Moving Off Excel: Setting Up Accounting Software for a Small Business in Lebanon

Almost every small business in Lebanon keeps its numbers the same way at first: a spreadsheet that started tidy, grew a tab for every month, a column for dollars and another for lira, and a few formulas only one person understands. It works, right up until it does not — until the person who built it leaves, or the accountant asks for something the sheet cannot produce, or you realise you have no idea which of your customers owes you what.

Accounting software fixes most of that. But the switch is where businesses lose months, because they buy a subscription, open it, stare at an empty chart of accounts and go back to Excel.

This guide is about doing the switch properly and on the right date: when it is worth it, why that date is 1 January, how to choose a system, the two-currency decisions to make before anyone configures anything, and what it costs to have someone set it up.

Do you actually need software yet?

Not every business does. A one-person service business with a handful of invoices a month and one bank account can run perfectly well on a clean, well-structured spreadsheet and a bookkeeper who checks it.

The signs that you have outgrown it are practical ones. You issue enough invoices that chasing payment has become guesswork. You hold money in more than one currency and more than one place — a bank account, a cash drawer, a wallet app — and reconciling them takes an afternoon. More than one person enters numbers and nobody can tell who changed what. You carry stock and do not know what it is worth. Or your accountant spends expensive hours each year rebuilding your figures from scraps before doing the part you actually pay them for.

If two or more of those describe you, software will pay for itself in time and in fewer surprises.

Why 1 January is the date to aim for

Lebanon's fiscal year runs from 1 January to 31 December for most businesses. That makes 1 January the cleanest possible day to start a new system, for one simple reason: the opening balances are the closing balances of the year before.

Switch on 1 January and your new books start from one agreed set of figures — what was in each account, what customers owed you, what you owed suppliers, what stock you held — confirmed with your accountant as part of the year-end close. Everything after that date lives in the new system. Everything before it stays in the old one, archived and untouched.

Switch in, say, June, and you have two bad choices: re-enter January to May into the new system, which is weeks of work, or keep half a year in one place and half in another, which makes your annual figures a merge job for your accountant.

Going live on 1 January means the real work happens now. A realistic plan looks like this:

• October: decide whether you need software, talk to your accountant, and choose the system.
• November: configure it — chart of accounts, currencies, tax settings, customers, suppliers, products, invoice template, users.
• December: run it in parallel with your spreadsheet for a few weeks of real transactions, fix what is wrong, and train whoever will use it.
• January: enter the confirmed opening balances once the year-end figures are agreed, and stop using the spreadsheet for new transactions.

If your books for this year are themselves behind, deal with that first; our guide to a year-end bookkeeping catch-up covers it. Clean closing figures are what make a clean start possible.

Choosing a system: the questions that matter here

You will find plenty of "best accounting software in Lebanon" lists online. Many are written by companies selling one of the products on the list, so read them as brochures. The choice comes down to a few questions you can answer yourself.

What does your accountant use, or accept? Ask this first. The system that exports exactly what your accountant needs, in a format they already work with, saves hours every year. If they use a particular product, that is a strong argument for it.

Does it handle more than one currency on the plan you would actually buy? Many cloud systems support multiple currencies only on higher tiers. Check the specific plan, not the product's marketing page, and check that you can record a transaction in one currency and see its value in your reporting currency.

Can it produce the invoices you need? If your customers need Arabic invoices, or bilingual ones, confirm that the template can do it properly — Arabic text rendering correctly, not reversed or broken — before you commit. Ask your accountant what an invoice must show for your business.

How will bank data get in? Some systems connect directly to banks and pull transactions automatically. Check whether that works with your specific bank; if it does not, the realistic alternative is importing statement files regularly, which is fine as long as someone owns the routine.

Cloud or installed, and what happens when the internet drops? Cloud software means your books are reachable from anywhere and backed up by the provider, but it needs a connection to use. If your office loses connectivity often, ask how the system behaves offline and whether a phone connection is enough to keep working.

What does it cost per month, per user, in dollars, and how do you pay? Subscriptions are usually priced per month and often per user. Check the current price on the vendor's own site, and check that you can actually pay it with a card that works for foreign online payments.

A setup specialist who has worked with several systems can help you compare, but decide this with your accountant in the room, not after.

The two-currency decisions to make before setup

This is the part that most often goes wrong, and it goes wrong at setup, silently, in a way that is painful to undo later.

Agree these answers with your accountant and write them down before anyone configures anything:

• Which currency the books are kept in — your base or reporting currency.
• Which exchange rate is applied, from which source, and at what moment — the date of the invoice, the date of payment, or another rule your accountant specifies.
• How balances held in the other currency are shown and whether and how they are revalued at period-end.
• How cash is handled — a separate cash account for each currency is usually far clearer than one drawer with two currencies mixed.

