A mobile bookkeeping app is your books on the phone you already carry: the same income, expenses and reports you would keep on a computer, recorded wherever you happen to be. The point is not to do bookkeeping on the train for fun. The point is to write things down while you still remember them.
Books kept up to date are books you understand. That is the whole case for keeping them on your phone.
Before you compare apps, it helps to know what the job itself looks like.
What does a mobile bookkeeping app actually do?
It does the same job as a paper cash book or a spreadsheet, with the adding up done for you. You record each thing that happens to your money, and the app turns those records into reports.
Here is what that looks like in practice:
| You record | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Money coming in | A customer pays an invoice, a tenant pays rent |
| An expense | Money going out | You buy materials, pay for fuel, renew your insurance |
| A report | A summary built from those records | Profit and loss shows what you earned minus what you spent over a period |
A profit and loss report answers “did I make money?” A balance sheet answers a different question: “what does the business own and owe on a given day?” Both come from the same records. If you want to see how each one is put together, we have step-by-step guides on preparing a profit and loss account and creating a balance sheet.
That’s it: you record, and the app does the sums.
Why keep your books on your phone rather than at the kitchen table?
Because the details are freshest when the money moves. An electrician buys cable at the wholesaler, a photographer pays for a studio, a landlord pays the plumber who fixed the boiler. Each of them has the amount, the date and the reason right there, in their hand.
Leave it until the weekend and the job changes. You are now reconstructing a week from a pocket of receipts and a banking app, which is how bookkeeping earned its reputation for eating evenings. Doing the books the night before is a tradition nobody needs to keep.
Recorded on the spot, each entry is a small, current job.
7 questions to ask any bookkeeping app before you choose
If you are comparing 2 or 3 apps, these questions work for any of them. They are not a complete checklist, just the basics that separate one app from another. Each one comes with EasyBooks’ honest answer.
1. Does it work on the devices you actually use?
Check the phone, the computer and the tablet you work on, not only the phone. EasyBooks has native apps for Mac, iPhone and iPad. It has no Android app and no web app, so if you need either, EasyBooks is not the right fit.
2. Does it work without a signal?
A basement flat, a rural site, a train through a tunnel. EasyBooks works offline on Mac and on iPhone and iPad, and syncs your books when you are back online.
3. Will a second business cost you more?
Some people keep 2 or more sets of books: a trade and a rental flat, or a business and personal finances. A single EasyBooks subscription covers an unlimited number of businesses, devices and transactions, and each set of books stays separate.
4. Can you bring your existing records with you?
If your records live in a spreadsheet today, ask how they get in. EasyBooks imports CSV files from spreadsheets on Mac, so there is no need to retype everything by hand. You prepare the file first; it is not an automatic migration of a whole system.
5. Do the reports come from your records, or do you build them yourself?
In EasyBooks, the transactions you enter feed the reports directly, including profit and loss, balance sheet, trial balance, cash flow, a monthly breakdown, VAT reports and what customers and suppliers still owe.
6. Is there a person to ask when you are stuck?
Every EasyBooks plan includes support from a real person, with priority support on Gold.
7. Can you try it on your own numbers first?
The EasyBooks free trial lasts 14 days, needs no card and does not turn into a payment on its own. Enter a real week of your income and expenses, then look at the report. That tells you more than any feature list.
How EasyBooks works on iPhone, iPad and Mac
EasyBooks is a bookkeeping app built for small business owners and the self-employed who keep their own books on Apple devices. It has been on the market for 16 years and has been downloaded more than 315,000 times on Mac and iOS.
The same books on every device. You can add an expense on your iPhone at the wholesaler and check your profit and loss on your Mac in the evening. Online Backup & Syncing keeps a copy of your books online and syncs them between your Apple devices when you connect to the internet.
Proper books, kept simple. Under the surface, EasyBooks uses double-entry bookkeeping: every transaction is recorded on 2 sides, for example money leaving your bank account and landing in your fuel expenses. That is what keeps the books consistent. You do not have to think about it every day. If all you need is to record income and expenses and check a report, you can keep it to exactly that.
The everyday jobs. Recurring transactions for the things that repeat every month, splitting a payment into several items, and reconciling your records against your bank statement. Reconciling means you compare your records with the statement yourself; EasyBooks does not pull transactions from your bank automatically.
VAT, if it applies to you. EasyBooks works whether or not you are VAT registered. If you are VAT registered in the UK, you can prepare and send your VAT Returns to HMRC from the app. EasyBooks is recognised by HMRC for Making Tax Digital for VAT.
Invoices, if you send them. You do not need to send invoices to use EasyBooks. If you do, the Silver and Gold plans add PDF invoices for your customers. The pricing page shows what each plan includes.
If most of what you want is a simple app for money in and money out, our guide to a simple bookkeeping app covers that side in more detail.
The easiest way to judge all of this is on your own records: start your 14-day free trialstart your 14-day free trial and add last week’s transactions.
Is there a free bookkeeping app for iPhone? And 3 more questions
Is there a free bookkeeping app for iPhone?
EasyBooks is not free, but you can use it free for 14 days on iPhone, iPad or Mac, with no card needed. After the trial, you choose a subscription if you want to carry on. That gives you 2 weeks to see whether your own books make sense in it.
Is EasyBooks available on Android or in a web browser?
No, EasyBooks runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad only. It syncs between those Apple devices, so you can use the same books on your computer and your phone. If you need Android or a browser, EasyBooks will not meet that need.
Do I still need an accountant if I use a bookkeeping app?
A bookkeeping app and an accountant do different jobs, and you can use both. Your accountant helps with your tax affairs; the app gives you your own up-to-date view of the numbers between meetings. No accounting degree needed for the app part.
Can I move from a spreadsheet to a bookkeeping app?
Yes, on Mac EasyBooks imports CSV files from spreadsheets, so you can bring your records across without typing each one again. You prepare the file in the supported format first.
Books kept on the spot stay easy to understand
That’s really all there is: a record of what comes in and goes out, kept where you are when it happens, and reports that come straight from it.
