BILL vs. FreshBooks

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
BILL
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
BILL is an online service for SMBs which provides a central dashboard for managing Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, and cash flow management. It syncs with all major accounting systems like QuickBooks, Sage, Intaact, and NetSuite.
$45
per month
FreshBooks
Score 8.3 out of 10
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)
FreshBooks is an accounting service for small businesses. The solution enables users to send and manage invoices, track billable time and collect online payments. The vendor’s value proposition this that their solution provides a straightforward service that simplifies the billing process.
$21
per month
Pricing
BILLFreshBooks
Editions & Modules
Essentials
$45
per user/per month
Team
$55
per user/per month
Corporate
$79
per user/per month
Enterprise
Custom Pricing
Lite
$21
per month
Plus
$38
per month
Premium
$65
per month
Select
Custom Pricing
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
BILLFreshBooks
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details10% discount for annual pricing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
BILLFreshBooks
Features
BILLFreshBooks
Payment Management
Comparison of Payment Management features of Product A and Product B
BILL
7.4
8 Ratings
1% above category average
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Customizable Approval Policies7.86 Ratings00 Ratings
Financial Document Management7.18 Ratings00 Ratings
Payment Status Tracking7.38 Ratings00 Ratings
Payment Audit Trail7.78 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Bill Detection8.66 Ratings00 Ratings
Advanced OCR6.64 Ratings00 Ratings
Electronic Funds Transfer6.47 Ratings00 Ratings
Accounts Payable
Comparison of Accounts Payable features of Product A and Product B
BILL
7.3
5 Ratings
7% above category average
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Automated Accounts Payable Processes8.24 Ratings00 Ratings
Vendor Management8.45 Ratings00 Ratings
Tax Form Preparation5.32 Ratings00 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
BILL
-
Ratings
FreshBooks
8.9
35 Ratings
14% above category average
API for custom integration00 Ratings9.130 Ratings
Plug-ins00 Ratings8.826 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
BILL
-
Ratings
FreshBooks
9.9
41 Ratings
19% above category average
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Role-based user permissions00 Ratings9.841 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
BILL
-
Ratings
FreshBooks
7.4
57 Ratings
5% below category average
Dashboards00 Ratings8.857 Ratings
Standard reports00 Ratings8.655 Ratings
Custom reports00 Ratings4.82 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
BILL
-
Ratings
FreshBooks
7.5
56 Ratings
1% below category average
Accounts payable00 Ratings7.941 Ratings
Accounts receivable00 Ratings9.355 Ratings
Cash management00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Bank reconciliation00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Expense management00 Ratings6.551 Ratings
Time tracking00 Ratings7.542 Ratings
Multi-currency support00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Regulations compliance00 Ratings5.921 Ratings
Self-service portal00 Ratings9.13 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
BILL
-
Ratings
FreshBooks
9.3
49 Ratings
20% above category average
Pricing00 Ratings8.739 Ratings
Order entry00 Ratings9.137 Ratings
Credit card processing00 Ratings9.341 Ratings
Cost of goods sold00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
BILLFreshBooks
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Score 9.7 out of 10
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Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Square 9 Softworks
Square 9 Softworks
Score 9.7 out of 10
Zoho Books
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Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Webexpenses
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Score 8.7 out of 10
BlackLine
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Score 8.6 out of 10
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User Ratings
BILLFreshBooks
Likelihood to Recommend
6.8
(68 ratings)
7.8
(75 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
8.0
(14 ratings)
7.6
(18 ratings)
Usability
8.5
(8 ratings)
9.3
(20 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(7 ratings)
10.0
(2 ratings)
Performance
6.0
(3 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
7.7
(18 ratings)
5.8
(11 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(6 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
BILLFreshBooks
Likelihood to Recommend
BILL
It depends, Bill.com certainly has a strong reputation and I agree it can be a great solution in the right scenario but I think the implementation and initial setup are critical and need to be well thought out based on the setup of the organization you are a part of.