Then configure the software to those answers, and use them the same way every time. A system configured inconsistently gives you precise-looking reports that are wrong, which is worse than a spreadsheet you know to distrust.

What a setup project actually includes

A proper setup, done by a specialist, typically covers:

• A chart of accounts that fits your business — not the default one the software ships with, and not three hundred accounts you will never use.
• Currencies, tax settings and invoice numbering configured to your accountant's requirements.
• Opening balances, entered from confirmed figures.
• Customers, suppliers and products imported from your existing lists, cleaned first so duplicates do not come across.
• Invoice and quote templates with your details, in the languages you need.
• Bank connections or a statement-import routine, tested with real data.
• Users and permissions, so each person has their own login and only the access they need.
• Training, for whoever will enter transactions day to day, and a short written guide to your own routine.

Ask for all of that in writing as the scope. "Set up QuickBooks" is not a scope; the list above is.

If your existing records are mostly on paper or in scanned files, the typing can be split off to a data entry freelancer, with the specialist doing the configuration and checking.

What it costs

On Furrsati, a QuickBooks or Xero setup — chart of accounts, opening balances, integrations and training — is typically priced $100 to $500 per project. Ongoing bookkeeping is typically $10 to $30 per hour, and plain data entry is typically $3 to $8 per hour.

Where you land in the setup range depends on how many currencies and bank accounts are involved, how much data has to be cleaned and imported, whether you carry stock, and how many people need training. The software subscription itself is separate: you pay the vendor directly, every month, in your own name.

Once it is running, most small businesses are better served by a few hours of monthly bookkeeping than by trying to keep the system perfect themselves. Our guides to hiring a bookkeeper and bookkeeping rates in Lebanon cover choosing that person.

Own the subscription, not the freelancer

One rule, because it is where setups turn into hostage situations: the software account is opened in your business's name, with your email address, and paid with your card. The specialist gets their own user login, which you can remove the day the project ends.

Never let anyone set up the account in their name "to make it easier". Your books are the history of your business; they should never depend on staying on good terms with whoever configured them. At the end of the project, confirm you can log in as the owner, export your data, and remove the specialist's access yourself.

Hiring and paying safely

Three questions sort candidates quickly: which systems have you set up for businesses that deal in more than one currency; what will you need from me and from my accountant, and by when; and what will I be able to do myself after training. A specialist who does not ask to speak to your accountant is one to be wary of.

Write the scope down using our job brief guide, and structure it as milestones: system chosen and configured, then parallel run completed, then opening balances entered and training delivered.

This is where Furrsati removes the risk. You post your project, compare proposals from verified freelancers, fund a milestone, and release payment only once you've approved the work, with milestone funds held by Stripe until you release them. The service fee comes off the freelancer's side, so only standard card processing is added to your bill, and wallet-funded milestones carry none. Freelancers verify their identity before they can withdraw; as a client you need no verification. Payouts reach the freelancer inside Lebanon by OMT, Whish, bank transfer or USDT.

Your next step

Ask your accountant two questions this week: which system they would like you to use, and what they need from you for the year-end close. Then choose, configure in November, run in parallel in December, and start clean on 1 January. When you're ready, hire a QuickBooks or Xero specialist on Furrsati for the setup, and a bookkeeper to keep it clean afterwards.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the best time to switch to accounting software in Lebanon?

For most businesses, 1 January, because Lebanon's fiscal year generally runs from 1 January to 31 December and the new system can start from the confirmed closing balances of the previous year. To go live then, choose the system in October, configure it in November and run it in parallel with your spreadsheet in December.

How much does it cost to set up QuickBooks or Xero in Lebanon?

On Furrsati, a QuickBooks or Xero setup — chart of accounts, opening balances, integrations and training — is typically $100 to $500 per project. The software subscription is separate and paid directly to the vendor. Ongoing bookkeeping is typically $10 to $30 per hour.

Which accounting software is best for a small business in Lebanon?

The one your accountant uses or accepts, that supports multiple currencies on the plan you will actually buy, that produces the invoices you need including Arabic if required, and that fits how you get bank data in. Many online rankings are written by vendors, so check those points against the vendor's own plan details rather than trusting a list.

How do I handle US dollars and Lebanese lira in accounting software?

Before setup, agree with your accountant which currency the books are kept in, which exchange rate source is used and at what moment, how balances in the other currency are shown and revalued, and how cash in each currency is recorded. Configure the software to those answers and apply them consistently.

Can I keep using Excel instead?

If you are a small service business with few invoices, one bank account and one currency, a well-structured spreadsheet checked by a bookkeeper can be enough. Once you juggle several currencies and accounts, several people enter data, you carry stock, or chasing payments has become guesswork, software usually pays for itself.

Who should own the accounting software account?

Your business. Open it in your business name, with your email, paid with your card, and give the setup specialist their own user login that you can remove when the project ends. Confirm at the end that you can log in as owner and export your data yourself.