starts with 50 user seats.
- You can add observers to your board in the Premium tier.
- All plans have two-factor authentication.
- It has unlimited activity logs for all plans.
Cons
- Free and Standard only have Kanban views.
- Only Premium and up can deactivate members.
- Only the Enterprise plan has unlimited workspaces.
- Adding some integrations will incur extra fees.
Learn more in our complete Trello review.
Key features of accounting project management software
Project management software for accounting firms and individuals will have tools to help with clients, deadlines, tasks and overall workflow. It’s also a bonus if they have integrations that help in tracking costs, invoices and records. The features on this list are ones you can find in both project management tools and accounting solutions.
Workflow management
You need to stay on top of your daily tasks, clients and billing. Some helpful capabilities of project management software will include templates for different projects or artificial intelligence to speed up tasks.
Task management and task dependencies are another highlight that ensures your projects are completed in order.
With features like these, you can check the performance of specific goals and assign work to their corresponding team members. Usually, it will be on more expensive tiers, but many solutions will have role permissions to ensure the right people have access so they can do their parts as well.
Client management
Many accounting and even regular PM applications will have the functionality to handle client information as well as client access to projects. You can share your progress, invite them to view projects, give them account access and receive/send reminders for meetings.
Billing
Occasionally, regular project management tools will have billing options, but it’s mostly built into accounting PM software. Tools that offer to expedite and verify billing and payroll needs can be lifesavers and help you avoid costly mistakes.
You can also find software for accounting, finance tracking and invoice/expensing available as integrations within basic project management tools as well.
Automation
Many PM solutions will have automation features to streamline tasks so you can focus on the bigger picture. Aside from just streamlining tasks, you can use automation for alerts or notifications about important deadlines or meetings. You can also use automation to schedule client meetings, emails and payments. Teams that need to stay on top of performance and analytics can also automate weekly or monthly reports of progress.
Integrations
For teams that choose a general PM solution, integrations can make up for the accounting-specific features it may lack. Options that can make a difference include invoicing, expense tracking and database applications. Some may even integrate with accounting or bookkeeping software like QuickBooks and Zoho Books.
Time tracking
Whether it’s monitoring separate tasks or employee timesheets for payroll, time tracking is a big asset. It can evaluate which processes are more costly and ensure your team is paid fairly and on time.
Reporting
One of the most valuable ways to pull insights about your workflow, performance and costs is through reporting. Applications can offer reporting on task status, employee performance, monthly expenses and clients. If you want to improve efficiency or just stay on top of projects, good analytics are integral.
How do I choose the best project management accounting software for my business?
One of the biggest factors in choosing any software is cost. Accounting software designed to handle your projects, business processes, records and billing can get very expensive. Many general project management solutions offer cost savings but may lack the industry-specific features you want.
You should consider the cost per number of users you absolutely need, the features you absolutely need and the integrations that will make your life easier. From there, you can decide if you need an accounting-specific PM tool or a basic project management solution.
While costly, Karbon is a feature-dense solution with awesome capabilities like QuickBooks Time for time tracking, and it helps estimate your time and budget on each project. If you’d rather not spend as much, you can try Zoho Project, which integrates with Zoho Books, Invoice and CRM.
As always, while you’re considering different options, check out their YouTube channels and even consider testing out any free plans offered. If you plan to do any free trials, rearrange your workflow to be able to properly test the software.
Methodology
The software on this list were considered according to their relevance to accounting teams. Some were designed for the purpose of streamlining accounting workloads, and others aren’t industry-specific. This is because many project management features and integrations can provide a cost-effective alternative, even if they don’t have all the bells and whistles teams want.
The software on the list can be good choices for startups, freelancers, growing teams and enterprise-level needs. The goal was to offer potential buyers a wide selection of reliable software.
