Freelance & Self-Employed Bookkeeping (Wave, GnuCash, Akaunting)

The freelance / sole-proprietor bookkeeping problem in 2026 has good free answers: Wave (free hosted SaaS for invoicing + bookkeeping), GnuCash + Beancount (OSS desktop / plain-text), Akaunting (OSS self-host SMB), and Invoice Ninja (OSS invoicing-first). For the SMB-business deep-dive see Accounting & Bookkeeping; for tax software see Free Tax Software; for plain-text PTA see Beancount + Fava; for double-entry desktop see GnuCash & Double-Entry; for the broader index see Self-Hosted Personal Apps; for ERP see ERP Systems.

The free / cheap stack (★)

• ★ ★ Wave — free hosted SaaS for US/Canada SMBs; full invoicing + accounting + receipt scanning; paid add-ons (payroll, payments). The "free QuickBooks alternative" most accountants will work with. See Accounting & Bookkeeping.
• ★ ★ GnuCash — free OSS desktop double-entry; handles freelance customer/vendor + invoice + tax reports. See GnuCash & Double-Entry.
• ★ Akaunting — free OSS self-host; modern multi-currency double-entry; paid app marketplace for advanced modules.
• ★ Invoice Ninja — free OSS self-host; invoicing-first; quotes, recurring invoices, online payments, client portal.
• ★ HomeBank — free OSS desktop; lighter than GnuCash; great charts; not double-entry.
• Beancount + Fava — free OSS; plain-text accounting; for engineer-flavored solo operators.
• Manager — free desktop / paid cloud; double-entry; popular with bookkeepers.
• Crater — free OSS; clean simple invoicing + expenses.
• Bigcapital — free OSS; modern double-entry; AGPL.

Hosted paid tier

• QuickBooks Self-Employed — paid; integrated with TurboTax; many CPAs default here.
• FreshBooks — paid; service-business-friendly UI.
• Xero — paid; UK / AU / NZ default.
• Zoho Books — free under $50K revenue; full features.
• Bonsai, Honeybook, Dubsado — paid; "freelance OS" all-in-ones.

Schedule C basics (US sole-proprietor)

• Income — total gross receipts; tracked through the year.
• Cost of goods sold — only if you sell physical product.
• Operating expenses — by IRS-published category (advertising, car/truck, contract labor, depreciation, insurance, legal/professional, office expense, supplies, taxes, utilities, etc.).
• Home office — actual or simplified ($5/sq ft up to 300 sq ft).
• Vehicle — actual or standard mileage (~67¢/mile in 2024; verify current year).
• Section 179 / bonus depreciation — for equipment.
• ★ Self-employment tax — 15.3% on net earnings; quarterly estimates via IRS Direct Pay.

Recommended free workflows

Wave-only (simplest)

1. Wave: invoice + payment + receipt-scan + categorize.
2. Year-end: Schedule C export → FreeTaxUSA.
3. Cost: free (only pay for payments / payroll if used).

GnuCash + Wave invoicing

1. Wave for invoices + payment processing.
2. GnuCash for the books + tax reports.
3. Reconcile monthly.
4. Cost: free.

Beancount-native (engineer)

1. Beancount + Fava as source of truth.
2. Invoice Ninja (self-host) for client-facing invoices.
3. SimpleFIN / OFX / CSV import to Beancount.
4. Cost: hosting only.

Akaunting (OSS SMB)

1. Akaunting self-host as the all-in-one.
2. Add payroll module if employing.
3. Cost: hosting only; paid for advanced modules if needed.

Receipt scanning (★)

• ★ Paperless-ngx — free OSS; OCR + tagging; the household receipt-archive default. See Self-Hosted Document Management and Self-Hosted Vital Docs.
• Wave receipts — free; phone-scan within Wave.
• Hubdoc — paid; Xero-owned; integrates with Xero.
• Dext (Receipt Bank) — paid; serious bookkeepers use it.
• Smart Receipts — free + paid; mobile.

Invoicing-only options

• ★ Invoice Ninja — free OSS self-host; the OSS pick.
• Stripe Invoicing — free + Stripe fees; bundled with Stripe.
• Wave — free; included.
• PayPal Invoicing — free + PayPal fees.
• DIY PDF — free; see PDF & Documents.

Quarterly estimated taxes (US)

• ★ Pay via IRS Direct Pay (free) or EFTPS (free); avoid third-party processors.
• ★ Safe-harbor rule: pay either 100% of prior year (110% if AGI > $150K) or 90% of current year.
• ★ State estimated taxes — varies; check state portal.

When to hire a bookkeeper / CPA

• ★ Bookkeeper (~$200–600/mo) — when monthly reconciliation costs > you'd rather pay than do.
• ★ CPA / EA at tax time — when business income > side-hustle scale, partnerships, multi-state, depreciation, S-corp election.
• ★ S-corp election — when net SE income > ~$60–80K and SE-tax savings outweigh added complexity. Talk to a CPA.

License / pricing

• Wave: free hosted; paid add-ons.
• GnuCash, Akaunting, Invoice Ninja, HomeBank, Beancount + Fava, Crater, Bigcapital: free OSS.
• Manager: free desktop / paid cloud.
• QuickBooks SE, FreshBooks, Xero, Bonsai, Honeybook, Dubsado: paid.
• Zoho Books: free under $50K.
• IRS Direct Pay, EFTPS: free.

Pick this if…

• Default free, simple US/Canada freelancer: Wave.
• Engineer who wants plain-text: Beancount + Fava + Invoice Ninja.
• Want OSS self-host all-in-one: Akaunting or Invoice Ninja + GnuCash.
• Want polish, willing to pay: QuickBooks SE or FreshBooks.
• Already have a CPA on QuickBooks: stay; the integration tax of switching mid-year is rarely worth it.
• Side income only, very simple: GnuCash or Beancount + a year-end Schedule C export.
• Receipts overflowing: Paperless-ngx for the archive.