Banana Accounting

Banana Accounting is a Switzerland‑based accounting software company best known for Banana Accounting Plus, a desktop-style solution that blends the familiarity of spreadsheets with the rigour of professional double-entry bookkeeping. It is aimed at small businesses, freelancers, non‑profits, churches, schools, property managers and family finance users who find full ERP systems excessive but want more structure and automation than plain Excel. The software runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and also offers mobile access, making it attractive in regions and segments that still prefer local installations, offline work and direct file control over purely browser‑based SaaS.​ The core concept of Banana Accounting is “accounting like in Excel, but with controls”. The interface is table‑based: ledgers, journals and supporting tables look and behave like spreadsheets, with rows and columns that users can sort, filter and copy, but every transaction is validated against a chart of accounts and double-entry rules. This approach reduces the learning curve for non‑accountants and Excel‑heavy bookkeepers while maintaining accurate debits and credits, automatic trial balances, and error checking. From these tables, Banana generates standard financial statements such as balance sheets, profit and loss accounts, cash-flow statements and VAT/GST reports in real time, with the ability to customise layouts and export to PDF, Excel or other formats.​ Functionally, Banana Accounting covers a broad set of needs for its target audience. The Plus version supports multi-currency accounting, with automatic calculation of exchange differences and revaluation entries, which is valuable for small international traders or NGOs operating across borders. It includes accounts receivable and payable tracking, invoicing capabilities, bank and cash reconciliation, simple inventory and stock management, fixed asset tracking, and project or cost‑centre accounting so users can track profitability by job, fund or activity. Non‑profit and fund accounting features allow allocation of income and expenses to specific funds or projects, along with tailored reports often required by donors and regulators. In many cases, users can start from one of over a thousand ready‑made templates provided for different countries, industries and languages, which speeds setup and reduces configuration error.​ Budgeting and planning are integrated into the same spreadsheet‑like environment. Users can create budget tables with monthly or yearly figures per account, simulate scenarios, and compare actuals versus budget in standard reports. For micro and small entities that do not use separate planning tools, this integration simplifies financial management and gives owner‑managers direct visibility into expected vs realised performance. Additional utilities include import of bank statement files in common formats, automatic transaction categorisation with rules, and time‑sheet or address‑book style add‑ons in some editions. Licensing is typically per device or per user with affordable annual subscriptions, and there is a free or limited plan for simple personal finance.​ From a product positioning standpoint, Banana Accounting deliberately sits between spreadsheet accounting and cloud ERP. It does not try to be a multi‑tenant SaaS with extensive automation and integrations like Xero or QuickBooks Online; instead, its competitive edge is low cost, offline capability, ownership of files, and flexibility for accountants used to Excel. This appeals especially in markets where connectivity is unreliable or where regulatory or organisational policies still favour local data storage. Some editions can still store data in cloud-synced folders (such as OneDrive or Dropbox) so teams can share files, but the architectural model remains file‑based rather than account‑based.

Banana Accounting’s main competitive edge is its hybrid positioning between raw spreadsheets and complex cloud ERPs. It offers an Excel‑like interface with professional double‑entry control, making it unusually approachable for small businesses, treasurers, and non‑accountants who are comfortable in spreadsheets but need proper accounting logic, error checking and formal financial statements. The grid-based interface lets users edit transactions directly in tables, sort and filter like in Excel, yet the engine enforces balanced entries, produces real‑time balance sheets, P&L, cash flow, and VAT/GST reports, and flags inconsistencies, which many low-cost competitors do not combine as seamlessly.​ Banana also differentiates by the breadth of functionality relative to its price and simplicity. It supports double-entry, income/expense, multi-currency, project and cost-centre accounting, non‑profit/fund accounting, basic inventory and fixed assets, plus budgeting and forecasting in the same environment. For micro and small entities that would otherwise juggle separate tools or spreadsheets for each of these, having them unified in one low-cost package is compelling. Multi-currency support in a lightweight desktop product is particularly distinctive, serving small trading firms or NGOs that operate across borders but cannot justify mid-market ERPs.

• Small Businesses (1-99)
• Mid Market (100-500)
• Enterprise (500+)