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FreshBooks
I recommend FreshBooks to anyone running a service-based business that needs invoicing, time reporting, and accounting tools. FB is adept in all three of these scenarios and isn't overly complicated like similar accounting packages I have used. I love how I can write estimates and proposals, manage the business development process from the software, and quickly convert prospects to invoiced clients.
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Pros
BILL
  • The fact that bill.com automatically processes most information on the invoice is really helpful - leads to quicker processing
  • The "to do list" feature ensures you see the tasks that need to be completed ASAP
  • The reports section is very helpful in year end prepping for audits
Read full review
FreshBooks
  • Invoicing - FreshBooks basically ensures our accountants spend less time on invoices via its automated invoicing system, which sends invoices to our customers and clients alike and also send them regular reminders for them to pay up their bills.
  • Collecting business insights - FreshBooks enable our company analysts measure our business performances via data reports provided by FreshBooks' intuitive dashboard. Allowing us do a comparative analysis of key business metrics of a current month against past months and determine if the business is growing.
  • Expense tracker - We have recently embraced FreshBooks as an expense tracker for teams at our company branch. Thusfar, FreshBooks has performed very well, making our expense management a perfect operation; ensuring teams do not exceed their planned budget and also eliminating the need for tracking expenses on excel spreadsheets.
Read full review
Cons
BILL
  • Currently, our company uses a different platform to submit expenses, we only use bill.com to receive them. So perhaps this isn't actually a place where bill.com could improve, but the expense submission process may not have been robust enough for our company.
  • The bill.com platform wasn't the most beautiful or pleasing to use, but this is a minor fault.
  • I'd love a way to set up recurring payments (e.g., my phone bill is reimbursed each month).
Read full review
FreshBooks
  • I can brand invoices with my business logo, but I might like to change colours of the invoices themselves to match the rest of my business documents. That isn't a major point at all, but it's something that I'd like to see.
  • Freshbooks doesn't remember the categories that similar expenses were previously assigned to. It would be nice if Freshbooks would suggest a category for an already saved vendor, to ensure the consistency of expense reporting.
  • The home page of a Freshbooks account has a great graph display of expenses and income, but it only shows the last 6 months. This is still very useful, but I'd like to be able to see this kind of graph for different periods of time.
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Likelihood to Renew
BILL
While our firm does not use Bill.com internally, we know many customers that use Bill.com and are very happy with it. Based on the feedback from current users, I would say that the product should have a strong renewal forecast. Once customers move their AP to the cloud, they would be unlikely to move it back given a choice.
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FreshBooks
At the current needs of our business, FreshBooks suits us perfectly - it allows online access by our accountant to the system for GST purposes, easy input of expenses and tracking of Profit and Loss statements. FreshBooks customer service is great as well - very understanding and accommodating.
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Usability
BILL
Bill.com continues to raise the bar with new features and improved interface. The Fast Pay option is another innovation that reduces administrative time when you have to get an overnight check out. The new Chat Support interface, powered by Zopim, which is world-class, adds to the responsiveness of Bill.com's support team and makes getting real-time answers that much easier.
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FreshBooks
FreshBooks is very easy to use even for novices. If you're looking for an online accounting software that is full of features, has great aesthetics and is user-friendly, then this is definitely the software for you. I've been using it for several years now and despite being tempted to switch by other vendors, I like the feel of FreshBooks and it's mobile features.
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Reliability and Availability
BILL
The only time Bill.com was ever "unavailable" was then the Sync to Quickbooks function failed. That happened a time or two but was usually quickly remedied. I'm not sure if that's an issue with newer online versions of Quickbooks Enterprise -- at the time we were using a remotely hosted Quickbooks instance accessed via terminal server (vs a cloud offering like Bill.com is)
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FreshBooks
FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
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Performance
BILL
Load times can be slow after long use.
