FreshBooks Review

FreshBooks is an intuitive application dressed in an easy-to-use interface. Even computer novices will feel comfortable navigating FreshBooks, and the product offers a ton of features usually found in more robust (and more expensive) products.

Who is FreshBooks for?

If you're self-employed, FreshBooks was created to give you an easy way to track income and expenses. But today, FreshBooks isn't just for freelancers. It has four plans available, ranging from the Lite plan, which is perfect for sole proprietors, and startups, to the Select plan, which is better suited for larger businesses with more clients.

FreshBooks has also added a new Accounting Partner Program, which offers a more collaborative approach for FreshBooks users and their accountants.

If you're just starting out or have no plans to hire an employee, then FreshBooks is for you. However, if you find your business growing, there are more suitable products available.

FreshBooks' features

FreshBooks (freshbooks integrations) has added a ton of features recently, all designed to make your life easier. These include the Quick Expense Creation (freshbooks expenses tracking) feature, which allows you to create an expense directly from the Expenses tab instead of having to click over to another screen.

The Retainers option is particularly useful if you're an attorney, accountant, or provide some kind of service, allowing you to budget and reserve blocks of time while billing your clients a retainer fee.

Another great new feature is the addition of ACH payments to FreshBooks Payments, which means you'll likely get paid even faster. But perhaps the most important addition to FreshBooks is double-entry accounting, which is no big deal if you work solo, but it's a major deal if you have even one employee working for you.

This addition allows FreshBooks to compete with products such as QuickBooks Online and Xero. FreshBooks does not currently offer budgeting capability, but it does offer integration with nearly 100 apps (freshbooks integrations) through the FreshBooks App Store, in categories such as CRM, e-commerce, inventory management, marketing, project management, and tax preparation.

Everything in FreshBooks is designed to help you do things faster, whether that's invoicing a client, recording a payment, tracking your time spent on a project, or snapping a photo of your lunch receipt and uploading it to FreshBooks. The addition of the new Digital Bills and Receipt Scanner makes that process even easier. It automatically captures receipt data from any uploaded receipt, eliminating the need to enter the information manually.

The Digital Scanner quickly scans data from uploaded receipts into FreshBooks. Image source: FreshBooks

FreshBooks offers much more than standard invoicing and expense tracking. You can also:

• Invoice clients
• Record and track expenses
• Track time
• Manage a project
• Make client estimates
• Record payments
• Utilize double-entry accounting
• Produce reports (freshbooks financial reporting)
• Invite team members with My Team

Invoicing

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.

It took me about 45 seconds to create the invoice above, including adding the new client to FreshBooks, and the application gives you additional options like customizing the style of the invoice, adding your logo, and even making the invoice recurring if you perform the same work every month for that client.

You can set reminders, with FreshBooks notifying you if the payment is late, and can add a late fee if a client's payment is really late.

You can also choose the currency for the invoice, making it easy to do business globally. Invoices can be saved as drafts, or you can email them immediately to your clients. The invoice includes a link to FreshBooks Payments, where they can pay by credit card or by ACH transfer, which means a quicker turnaround time and less time spent hounding clients for payment.

You can also now process a refund for a client directly from an invoice, issuing a full refund for the entire invoice total, or by entering a set amount if you're only issuing a partial refund.

Expenses

It's easy to manage your expenses in FreshBooks. Use the FreshBooks mobile app to snap a photo of your receipt from lunch and upload it into FreshBooks, where you can then drag the uploaded receipt image into the expense screen.

You can also mark it as billable if you want to add it to a client bill later, or you can add it to Cost of Goods Sold (although it's unlikely you need lunch in order to provide services to your client). If you're creating custom invitations, though, you can add the expense of the paper purchased to Cost of Goods Sold.

Time tracking

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? Using the time-tracking option, you can easily log your time for any job, or start a timer to record the time automatically.

You can also pause time-tracking from within the timer, resuming the timer when you're ready.

The mobile app lets you record your time when you're working at another location, and you can even add a note to remind yourself of what you were working on, which can be helpful if you have multiple clients.

You can create a new project (above) in minutes, with the option to choose a flat-rate project or an hourly project. All you need to do is assign the project to a client, enter the project services you'll provide, and enter either the flat-rate amount or the hourly rate for the project, and you're good to go. Creating a project can be particularly helpful if you tend to forget to track your time properly since potentially every service you sell can be a project.

