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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    e-automate

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AECI Software Solutions offers e-automate, an ERP for office technology companies to automate business workflows and increase contract profitability.N/A

    FreshBooks

    Score9.2 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
    e-automateFreshBooks
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Lite
    $21
    per month
    Plus
    $38
    per month
    Premium
    $65
    per month
    Select
    Custom Pricing
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    e-automateFreshBooks
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—10% discount for annual pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    e-automateFreshBooks
    Considered Both Products
    ECI Software Solutions
    No answer on this topic
    FreshBooks
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    91%
    Would buy again
    48 Answers
    69%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    40 Answers
    82%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    47 Answers
    54%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    81%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    22 Answers
    64%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    85%
    Implementation went as expected
    29 Answers
    62%
    Implementation went as expected
    8 Answers
    Features
    e-automateFreshBooks
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of e-automate and FreshBooks
    Feature
    e-automate
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    9.1
    35 Ratings
    18% above category average
    API for custom integration00 Ratings9.330 Ratings
    Plug-ins00 Ratings9.026 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of e-automate and FreshBooks
    Feature
    e-automate
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    10.0
    41 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Single sign-on capability00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions00 Ratings10.041 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of e-automate and FreshBooks
    Feature
    e-automate
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    7.5
    57 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Dashboards00 Ratings9.057 Ratings
    Standard reports00 Ratings8.855 Ratings
    Custom reports00 Ratings4.82 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of e-automate and FreshBooks
    Feature
    e-automate
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    7.5
    56 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Accounts payable00 Ratings8.041 Ratings
    Accounts receivable00 Ratings9.455 Ratings
    Cash management00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation00 Ratings7.02 Ratings
    Expense management00 Ratings6.651 Ratings
    Time tracking00 Ratings7.642 Ratings
    Multi-currency support00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Regulations compliance00 Ratings6.021 Ratings
    Self-service portal00 Ratings9.13 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of e-automate and FreshBooks
    Feature
    e-automate
    -
    Ratings
    FreshBooks
    9.5
    49 Ratings
    25% above category average
    Pricing00 Ratings8.839 Ratings
    Order entry00 Ratings9.337 Ratings
    Credit card processing00 Ratings9.741 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
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    e-automateFreshBooks
    Small Businesses
    Kickserv
    Score9.3 out of 10
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    e-automateFreshBooks
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (54 ratings)
    7.6
    (75 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.7
    (8 ratings)
    7.6
    (18 ratings)
    Usability
    7.7
    (4 ratings)
    9.6
    (20 ratings)
    Availability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.3
    (6 ratings)
    6.0
    (11 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    2.3
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    e-automateFreshBooks
    Likelihood to Recommend
    ECI Software Solutions
    If you need a system to place and track sales quotes, sales orders, purchase orders, and service calls then E-Automate is perfect. However, if you want to be able to easily bulk upload customers and contracts or if you want to be able to quickly and easily track contract profitability, customer costs, etc, then you'll likely want/need a secondary or different system to do so.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    ECI Software Solutions
    • Sending Invoices out to customers via email or printing.
    • Keep track of ordering and inventory.
    • Sales Tax reporting.
    • Monitoring customer payment activity/setting up and removing credit holds.
    • Calculating payments to process each cycle.
    • Excellent aging reports.
    • I like the fact that when I am looking at one item, such as an invoice, I have the capability to switch to the customer menu rather than having to exit out of invoices and then enter into customers.
    • I love the flexibility of the search menus - being able to sort on several factors at once.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    ECI Software Solutions
    • Make sales invoices not require serial numbers, or be more flexible with it.
    • Make contract invoices have some sort of flexibility in terms of editing. Our end users complain that QuickBooks made it very easy to edit invoices, and in e-automate, for them, it is practically impossible. (I do personally understand why it has to be as it is myself, I'm just forwarding their observation.)
    • Make the API actually useful. I spent days looking at the functions and the functions available are not really useful.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    ECI Software Solutions
    Its really the only option for the industry that does enough of what we need for it to function . I'm not sure if there were better options out there if we would have to renew our subscription. With the addition of AI, hopefully something will be able to become more useful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Read full review
    Usability
    ECI Software Solutions
    The user interface may be slightly outdated, but it is very intuitive and easy to navigate. Once you have learned one module within the system it is very easy to apply that knowledge to any other module. It makes using the system much easier, and it makes training another person on the system quick and efficient.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    ECI Software Solutions
    Mostly available, sometimes down for issues but usually there when we need it
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FreshBooks
    FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    ECI Software Solutions
    Reports are the struggle the most with the information being extracted in a way that you need to copy and paste it into a new document so some of the information is not covered
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FreshBooks
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    ECI Software Solutions
    Sometimes when you need answers quickly, a voice on the phone is far better than having to wait for email support or a callback. I have found this to have delays and feel ECI e-automate should invest more in its support infrastructure.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    ECI Software Solutions
    I did not participate in implementation
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FreshBooks
    I haven't changed my mind since my first evaluation. Freshbooks is still meeting my needs, easy to use, etc.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    ECI Software Solutions
    E-automate is much better at understanding the needs of the office equipment industry and provide the necessary tools. SAP Business One has limited features specific to the office equipment industry and includes things that are not useful. E-automate is also priced much better and provides the best value for your investment.
    Incentivized
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    ECI Software Solutions
    I was not involved in the sales process
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FreshBooks
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    ECI Software Solutions
    Every department we have does use e-automate to some degree with most being successful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FreshBooks
    No answers on this topic
    Professional Services
    ECI Software Solutions
    I was not involved in the sales process
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    FreshBooks
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    ECI Software Solutions
    • The e-automate will stop working if we stop paying each year. We chose not to go to the cloud and buy the software. QuickBooks and other software are a one-time fee.
    • E-automate has very few outside vendors for add-on modules.
    • The vendors that do have modules are costly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    e-automate Screenshots

    Screenshot of an item search, in e-automate

    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