Financial management can become quite a chore for entrepreneurs when their businesses are in startup mode.  During this early time it is almost imperative for the startup team to focus on process improvement, sales, membership, features, etc.  Little time is left for mundane, yet essential tasks, like financial management, bookkeeping, account balancing, billing, and payroll.  It is easy to hire an outside accounting firm to complete these processes, but easy street always comes with a price.  If you and your startup are focused on closely managing costs and expenses then it is likely you will attempt to manage your finances in-house.  Three incredible free resources are available for startups who do in-house accounting.  These tools offer much more than the simple P&L metrics you might get from a CPA, and they sure beat using archaic Excel spreadsheets to track expenses.

QuickBooks

Intuit software company routinely puts out excellent software and resources specially made for small businesses.  QuickBooks offers businesses a full-service bookkeeping and financial management service that can track all expenses and revenues, complete payroll, print checks, and much more.  Additionally, QuickBooks allows users to easily mine and configure customize reports based on the data that the user enters into the database.  A stripped down free version of QuickBooks is currently available, as are different full paid versions (referral link).

PocketSmith

While PocketSmith was made with consumers in mind, the service also proves completely useful for startups and small businesses.  PocketSmith allows users to visualize cash flows as events on a calender, while tracking cash flows and reporting other metrics and statistics on graphs.

PocketSmith’s most valuable offering to users is its ability to forecast you (or your businesses) cash position by analyzing the data you have put in as well as applying its own equations and algorithms.  Those who find budgeting to be an effective tool for financial management should find PocketSmith as the next logical evolutionary step in the budget

PocketSmith’s graphics and exceptional methods of presenting data through different graphs and charts makes PocketSmith the go-to resource for businesses looking to track their spending, stick to their budget, and achieve their financial goals.

Mint.com

Mint.com is another financial management service that was made with individual consumers in mind, yet it will work just as well for business owners.  Using effective charts, graphs, and other tracking graphics Mint.com makes money easier to understand.  Mint.com also has an excellent feature which will track all accounts from one place – allowing you to know how much money you have in them and how you can most effectively use the money in the accounts.  Mint.com is easy to use and has some of the simplest budgeting tools designed to make financial management more efficient and the stream of currency more traceable.  Mint has one more unique feature that the others don’t have – a money savings engine.  When considering different purchases for things such as insurance or car loans, Mint.com’s deal finder will find you the best rate, making it that much more lucrative for users.