What are your experiences with free accounting software?
Speaking to the business owners and/or managers, what accounting software have you chosen for your businesses? If you chose a free one, how do you feel it worked and are you still using it?
There are two free accounting apps that I've tried and liked. Currently using a spreadsheet because one doesn't have integration with my current bank.
Wave Apps (https://www.waveapps.com/)More than just accounting is available (invoicing, receipts, payroll [not free], and more) but it is free and very intuitive. Again the only let down with them at the moment is that my current bank (small local/region) isn't supported within their API.
Manager (http://www.manager.io/) - the self-hosted (downloadable) version is completely free. Something else that is a nice surprise with this program is that is really is cross platform (available on Windows, Mac and Linux) - great bonus points. They also do offer a cloud version that has some cost associated with it (unless your accountant is already using it).
Not sure if either have the needs for the Australian crowd, but if you haven't heard of them before you should at least check out how they stack up against what you currently use.
Steven Freeman , Owner at Evolved Sound
www.nchsoftware.com/accounting
If your requirements are well beyond what you can do with a spreadsheet then often a cloud accounting system is worth its weight in gold.
None of the best and widely used Australian accounting options in the market place are free (to my knowledge).
Any free system you may find will be limited, and wont' be actively supported and improved upon by the developer. You'll also find limited accountants and book keepers that are endorsing them.