Blinksale is a cloud-based application to create and send invoices and to track and receive payments. It is a targeted at SMBs.
$15
per month
FreshBooks
Score 6.1 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.
I used PaySimple for some period of time. I wasn't happy with the extensive paperwork and rules it imposes. I do use it for ACH transactions for recurring payments from some clients because of the extremely low transaction fees. Otherwise, it was just another time waster. I …
FreshBooks is the perfect tool for businesses who have hundreds of clients and customers whom they invoice regularly. It removes the need to manually send invoices to clients and customers, by streamlining inputted information to create an automated invoicing system which keeps clients and customers up to date with their bills. It is also a great tool for managing expenses, especially for companies with different teams working on varying projects, ensuring these teams do not exceed the budget ceiling.
FreshBooks is pretty intuitive to use. I did have some questions when I first started using the system, but it wasn't a long learning curve.
FreshBooks provides more capability than other billing applications such as PaySimple or BlinkSale. FreshBooks does provide an easy invoicing function. It's easy to create invoices that can be sent via email or snail mail to one or more individuals (for example, the decision-maker and the accounting dept). Clients can pay online or send a check and then I note that the payment has been received. If paid by credit card, the system automatically marks the invoice paid. Your business accounts such as bank accounts can be linked to FreshBooks. Then, the system can automatically draw in expenses and will create simple P&L reports, overdue invoices, client history, etc. If you don't have inventory and complex payroll, etc. FreshBooks provides just the right level of capability to make financial tracking simple.
FreshBooks integrates with a number of credit card companies. I use Stripe, which has fees similar to Paypal, but much more reliable processing. I can accept all credit cards, including American Express, for a reasonable fee.
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.
I'm giving Blinksale a 10 because it really is a perfect invoicing app. Sure, there are things that can be grown, but comparative to other invoicing apps I've used, Blinksale is lights-out. There isn't a small business owner that doesn't need to try out Blinksale for invoicing.
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.
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.
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.
After evaluating and using several invoicing applications, I landed on Blinksale. They just fit my needs perfectly as a small business owner. The app is brilliantly designed, easy to navigate, painless, and makes invoices look great to clients. Tracking invoices and getting paid inside Blinksale are a breeze. On top of that, their unlimited plan for $15 a month is a steal for the product they are offering.
We do not consider other options since our client wants the implementation of this platform in order to use it in the two countries where it has operations.
At the moment, full integration was not possible and we still share the information with a Mexican system to complete everything necessary.
Freshbooks saves me time compared to when I managed to invoice without an app.
Freshbooks make keeping my invoices organized which saves me time.
Freshbooks helps me to know who is late on payments. When I was doing this by hand, some invoices would get lost in the clutter and I would not find out I haven't been paid until much later.
