One-time $799. No add-on modules. No paywalled tax forms. No per-employee surcharges. Your CPA pays $0 to review your books. Your data lives on your computer.
Real chart of accounts, journal entries, and a balanced GL behind every transaction. Trial balance and audit trail are first-class — not bolt-ons.
Federal + state withholding, FICA, FUTA, SUTA. Quarterly 941 worksheet, annual 940, year-end W-2s, contractor 1099-NEC. W-4 2020+ supported.
⚠ Competitors charge extra: QuickBooks, Xero, and Wave all charge separately for payroll ($40–$150/month).
200% Declining Balance with crossover to Straight-Line, half-year convention, Section 179, bonus depreciation. Output matches IRS Publication 946 Table A-1.
⚠ Competitors charge extra: QBO has no native depreciation; QB Desktop's Fixed Asset Manager is a separate paid module.
Track every asset's cost basis, recovery period, accumulated depreciation, and disposal date. Disposal posts the proper 4-line gain/loss journal entry automatically.
Print real bank-format checks with MICR encoding. Layout designer for standard / voucher / laser stock. Logo and signature per bank account. Positive Pay export.
Invoices, bills, estimates, purchase orders, credit memos, vendor credits, progress invoicing, finance charges. Standard AR/AP aging reports.
Annual or monthly budgets, category pairing, year-over-year comparisons. See variance against approved figures in one report.
Products and services with cost basis, qty on hand, reorder points. FIFO or weighted-average valuation. Low-stock alerts and full movement ledger.
Mark any income or expense as recurring (weekly, biweekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly). The app auto-posts due occurrences and catches up missed cycles.
Generate NACHA-formatted .ach files for payroll direct deposit. Standard 94-character record format that any bank accepts for upload.
⚠ Competitors charge extra: QBO charges $6 per employee per direct deposit; Xero and Wave route to third parties.
Your CPA downloads a separate free build to open client files, review the books, and post adjusting entries. They export an adjustments file you import in one click.
⚠ Competitors charge extra: QuickBooks Accountant Desktop is a paid annual product.
One SQLite file per company on your computer. Backup = copy the file. No vendor lock-in, no subscription required to access your own books.
Everything below is part of the $799. Competitor pricing reflects current publicly listed plans; add-on pricing is what each vendor lists for the matching capability.
| Feature | FreshLedger Pro | QuickBooks Online | Xero | Wave | Sage 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $799 once | $30–$200/mo | $15–$80/mo | Free core, $16/mo Pro, +$40/mo payroll | $60–$160/mo |
| Payroll | Included | +$45/mo | 3rd party (Gusto) | +$40/mo | +$ subscription |
| Check printing | Included | Add-on | Manual / limited | Not included | Included |
| MACRS depreciation | Included | Add-on | Not included | Not included | Limited |
| Fixed asset register | Included | Add-on | Add-on (US edition) | Not included | Included |
| 941 / 940 / W-2 forms | Included | Requires payroll subscription | Not included (US) | Requires payroll subscription | Requires payroll subscription |
| 1099-NEC | Included | Requires payroll subscription | Not included | Limited | Requires payroll subscription |
| Accountant package export | Included | No (uses QBO Accountant subscription) | Xero Practice Manager (paid) | Not included | Not included |
| ACH / direct deposit | Included | +$6/employee | 3rd party | Per-transaction fee | Add-on |
| Recurring transactions | Included | Included | Included | Limited | Included |
| Local data / no cloud | Yes | No (cloud only) | No (cloud only) | No (cloud only) | Yes (file-based, cloud sync optional) |
| Mobile app | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
FreshLedger Pro is a Windows desktop application — it runs on macOS in a Windows VM (Parallels, UTM) but there is no native Mac or mobile build. It does not include automatic bank-feed integration; transactions are imported via CSV / OFX / QFX / QBO files downloaded from your bank. Single-user at a time per company file. If those constraints do not work for you, FreshLedger Pro is not the right tool, and we would rather you know that now than after you bought it.
One-time-purchase accounting software with built-in payroll, full depreciation handling, and a free Accountant Edition for your CPA.
Buy FreshLedger Pro — $799One-time purchase. No subscription. Free Accountant Edition included.