Client estimates and proposals

For bigger jobs, you may want to create a formal project proposal or job estimate. While an estimate is simply a breakdown of the services you will provide along with an estimate of their cost, a proposal is a more formal document that displays the value of the services you provide. If an estimate is approved by your client, you can easily convert it into an invoice with a few clicks.

Reports

Reporting options are fairly basic in FreshBooks, though the addition of double-entry accounting has created additional reporting options such as a General Ledger report and a Profit & Loss report.

The Reports screen, shown above, lets you display your top five reports at the top of the page for quicker access. Reports in FreshBooks have limited customization options available, but they can be exported to Microsoft Excel for customizing. You can also email a report or save it as a PDF.

My Team

The My Team feature is useful if you have employees, but you can also use it for contractors and accountants. All you need to do is invite them to use FreshBooks.

There are four types of team members (see above) you can invite:

1. Business partners, who will receive complete access to your FreshBooks account.
2. Basic employees, who can track time and expenses but can only view their own information.
3. Contractors, who can track their time and expenses and can also send you an invoice.
4. Accountants, who can access FreshBooks reports, categorize expenses, and create journal entries.

Just add the person's name and email, and they will receive a message and a link to connect to FreshBooks. Automatic permissions are set in FreshBooks, so you don't have to worry about setting up permission levels when inviting team members.

Working with FreshBooks support

One of the biggest complaints I have with comparable online accounting applications such as Xero and QuickBooks Online is their lack of telephone support.

In this QuickBooks alternative, support is included in the cost of the subscription, and you can call the toll-free number and talk to a live person during extended business hours. While many support questions can be easily answered by using the other resources available in FreshBooks, it's incredibly refreshing to have the option to call support when it's needed.

You can also contact FreshBooks via email, use the contact form on the website, click on the Get Help tab to access instant messaging, or access support from within the application. The website also offers a FreshBooks tour and a searchable FAQ page.

Benefits of using FreshBooks

The biggest benefit of FreshBooks is that it's easy enough that you'll actually use it. The product is designed with the user in mind, and that's evident as you make your way through the various features and functions. FreshBooks has also been incredibly responsive to complaints about the lack of true accounting features by adding double-entry accounting and beefing up the reporting options.

Particularly beneficial to the self-employed who have likely been saddled with a bunch of features they really didn't need, FreshBooks is a breath of fresh air. If you're looking for easy invoice creation, good expense management, and time-tracking capability, look no further than FreshBooks. Remember, the faster you invoice, the faster you get paid.

FreshBooks pricing structure

FreshBooks offers four plan options, each with increasing functionality.

• Lite plan: $15/month
• Plus plan: $25/month
• Premium plan: $50/month
• Select plan: Customizable based on need

FreshBooks regularly offers promotional pricing for the first three months of a new contract, so be sure to check its website for the latest pricing.

The FreshBooks Lite plan, regularly $15/month, is available for $4.50/month for the first three months. The Lite plan offers plenty of features for the sole proprietor or freelancer. If you're looking for more features, the Plus plan may be the best fit. Regularly priced at $25/month, the Plus plan is now available for $7.50/month for the first three months. Considered the most popular FreshBooks plan, the Plus plan includes features such as unlimited proposals, recurring invoices, late payment reminders, and scheduled late fees. Also available is the Premium plan, which can support up to 500 clients. The Premium plan, normally $50/month, is now $15/month for the first three months. If you have more than 500 clients, the Select plan is best for you, with pricing available directly from FreshBooks.FreshBooks does not include a payroll option in any of its plans, but it does offer integration with Gusto if you need to pay employees.

FreshBooks' ease of use

FreshBooks can run on just about any web browser, including Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Safari, Mobile Safari, and Mobile Chrome. Mobile apps (freshbooks mobile apps) are available for both iOS and Android devices, and the product remains in sync, so you can use your desktop system in the morning and your phone while you're out in the afternoon, and the information will remain consistent in both.

The FreshBooks Dashboard includes a welcome screen (above) that displays your setup progress. Once setup is complete, you'll see charts displaying your outstanding revenue, total profit, revenue streams, spending, and unbilled time. The spending chart can be an eye-opener when you see exactly where all of your money is going, and the unbilled time can serve as a reminder to create those invoices you've been procrastinating on.

The interface is consistent throughout, and all of the features in FreshBooks are easily accessed from the vertical menu bar, including the settings icon, where you can add another company, enter any of the products or services you sell, and set up online payments. The help icon (a question mark) is not immediately visible but resides in the lower right corner of the dashboard.