When that dreadful time of year comes by to fill in tax papers and make sure every transaction is accounted for, software solutions can alleviate a lot of stress. Even in the Bitcoin world, there are programs at your disposal to help you with the accounting part of finance. In fact, there are more options available than most people know of.
Also read: CoinJar Adds POLi Deposit Option for Bitcoin Purchases
Bitcoin Accounting – Difficult But Doable
Some people in the Bitcoin community live on Bitcoin wages, and try to steer away from fiat currency as far as possible. From a taxation and accounting perspective, this can prove to be quite a hassle, as looking up every individual transaction is a pain in the rear. Luckily for all of us, there are certain software-based solutions to aid in the process.
Libratax is properly the most well-known accounting software in the world of Bitcoin today. At the time of publication, the Libratax website was down due to a database error, and there was no word as to when the page would be accessible once again. However, the demo website is online,
What makes Libratax so appealing is how it connects directly to the Bitcoin and looks at every single transaction made to and from your Bitcoin address. Reports are created in a spreadsheet format, covering balance tracking, gains and losses per transaction, and much more. Last but not least, Libratax supports tax form support [for US customers].
Intuit/QuickBooks is another solution to make Bitcoin accounting easier and more accessible to novice users. Not only can this tool generate invoices for potential customers – in Bitcoin – assuming the customer is a Quickbooks Online service user. As this tool automatically generates the necessary invoices, it becomes much easier to track incoming Bitcoin payments.
The final option – at this time – is Coinbase integration with Mint.com. By integrating Mint with Coinbase, users gain valuable insights into how their financial situation is and has been in the past. Additionally, tracking all Bitcoins in your possession – when using a Coinbase wallet at least – will be done automatically.
Budgetary tools like Mint.com will become more and more important as Bitcoin adoption thrives around the world. Sim
ilar to how regular finance works, consumers need to be able to set up a weekly or monthly budget. Plus, some businesses need convenient tools to pay their staff in Bitcoin, which is where Mint.com can play a major role.
More Competition is Never A Bad Thing
For the time being, the number of Bitcoin accounting tools is still fairly limited. Quickbooks seems to be the most logical solution, together with Libratax. Bitcoin users who do not own a Coinbase account cannot use the Mint.com integration, greatly reducing their choice as far as accounting goes.
More competition in this segment wouldn’t be a bad thing at all. Consumers want and deserve multiple options at their disposal, and as the Bitcoin ecosystem grows, more competition will be needed. With pending regulatory measures for Bitcoin all over the world, taxation could become a major trend, and proper accounting tools will become mandatory.
What are your thoughts on Bitcoin accounting tools? Is there a platform we missed out on? Let us know in the comments below!
