What is Banana Accounting?
Banana Accounting is a Swiss desktop accounting program with a long history, which was developed back in 1989 (back then for MS-DOS) specifically for small companies and the self-employed and is still popular today.
It is a widely used choice among users who are looking for a cost-effective and comprehensive solution. With the Excel-like booking mask, Banana provides a solid basis for financial administration and is particularly popular with associations and in the educational sector for teaching financial accounting.
The software is available in various versions, which offer different features and levels of support as required.
Benefits of banana
Comprehensive range of functions
Banana covers all basic accounting needs and also offers invoicing options and specialized functions such as securities management or built-in asset accounting.
Banana also includes integrated functions for budget and liquidity planning, which can be used to make forecasts for company development. Detailed analyses of projects can also be carried out if users have the necessary previous knowledge.
Customer and supplier management allows users to always keep track of things in this area and efficiently manage open items. Banana also offers functions for reconciling credit card statements, which significantly simplifies and speeds up the accounting process.
High expandability & customization
Another advantage of banana is the flexible expandability through widgets. These allow users to individually adapt the software to their needs and expand the range of functions as required with some technical know-how. This adaptability is particularly useful for companies that have specific requirements and still want to use a central software solution.
For freelancers in Switzerland, Banana offers particularly useful VAT management tools that are tailored to legal requirements. This makes it easier to comply with regulations and minimizes tax preparation costs.
Cheap software
Previous versions of Banana could be purchased with a one-time payment, which made Banana very popular among self-employed people. But even today, the various Banana packages belong among the cheapest on the whole market, which can meet virtually all needs of freelancers and SMEs.
Disadvantages of banana
Moderate beginner-friendly
Banana's design is a bit old and the structure of the user interface is cumbersome by today's standards. At first glance, it is rather difficult as a layperson to discover important functions such as invoicing.
At the same time, good accounting skills are a must in order to correctly use the program for your own business accounting.
In addition, Banana has no interface to other programs or modern AI solutions. Payroll accounting is also not covered.
Difficult collaboration due to lack of cloud software
Another no-go for many is that Banana is one of the only accounting solutions that does not offer cloud integration.
This means that accounting cannot be flexibly accessed from other devices and also collaboration with several people compared to cloud solutions such as Bexio or infinity.swiss is complicated as a result.
Limited support
A major disadvantage of Banana is that even the most expensive subscription only includes three support cases per year. This can quickly lead to unresolved problems. Since Banana's user interface is comparatively more complicated, new users quickly need help — although the help documentation on the website can help in part.
How much does banana cost?
There is a free version, which is well suited for associations, for example, but is severely restricted for companies. For example, users are limited to 70 bookings per year.
The Professional subscription costs 69.- per year and is therefore one of the cheapest offers in Switzerland. This includes the basic functions needed to keep an accounting. Users subject to VAT cannot use this version to create VAT statements.
The Advanced subscription is 149 per year and, in addition to VAT statements, offers additional functions such as filtering and sorting of cells, support, or no line restrictions for exported invoices and bookings.
What do users say?
Many users appreciate that the software is specifically tailored for users who have basic accounting skills. The application performs its function as a tool for financial records and offers a solid range of features for those who don't need to perform complex tasks.
However, many things look outdated, and a major switch to a modern user interface would be urgently needed.
Most recently, the decision resulted in resentmentthat users are forced to use the new subscription model. In addition, it is repeatedly denounced that the Mobile app doesn't work as desired.
Who is Banana right for?
The free version of Banana Accounting is well suited for associations, education and private individuals with a high level of accounting knowledge. However, this version is too limited for many companies.
The two paid versions of Banana are significantly cheaper than comparable competing products. For whom price is the decisive criterion and who doesn't mind more cumbersome operation and the lack of secure collaboration in the cloud, Banana is an appropriate solution.
Who is behind Banana?
Banana.ch SA is based in Lugano and was founded in 1990, making it one of the oldest providers of accounting software in the country. The experience gained through its longevity makes Banana.ch SA a reputable provider in the area of accounting software.
Comparison with Infinity
Banana includes features for certain niches that Infinity does not cover. This includes securities management, construction and renovation management, and inventory management. However, most service companies don't need these features.
Banana has been on the market longer than Infinity and you can see that in the service, which is sometimes outdated. Infinity makes booking much easier for users because all complex processes happen in the background and the user always has an overview.
While manual bank imports are possible in Banana, in Infinity, e-banking transactions with leading Swiss banks can be taken over via a direct connection and processed into booking suggestions using AI. AI also supports scanning invoices and receipts and creating offers. That saves a lot of time.
Infinity is a much more accessible solution for newcomers, but people who already use Banana also benefit from less booking costs and time savings.
The future of accounting software: Trends and innovations
infinity.swiss is establishing itself on the market as an innovative, cloud-based software that is particularly impressive due to its user-friendliness and flexibility.
Where Banana follows a more traditional approach, infinity.swiss offers its users a modern user interface that is intuitive and easy to use. This makes it easier for smaller companies and startups in particular to get started, which may not have in-depth accounting knowledge.
infinity.swiss regularly provides new updates, which means that you can always work with the latest technological standards. It has had the highest number of updates and innovations over the last two years and is available on topics such as AI accounting ahead of all other solutions.
