Fast facts about FreshBooks
- Starting price: $19/month.
- Key features:
- Unlimited, automated invoices and estimates.
- Unlimited time and expense tracking.
- Sales tax tracking and expense categorization.
Our star rating: 4.1 out of 5
FreshBooks is a software program designed for small businesses that focuses on accounting, invoicing, and billing. It offers unlimited invoices, estimates, and expense tracking across all pricing plans. While it provides basic accounting features like receipt scanning and simple reports, its strength lies in invoicing and billing. For businesses with more complex accounting needs, exploring alternatives like QuickBooks may be necessary.
In this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of FreshBooks, highlight its key features, and suggest alternative accounting software options if FreshBooks does not meet your requirements.
FreshBooks’ pricing
FreshBooks offers four pricing plans tailored to freelancers, small, and midsize businesses, with transparent pricing. The enterprise-level plan offers customizable pricing and features, requiring contact with the sales team for a quote. All plans come with a 30-day free trial, and frequent sales provide discounts for the first six months, although you must choose between the discount and the trial.
| Plan name | FreshBooks Lite | FreshBooks Plus | FreshBooks Premium | FreshBooks Select |
|—————–|—————–|—————–|——————–|——————-|
| Unlimited customized invoices | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unlimited |
| Number of billable clients per month | Up to 5 | Up to 50 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Expense receipt capture | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app access for iOS and Android | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price per month | $19 | $33 | $60 | Contact for pricing |
| Plan details are up to date as of 6/14/2024 |FreshBooks Lite
Price: Starts at $19 per month
The FreshBooks Lite plan is focused on basic invoicing features. It allows unlimited invoices and estimates for up to five clients, with no support for mobile receipt capture. Payments can be received via credit cards and ACH bank transfers. For additional features or more clients, an upgrade to the Plus plan is required.
FreshBooks Plus
Price: Starts at $33 per month
The FreshBooks Plus plan enables invoicing for up to 50 clients per month, in addition to Lite features. It includes recurring invoices, automatic receipt capture, and financial and accounting reports. Accountant access is available, beneficial for tax preparation.
FreshBooks Premium
Price: Starts at $60 per month
The FreshBooks Premium plan offers unlimited invoices for unlimited clients, suitable for midsize businesses. It includes Plus features and adds automatic bill capture, customizable email templates, and project profitability tracking.
FreshBooks Select
Price: Custom pricing only
Designed for larger businesses, the FreshBooks Select plan requires custom pricing. It includes Premium features along with lower transaction fees, branding removal, exclusive support, and two team seats.
Additional fees
FreshBooks users can add extra users for $11 per month and opt for advanced payment acceptance for $20 per month, which is included in the Select plan.
FreshBooks’s key features
Unlimited invoicing and estimates
FreshBooks stands out with unlimited invoices, unlike Xero’s cheapest plan, which limits users to 20 invoices per month. It offers two templates, two fonts, and color options. The process of creating and sending estimates is simple, with the ability to convert them to invoices with a single click. Additional features include recurring invoices, late fees, and payment reminders.
Expense tracking and categorization
FreshBooks syncs with 14,000+ financial institutions, importing data securely. Expenses can be uploaded or captured through the mobile app, then assigned to clients and attached to invoices. Automatic categorization simplifies tax write-offs. The recent addition of Journal Entries allows tracking of transactions outside invoices and expenses, requiring Advanced Accounting activation.
Time tracking
FreshBooks includes native time tracking for billable hours and invoice line items. The timer is user-friendly, allowing quick time entries and easy billing. Hours can be sorted by client, team member, date, and project, providing insight into work time allocation.
Upon completing work, generating invoices is straightforward, with options to add time entries as line items. The native time-tracking feature and simple timer set FreshBooks apart, though it lacks advanced time tracking capabilities.
Payment acceptance
Clients can pay invoices via FreshBooks payments, Stripe, and PayPal, with standard transaction fees. Advanced Payments allow credit card payments over the phone, enabling recurring billing profiles for regular clients.
FreshBooks pros
- Built-in time and project tracking: All FreshBooks plans include native time and project tracking for seamless invoice syncing.
- Highly rated mobile accounting apps: FreshBooks’ iOS and Android apps offer invoice creation, receipt scanning, and mileage tracking on-the-go.
- User-friendly interface: Both the mobile and web apps are intuitive, requiring minimal setup time.
- Payroll integration: FreshBooks offers an optional Gusto-powered payroll add-on, enhancing financial management capabilities.
FreshBooks cons
- Cheapest plan limitations: FreshBooks Lite lacks free accountant access, double-entry accounting, and bank reconciliation.
- Fee for additional users: Additional users incur an $11 monthly fee, higher than some competitors like Zoho Books.
- Basic inventory tracking: FreshBooks provides basic inventory management features, with limited third-party integration support.
- Limited scalability: While a customizable plan is available for larger businesses, FreshBooks’ streamlined features are more suited for small to midsize businesses.
Alternatives to FreshBooks
| Feature | Xero | QuickBooks Online | Wave Accounting | FreshBooks |
|—————————————|————————-|—————————|————————-|————|
| Invoice limit with cheapest plan | 20 per month | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Expense tracking | With some plans | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inventory management | Yes | With some plans | No | Basic tools only |
| User limits | Unlimited | Up to 25 | Unlimited with paid plan only | $11 per extra user |
| Third-party integrations | 1,000+ | 500+ | Through Zapier | 100+ |
| Starting price per month | $15 | $30 | $0 | $19 |Xero: Best for product-based businesses
Our star rating: 4.4 out of 5
Starting price: $15 per month
Xero is tailored for freelancers and small to midsize businesses, offering invoicing, payment acceptance, and financial tracking tools. It includes inventory tracking and supports unlimited users at no extra cost, with limitations per organization. Xero’s pros include extensive third-party app integration, user-friendly software, and automatic recurring invoicing.
QuickBooks Online: Best for growing businesses
Our star rating: 4.6 out of 5
Starting price: $30 per month
Intuit QuickBooks Online is a popular accounting software supporting businesses of all sizes. It offers expense tracking, unlimited invoicing, online payments, and estimates. QuickBooks provides advanced features like bill management and project tracking, making it suitable for businesses willing to invest in comprehensive accounting solutions.
Wave Accounting: Best free accounting software
Our star rating: 4 out of 5
Starting price: $0 per month
Wave Accounting offers a free plan with optional paid features, including automatic bank transaction import and mobile receipt capture. While lacking inventory and project tracking, Wave’s invoicing and expense management tools are comparable to FreshBooks. Features like Wave Payroll integration and accounting app availability enhance its appeal.
Review methodology
To assess FreshBooks, a free account was set up, a demo was viewed, and invoices were created within the software. User reviews from reputable sites were considered. Key features evaluated included invoicing, billing, expense tracking, time tracking, and payment acceptance. Pricing, usability, and customer service were also factored into this review.
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