Farm Accounting and Recordkeeping Applications

Through Kansas Rural Center’s Farm Beginnings and Farm Dreams classes I’ve had the privilege to talk with many aspiring and beginning farmers who are getting started on their agricultural businesses.  Our farm business programming is based on the idea that while many farmers grow crops and raise livestock exceptionally, running a profitable and stable business is a whole other challenge that farmers need support to tackle. While securing land and working out the capital needed for farming are essential, keeping regular accurate records can be overlooked to the detriment of the operation and added stress for farmers.

As we’ve been running our classes over the last few years, I’ve noticed more accounting/recordkeeping packages have been sprouting up specifically targeted toward farm businesses instead of standard business finances, since as we all know, running a farm isn’t quite the same as running a coffee shop and the tools used to aid the business may need to be more specific to the industry to best serve the farm. Thus, I’ve been working to compile some information on my impressions of software available out there that you may want to check out for improving your recordkeeping and accounting. Some pricing is tricky, as many providers give free trials, then discounts for several months initially before reverting the cost back to normal, so I apologize for any inaccuracies.

General Accounting

QuickBooks Online

I’ve heard it said that QuickBooks is king in accounting, and they certainly have much of the market share. You can expect to have most services that you might need available like bill pay, invoicing, payroll, tax filing, and more, though you will likely pay additional fees for some of those features. Plans start at $38/month. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/pricing/

Xero

Xero looks to be a nice small business alternative to QuickBooks and claims better customer service. It contains many of the same features as its competitors but to run payroll you will need to create a second account with their partner Gusto Payroll. $25/month https://www.xero.com/us/small-businesses/farming/

Wave

Wave is another software package that I’ve heard good reviews of, and if you want a general accounting program where the base starter plan is free, this might be the one for you. The free plan will give you the ability to keep track of your books, but many of the time saving features are locked behind the paid plan, such as auto importing your bank transactions. As with other programs, running payroll will require additional fees. The paid tier starts at $19/month. https://www.waveapps.com/pricing

Open-Source

LiteFarm

LiteFarm is a cool open-source recordkeeping package built by the University of British Columbia. This software is more about record keeping and less accounting, as it allows you to manage your farm tasks, keep track of animals, crop planting and succession, etc. but does not have features to pay bills, invoice, etc. Free https://www.litefarm.org/

Farm Business Specific

These companies offer accounting programs tailored to farms and fitting your income and expenses into Schedule F categories for easier tax filing.

Farmbrite

Like LiteFarm, FarmBrite has nice features for keeping track of your tasks, animal records, and more, but also gives you more robust accounting options. On some of the higher priced tiers I was excited to see options for grazing/pasture management, RFID scanning integrations, employee timesheets, and assigning tasks to your staff. Depending on your operation you can select only crop, only livestock, or combined plans which seemed like a great feature. I did not see that FarmBrite offers payroll services at all, so that would be a separate company and additional cost. Starting at $59/month for Crop and Livestock plan, $29 for them individually.

https://www.farmbrite.com/pricing

Ambrook

I believe Ambrook was a fintech/accounting company that has branched out into making agriculture-specific accounting tools. Outside of the regular accounting tools you get, they advertise enterprise tracking to better understand your profitability, multi-entity management if you have multiple operations or LLCs, and that they are a great option for easily moving away from QuickBooks. Plans start at $29/month https://ambrook.com/overview/farming. If you’re looking for an interesting ag-related email newsletter I’d recommend you check out Ambrook’s reporting in their Offrange publication, advertised as “The untold stories just beyond the fence line of American Agriculture”. https://ambrook.com/offrange

FarmRaise

FarmRaise started out as a platform to help farmers complete applications for USDA conservation funding more easily and find other funding sources for their farms. They’ve grown from there to partner with the Farm Service Agency with an educational hub that makes working with FSA easier, as well as launched their own financial accounting and payroll options as well. FarmRaise brags on its software as easy to use with a robust mobile app to help farmers work with their data on the go. I was able to beta test FarmRaise when it was being developed and provide feedback as a member of the Kansas Farmers Union, so I’m confident that they take farmers’ needs and input seriously. FarmRaise pricing starts at $35/month. https://www.farmraise.com/farmraise-tracks

Assisted

Kansas Farm Management Association

If you’re interested in having someone assisting you more regularly with your farm books, you should check out the offerings by the Kansas Farm Management Association, or KFMA. Headquartered in the Department of Agricultural Economics at K-State, their economists work to provide KFMA members with production and financial management information to use in their decision making. They have regular check-ins with farmer members including on-farm visits and assist with end of year taxes, estate and succession planning, financial benchmarking vs. other similar farms, and more. KFMA membership is a paid service – contact KFMA to get current pricing for your farm business. https://www.agmanager.info/kfma

Livestock

Ranch Manager

Ranch Manager provides you with a robust recordkeeping system for your livestock and has profiles for cattle, equine, sheep, goat, wildlife, canine, and camelid herds. This is desktop software with a bit of an older and simplified interface, so just be aware that it’s not as flashy as some of the other browser-based options in this list, which may be your preference! Licenses start at $150/year. https://www.ranchmanageropen.com/

HerdWatch

Contrary to Ranch Manager, HerdWatch takes the high-tech approach with smartphone/tablet apps for data entry and management, and their emphasis really seems to be providing an easy and comprehensive mobile experience for ranchers on the go. They primarily focus on cattle, sheep, and pasture, including breeding, health records, herd management, and more. Unfortunately, they do not provide pricing up front, instead offering to customize the subscription based on your business and herd size. https://herdwatch.com/

Do you have other farm accounting or management software that you really like using on your farm operations? Or ones you’ve tried that didn’t work for you? I’d love to hear from you with more suggestions of tools that are worthwhile and ones you’d recommend avoiding!

Article by: Ryan Goertzen-Regier, Director of Operations - KRC