Read full review
FreshBooks
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
BILL
I could not explain to them how I was trying to remove an old email account from my company page while granting the new email account access to the bank account that the first email account had added. The "set a bank account as inactive" button is labeled delete, but they don't seem to recognize that. I requested my Bill.com account be deleted on Wednesday so I could start all over with a fresh account; this seemed to be completed Wednesday night, but when I tried to create a new Bill.com account from the same email, it took me to my old bill.com account.
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FreshBooks
I think the support level for FreshBooks is on par with a 6 because the folks behind this application do a fairly good job at providing support for their customer base. I still don't think they are at an elite level when it comes to supporting but are getting there although too slow in my opinion.
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Online Training
BILL
The online training provided by Bill.com is concise and since the firm consistently improves the platform functionality, users are able to select the training for the modules they specifically need.
Read full review
FreshBooks
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
BILL
I heard from my leadership that it went very well.
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FreshBooks
I haven't changed my mind since my first evaluation. Freshbooks is still meeting my needs, easy to use, etc.
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Alternatives Considered
BILL
1. Automation & Workflow Efficiency.2. Integration Capabilities with other softwaresWe needed a centralized, automated, and scalable solution for managing both payables and receivables. The strong integration with our existing accounting software was a key factor.The platform gave us better visibility and control over cash flow and approval processes.
Read full review
FreshBooks
FreshBooks does very well in comparison, especially since it is free software for Barclays bank users. Sage software is much worse than FreshBooks. However, Xero and QuickBooks, the market leaders, are still ahead with usability, additional features, reporting, and connection with third-party software providers. We chose FreshBooks as it does everything we require from this type of software.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
BILL
None, all good.
Read full review
FreshBooks
No answers on this topic
Scalability
BILL
We have multiple locations, and everything works fine.
Read full review
FreshBooks
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
BILL
  • After receiving an offer to 'finance' outstanding invoices, I was enticed by the promise of a 3% total cost for a 60-day period, with the possibility of extending the financing for an additional 10 months (for an additional fee). Eager to access funds, I decided to finance an invoice worth $17,160.00. Within 24 hours, BILL deposited $16,645.20 (97% of the invoice amount) into my account.
  • However, when the customer paid their $17,160 invoice four days later, instead of the funds being deposited into my checking account as I expected, BILL chose to retire the loan and retain my $514.80 fee for the 4 day advance period. This unexpected turn of events resulted in an effective interest rate of a staggering 273.75%. It was clear that this arrangement was far from what I had initially understood, and the financial impact was outrageously high.
  • Frustratingly, my attempts to resolve this issue through customer service were in vain, as I spoke with three agents who provided no satisfactory solutions. To anyone contemplating using BILL's services, I strongly urge you to carefully scrutinize the fine print and consider opting for a more reputable finance company."
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FreshBooks
  • In reality, we do not implement all of its use at the moment in order to determine an adequate ROI.
  • In our approach to the use of the system, it seems to us a considerable time saving by achieving the integration of the Mexican subsidiary with its parent located in the US.
  • Financial reports meet the necessary USGAAP requirements.
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ScreenShots

BILL Screenshots

Screenshot of BILL’s central dashboard, which displays upcoming bills, invoices, and ingoing and outgoing payments.Screenshot of BILL automatically pulls in bills via email and automatically starts the process. It also checks for duplicate invoices by looking at the invoice numbers and payment amounts to flag questionable invoices.Screenshot of BILL's desktop and mobile applications so users' teams can review invoices and send payments on-the-go.Screenshot of BILL’s mobile app, which can be used to review invoices, add comments, and approve from anywhere.Screenshot of The overview screen, where the status of invoices can be reviewed to get a bird’s eye view of tasks.

FreshBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of the dashboardScreenshot of an invoice overviewScreenshot of an example of a customizable invoiceScreenshot of an invoice appearing across devicesScreenshot of expensesScreenshot of time tracking