13 of the Best Farm Finance Tracking Tools

The Best Farm Finance Tracking Tools

Whether you are a beginning farmer who is trying to turn his/her hobby into a business OR a full-time farmer who needs to make sure that the farm doesn’t go under, you NEED to be carefully tracking your homestead and farm income and expenses.

Jotting down your farm transactions in a notebook can work just fine, but if you are looking for a more detailed and efficient farm finance tracking method, then check out these farm finance tracking apps, software, and printable resources!

Farm Finance Tracking Software & Apps

Each of the following finance tracking app and software options have varying pros and cons. I encourage you to read through my brief synopsis here and then visit each website to compare and contrast for yourself to determine the absolute best option for your operation. Also, please be sure that the software you choose is compatible with your computer operating system before completing a purchase.

 1. Quick Books

Quick Books is excellent for easily tracking your farm expenses and income. This software seems to be the most popular option of business owners across the board. It allows you to connect your bank accounts for automatic population of expenses so you can skip the time-consuming manual entry that some softwares require. You can also manage your farm payroll for an additional monthly fee. The only real downfall to QuickBooks is that it does not have tools specific to agriculture. If all you need is the accounting functionality and not the farm management, then QuickBooks might be your best bet.

 2. Fresh Books

Fresh Books is an accounting software geared toward small business owners. Unlike the other software options mentioned here, Fresh Books is cloud based so you can access it anywhere. FB is not agriculture specific, but it offers great accounting tools. You can view some of the differences between FreshBooks and QuickBooks here.

 3. Expensify

Expensify is an affordable app ($5/month) that automatically tracks your farm finances for you via linked credit or debit cards. You can also scan receipts for cash purchases to include those expenses in your report. While this app only tracks expenses, it can be integrated with Quick Books for a total finance tracking package.

 4. Agrivi

Agrivi is a comprehensive software that allows you to track just about anything that is going on around your farm. This software tracks farm finances, weather, pests, tillage, fertilization, planting, crop protection, irrigation, harvesting, resources, inventory, and provides analytics & reports for your farm management. Agrivi seems to be ideal for growers as it focuses more on crops than livestock, but the financial tracking, reports, and resource & inventory tracking can be used by growers, ranchers, and homesteaders alike.

 5. FarmBiz

FarmBiz is a farm finance software that allows you to track sales & expenses, manage bank accounts, and create finance reports. This software is similar to Quick Books except that DOES offer agriculture specific reporting and it DOES NOT offer bank account linking so all transactions must be listed manually. There is a free demo that you can try out before committing to this software as well.

 6. EasyFarm

EasyFarm has a slightly larger up front cost, but its features seem to be well worth the price tag. There are multiple plan options:

• Lite- Capability to manage one farm, includes some farm management tools along with the accounting functionality, but it does not include payroll
• Plus- Same as Lite, but does include payroll
• Pro- Same as Plus, but allows management of multiple farms and with either a Livestock Management function OR a Crop Management function
• Premier- Same as Pro, but includes both the livestock and crop management tools for multiple farms

EasyFarm also has additional module options that you can add according to your farm’s needs.

 7. CenterPoint Accounting

CenterPoint Accounting is a farm finance & farm management software offered by Red Wing Software. The pricing for CenterPoint is customized according to the needs of each customer. This software provides detailed accounting and farm management tools and it works great for farmers & ranchers alike. CenterPoint also has a payroll option if you have employees to pay out. The downside to this tool is that your expenses, again, have to be entered manually.

 8. Farm Books

Farm Finance Tracking Resources

The following resources are ones that I personally use in my home and on my farm. They are excellent printable options for those who prefer putting pen to paper, those who have smaller scale businesses to operate, and for those who do not want to invest in a larger & more costly accounting software.

 9. Cash Envelope Transaction Ledgers

Cash envelopes are typically referenced for household budgeting, but they can come in handy when it comes to your farm finances as well. Keep money for different farm expenses in each envelope to be sure that you don’t overspend in any one category. For example- one envelope can hold money for feed, another envelope can hold repair & maintenance money, and another envelope can hold sinking fund money for purchasing new livestock. These printable ledgers allow you to track each deposit and withdrawal from your envelopes so you stay on top of your farm cash.

 10. Monthly Farm Expense Tracker

The Monthly Farm Expense Tracker is a simple set of printable transaction sheets. There is a separate sheet for each month of the year so that you can track monthly & seasonal spending patterns and easily refine your expenditures.

 11. The Homestead Finance Tracker Pack

The Homestead Finance Tracker is a printable package that contains financial tracking record & reference sheets for your farm and/or homestead.

These farm record keeping & resource sheets include:

• Annual Expenses by Tax Category
• Annual Income by Category
• Income & Sales
• Annual Farm Finance Review
• Farm & Homestead Financial Goals
• Farm Savings/Operating Fund Log
• Miscellaneous Expenses
• Garden Expenses
• Livestock Expenses
• Farm & Homestead Debt Tracker

 12. Homestead Management Binder

The Homestead Management Binder houses the entire Farm & Homestead Finance Tracker Package along with the Livestock Management Binder, the Homestead Garden Planner, and the Homestead Goal & Project Planner. This comprehensive homestead binder will allow you to track your farm finances as well as the other aspects of your farm & homestead.

 13. Homestead Mama Planning Pack

The Homestead Mama Planning Pack is an all-in-one resource that includes the Farm & Homestead Finance Tracker Pack. You will find the entire Homestead Management Binder + the Household Management Binder + the All-In-One Homeschool Planner. This is the resource for you if you need a little assistance in managing your household & homeschool in addition to your farm finances.

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