Accounting · Full Double-Entry Accounting
Patriot Accounting Review
Dirt-cheap, dead-simple US bookkeeping — best paired with Patriot Payroll
Quick verdict
Patriot Accounting is best for Cost-conscious solo and micro US trades (plumber, electrician, small HVAC, handyman) wanting tidy, simple books — ideally bundled with cheap Patriot Payroll. US-only; no native mobile app (mobile web only); limited/no job costing; not a QuickBooks sync (it replaces it); occasional direct-deposit/check-printing friction on the payroll side.
Pricing
Accounting Basic ~$20/mo (promo ~$10/mo first 6 months) · Accounting Premium ~$30/mo (promo ~$15/mo first 6 months). Monthly billing, US-only. 30-day free trial..
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About Patriot Accounting
Patriot Accounting is the budget, no-frills pick: cheap (~$20–30/mo, frequently half-off for the first six months), genuinely easy for a non-accountant owner, and US-focused. You get unlimited invoices, customers, and vendors, automatic bank imports with AI categorization via Plaid, online card/ACH payments through Stripe, financial reports, and a patented dual-ledger (cash/accrual) toggle. Its real superpower is pairing with Patriot Payroll — books and paychecks from one inexpensive vendor, which is a clean, cheap stack for a small US trade.
The limits are the flip side of the simplicity: it's US-only, there's no native mobile app (mobile web only), and job costing is limited-to-absent, which is a real gap for GCs and HVAC shops that live on per-job profitability. It also doesn't act as a QuickBooks sync — it's a replacement, not a companion. But for a cost-conscious solo plumber, electrician, or handyman who wants tidy books and cheap payroll without QuickBooks' price or complexity, Patriot is excellent value and unusually well-reviewed.
How it works
At setup you import your existing chart of accounts. Bank and card transactions auto-import via Plaid (roughly two years of history) with AI categorization for fast reconciliation. You send unlimited invoices and take online payments via Stripe (cards, Apple/Google Pay, ACH). Premium adds estimates, recurring invoices, payment reminders, user permissions, receipt management, and subaccounts. If you add Patriot Payroll, the two share data so books and paychecks stay in sync.
Pros & cons
What works
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Very low price
About $20–30/mo with frequent 50%-off-first-6-months promos — among the cheapest real accounting tools for a US trade.
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Unlimited invoices, customers, vendors
No caps on the core records, so a growing customer list never pushes you up a pricing tier.
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Tight Patriot Payroll integration
Run books and payroll from one low-cost vendor with shared data — a clean, cheap stack for small shops.
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Automatic bank imports + reconciliation
Plaid-powered feeds with AI categorization keep reconciliation fast without manual entry.
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Free contractor/1099 portal + dual-ledger
Includes a 1099 contractor portal and a patented cash/accrual toggle — handy at tax time for trades using subs.
What doesn't
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US-only
Built for US tax and banking; not an option for the UK/Canada/other markets in this directory.
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No native mobile app
It's mobile-web only — fine for office work, but there's no dedicated app for invoicing from the field.
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Limited/no job costing
Per-job profitability is weak to absent — a real gap for GCs and HVAC shops that need true job costing.
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Doesn't sync with QuickBooks
Patriot is a QuickBooks replacement, not a companion — there's no live two-way sync (payroll can export IIF only).
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Direct-deposit / check-printing friction
The payroll side draws occasional complaints about strict/slow direct deposit and check-print alignment.
Features & integrations
Key features
Integrations
Frequently asked
How much does Patriot Accounting cost?
Accounting Basic is about $20/mo and Premium about $30/mo, billed monthly, with frequent promos cutting the first six months to roughly $10–15/mo. There's a 30-day free trial. It's among the cheapest legitimate accounting options for a US trades business.
Is Patriot good for contractors with job costing needs?
Less so — Patriot's strengths are price and simplicity, and its job costing is limited to absent. If per-job profitability is central to your business (most GCs, HVAC, remodelers), Sage 50, QuickBooks Enterprise, or Striven fit better. Patriot shines for solo/micro trades that just need clean books.
Does Patriot Accounting work with Patriot Payroll?
Yes, and that's its best use case. The accounting and payroll products share data, so running both gives a small US trade tidy books plus compliant paychecks from one inexpensive vendor — a notably cheaper stack than QuickBooks plus a separate payroll service.
Can Patriot sync with QuickBooks?
No — Patriot is designed to replace QuickBooks, not run alongside it. There's no live two-way sync (the payroll side can export an IIF file). If you want to keep QuickBooks as your books, Patriot isn't the companion tool; if you want to leave QuickBooks for something cheaper, it's a strong target.
Other accounting software
QuickBooks Online
The default small-business accounting platform — and what your FSM syncs to
Xero
Full-featured accounting with unlimited users and predictable pricing
FreshBooks
Invoicing-first accounting for solo and small service businesses
Wave
Free accounting and invoicing for very small and new businesses
QuickBooks Desktop / Enterprise
The deepest job costing in the QuickBooks line — where established contractors graduate
Sage (Sage 50 + Sage Accounting)
Real job costing and inventory in a desktop-grade package — plus a cheap cloud tier