Business software or business application is any software or set of computer programs that are used by business users to perform various business functions. These business applications are used to increase productivity, to measure productivity and to perform business functions accurately.

By and large, business software is likely to be developed specifically for a business and therefore is not easily transferable to a different commercial enterprise, unless its nature and operation is identical. This is due to the unique requirements of each business that off-the-shelf software in unlikely to completely address. However, where an on-the-shelf solution is necessary, due to time or monetary considerations, some level of customization is likely to be required. Exceptions do exist, depending on the business in question, and thorough research is always required before committing to bespoke or off-the-shelf.

The term covers a large variation of users within the business environment, and can be categorized by using a small, medium :

• The small business market generally consists of home accounting software, and office suites such as OpenOffice.org or Microsoft Office.
• The medium size, or small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), has a broader range of software applications, ranging from accounting, groupware, customer relationship management, human resource management systems, outsourcing relationship management, loan origination software, shopping cart software, field service software, and other productivity enhancing applications.
• The last segment covers enterprise level software applications, such as those in the fields of enterprise resource planning, enterprise content management (ECM), business process management (BPM) and product lifecycle management. These applications are extensive in scope, and often come with modules that either add native functions, or incorporate the functionality of third-party computer programs.