Agency software with real accounting built in
There is one question that splits this market, and almost no product page answers it plainly: does the software keep your books, or does it send your numbers to something else that does?
Both answers are legitimate. Which one you want decides your shortlist, and it is worth settling before you sit through a demo. Below is where each product actually stands, with the reasoning rather than a scorecard.
Who keeps the books
Projects, CRM and invoicing post to a double-entry general ledger in the same database.
Free for 5 users; $12 per user per month on Pro, where the ledger and payroll sit
A genuine agency general ledger, plus traffic management and digital proofing that we do not have.
$49 per user per month, and the entry tier begins at 10 users
A full ERP with a real accounting app, usually deployed with a partner.
See the comparison page
Zoho Books is a real ledger, inside a bundle of more than forty separate apps.
See the comparison page
Quoting, billing, utilisation and profitability reporting, then the financial data syncs to Xero, QuickBooks or Sage Intacct.
About $17 to $57 per user per month, with a five-user minimum
Agency operations with an AI Notetaker we have no equal to; invoices sync out to QuickBooks, Xero or Exact.
About $12 to $29 per user per month, with a three-seat minimum
Excellent project and work management. No CRM ledger, no books, and none claimed.
See the comparison pages
Prices shown are list prices read off each vendor's own pricing page on 18 September 2026, and only for the products re-checked that day. Where a figure is not shown, the comparison page carries the current detail. Check the vendor's site before deciding.
When the sync is the right answer
If your accountant already works in Xero or QuickBooks, your month-end close runs without drama, and nobody in the business is waiting on a reconciliation to answer a question, then moving your ledger solves a problem you do not have. Scoro and Productive are built for exactly that firm, and both do things we do not.
When it is not
Every sync is a reconciliation somebody owns. If you have ever waited until after the close to learn which client was actually profitable, that wait is the sync. WorkBOS posts project costs and client invoices to its own general ledger, so the profitability question is a lookup rather than an export, and it starts at one user rather than five or ten.
Questions worth asking any of them
What does "all-in-one" usually leave out?
The general ledger, almost always. Most products marketed as all-in-one for agencies run projects, a CRM and invoicing, then hand the financial data to an accounting product through a sync. That is a reasonable design and it is the right one for many firms. It is simply not the same as keeping your books, and the marketing rarely makes the difference obvious.
Does it matter whether the ledger is built in or synced?
It matters if you have ever waited on a month-end reconciliation to find out which client was actually profitable. Every sync is a reconciliation somebody owns, and every reconciliation is a place where the project view and the finance view drift apart. If your accountant already works in Xero or QuickBooks and the close runs smoothly, moving the ledger solves a problem you do not have.
Which one should a six-person agency choose?
If you need traffic management and digital proofing and you have the budget and a quarter to implement properly, Workamajig is the more proven choice. If your books are settled and you want the deepest profitability reporting, Scoro is ahead of us there. If call capture matters most, Productive has an AI Notetaker we cannot match. WorkBOS suits the team that wants projects, CRM, invoicing and the ledger on one database without a seat floor, and it is free for five users to find out.
What does the WorkBOS free plan actually include?
Projects, tasks and CRM, invoices, payments and credit notes, bank accounts, team chat, and a metered allowance of AI actions, for five users with no card. The double-entry general ledger, chart of accounts, payroll runs, bills and expenses arrive on Pro at $12 per user per month. We are precise about this because the distinction is the entire subject of this page.
Does WorkBOS file payroll taxes?
No. Payroll here means runs and payslips that post real journal entries. You enter the deductions; WorkBOS does not calculate statutory tax and does not file returns. If you need a filing service, keep your payroll provider and let the entries post across.