FreshBooks Review 2023: Cost, Features, Pros, Cons

If your company plans to remain relatively small, it’s hard to beat the simple, comprehensive package of features the software has to offer. Overall, Freshbooks is a smart, affordable choice for small business owners new to accounting. FreshBooks, starting at $17 per month, is more affordable than QuickBooks Online, which begins at $30 per month. However, QuickBooks’ Advanced plan supports up to 25 concurrent users. FreshBooks only permits one user, charging an extra $11 per month for each additional team member.

Invoicing in FreshBooks takes less than a minute, depending on how fast you type. You can create a new client while you’re entering the invoice; you don’t have to stop and add the client first. If you’re just starting out or have no plans to hire an employee, freshbooks then FreshBooks is for you. However, if you find your business growing, there are more suitable products available. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services.

User Reviews

FreshBooks Lite does not offer bill tracking and management, but you can get it with the Premium version. The FreshBooks website features an automated chatbot that can assist with basic questions. During our test run of the FreshBooks website, we found that the bot competently answered inquiries about pricing but struggled with more nuanced questions. Prospective customers with further questions can contact a sales representative by email or phone. If you’re looking for a free alternative to FreshBooks with capable accounting features, consider Wave Accounting. This entry will display on your Time Tracking dashboard as unbilled.

Highest-tier plan includes two users (additional users can be added for a fee); ideal for freelancers and contractors; not ideal for businesses with more than a handful of employees. While there are many accounting software options out there, FreshBooks is particularly well-suited for smaller businesses and companies with one main owner and operator. Fed up with chasing customers when they should have already paid you? See how you can overcome the common reasons for late payments, and protect your business’ cash flow. Transactions under these entities in your FreshBooks account cannot be exported. FreshBooks does not provide you with the option to export this information.

Vendor Access Policy

With FreshBooks, users can embed checkouts in websites, social media and apps. The Advanced Payments feature also allows companies to accept credit card payments in person and over the phone. Those interested in a full trial can get access to a 30-day free option.

• It will make tax time easier by providing the required reports that your tax preparer needs to accurately file your taxes.
• Its users need to integrate these services using Bench Accounting.
• Using the time-tracking option, you can easily log your time for any job, or start a timer to record the time automatically.
• We all want to be paid for our time, but how often do you forget to write down how much time you’ve spent on a job?
• You can send automatic payment reminders before or after the due date to encourage customers to pay their bills promptly.
• Invoices can be saved as drafts, or you can email them immediately to your clients.
• The invoice screen allows you to customize and brand invoices and preview how documents will appear.

The site now has an Other Income account (to capture, well, other income), Cost of Goods Sold, bank reconciliation, and all the standard financial reports, like Trial Balance and Cash Flow. If you’re using the Lite version, though, you can’t access the bank reconciliation, account access, or some of the other advanced tools, which is just as well for novices. FreshBooks’ Plus plan lets you bill up to 50 clients, and adds features like standard financial reports, e-signatures, and proposals and client retainers.

Why FreshBooks Is Best for Invoicing

FreshBooks includes many capabilities that make it a great accounting and invoicing software for freelancers, solopreneurs and small business owners. It allows you to easily put an invoice together and accept payment through credit and debit cards, ACH transfers, Stripe and PayPal. The credit card processing fee is 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction for Visa, Mastercard and Discover, which is standard in the industry. FreshBooks Payments lets your customers pay directly through invoices and automatically records each payment in your account. It can accept payment via debit cards, credit cards, bank transfers, Stripe and PayPal.

The FreshBooks Accounting app is rated 4.7 out of 5 on the Apple App Store, indicating a high degree of customer satisfaction. We recommend FreshBooks for freelancers and independent contractors in the service industry. Solopreneurs and microbusinesses with 2-5 employees will benefit from the software’s streamlined approach to invoicing and billing. FreshBooks is accessible for non-accountants, using plain language to describe financial processes and simplify invoicing, expense tracking, and reporting.

FreshBooks Review 2023: Features, Pros And Cons

We found the complete setup takes about an hour with sample data manually entered. Chaser syncs all of your Freshbooks invoice and customer data so you automatically stay on top of what is owed and collect payments faster. Like FreshBooks, Zoho Books also has Client Portal where your customers can view all their quotes and invoices.

• For an extra cost, the Plus plan offers a more robust selection of features and is better suited for solo business owners who have more than five clients.
• FreshBooks is a paid service operating with a subscription model.
• Xero offers BI, reports and visualizations via different hubs, dashboards and features.
• While both platforms cover essential accounting operations and offer modern features like reporting and BI analysis, each caters for different business needs.
• FreshBooks’ user interface is very intuitive, with an easy-to-navigate dashboard that displays key statistics.
• You simply enter your email address, create a password and click a link in a confirmation email.