Confirm jurisdiction and reporting needs
List tax, invoicing, currency, payroll and record-retention requirements. Ask the accountant which exports and controls they need.
Check the local edition of each product. A feature available in one country may be missing or implemented differently in another.
Match the business model
FreshBooks can fit service invoicing; Wave may suit very simple supported workflows; QuickBooks Online and Xero cover broader bookkeeping; Zoho Books may fit a Zoho-centered stack.
Inventory, projects, contractors, multiple entities and revenue recognition can change the shortlist substantially.
Close a complete test month
Use opening balances and representative invoices, bills, expenses and bank entries. Reconcile and produce profit-and-loss and balance-sheet reports.
Have the accountant review the result. Count corrections and manual work instead of judging only how quickly an invoice was created.
Protect the accounting record
Review permissions, audit history, backups, attachments and deletion behavior. Determine who can post, approve and edit closed periods.
Test general-ledger and source-document exports. The business must retain usable records after cancellation or migration.