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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)

    Score7.2 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Halogen Software offered the TalentSpace talent management solution which was acquired by Saba in 2017 and that is no longer for sale.N/A
    Pricing
    FreshBooksHalogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    Lite
    $21
    per month
    Plus
    $38
    per month
    Premium
    $65
    per month
    Select
    Custom Pricing
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FreshBooksHalogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
    Additional Details10% discount for annual pricing.—
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    FreshBooksHalogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    FreshBooks
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    69%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    71%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    82%
    Delivers good value for the price
    9 Answers
    60%
    Delivers good value for the price
    3 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    54%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    86%
    Happy with the feature set
    6 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    64%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    62%
    Implementation went as expected
    8 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    FreshBooksHalogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Customization
    Comparison of Customization features of FreshBooks and Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    9.1
    35 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    API for custom integration9.330 Ratings00 Ratings
    Plug-ins9.026 Ratings00 Ratings
    Security
    Comparison of Security features of FreshBooks and Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    10.0
    41 Ratings
    20% above category average
    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Single sign-on capability10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-based user permissions10.041 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of FreshBooks and Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    7.5
    57 Ratings
    4% below category average
    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Dashboards9.057 Ratings00 Ratings
    Standard reports8.855 Ratings00 Ratings
    Custom reports4.82 Ratings00 Ratings
    General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
    Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of FreshBooks and Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    7.5
    56 Ratings
    2% below category average
    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Accounts payable8.041 Ratings00 Ratings
    Accounts receivable9.455 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cash management7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Bank reconciliation7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Expense management6.651 Ratings00 Ratings
    Time tracking7.642 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-currency support7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Regulations compliance6.021 Ratings00 Ratings
    Self-service portal9.13 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order Management
    Comparison of Order Management features of FreshBooks and Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    9.5
    49 Ratings
    25% above category average
    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    -
    Ratings
    Pricing8.839 Ratings00 Ratings
    Order entry9.337 Ratings00 Ratings
    Credit card processing9.741 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cost of goods sold10.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Onboarding
    Comparison of Onboarding features of FreshBooks and Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    7.8
    8 Ratings
    7% above category average
    New hire portal00 Ratings7.76 Ratings
    Manager tracking tools00 Ratings7.68 Ratings
    Compliance tracking and reporting00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Performance and Goals
    Comparison of Performance and Goals features of FreshBooks and Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    5.1
    33 Ratings
    36% below category average
    Corporate goal setting00 Ratings3.528 Ratings
    Subordinate goal setting00 Ratings3.628 Ratings
    Individual goal setting00 Ratings7.232 Ratings
    Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings4.929 Ratings
    Performance tracking00 Ratings6.432 Ratings
    Performance Management
    Comparison of Performance Management features of FreshBooks and Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    6.1
    32 Ratings
    12% below category average
    Performance plans00 Ratings4.628 Ratings
    Plan weighting00 Ratings8.75 Ratings
    Manager note taking00 Ratings6.012 Ratings
    Performance improvement plans00 Ratings3.625 Ratings
    Review status tracking00 Ratings5.430 Ratings
    Rater nomination workflow00 Ratings7.85 Ratings
    Review reminders00 Ratings6.332 Ratings
    Workflow restrictions00 Ratings8.15 Ratings
    Multiple review frequency00 Ratings7.024 Ratings
    Reporting00 Ratings3.130 Ratings
    Succession Planning
    Comparison of Succession Planning features of FreshBooks and Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Feature
    FreshBooks
    -
    Ratings
    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    7.8
    5 Ratings
    14% above category average
    Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings7.63 Ratings
    Candidate ranking00 Ratings7.63 Ratings
    Candidate search00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
    Candidate development00 Ratings8.04 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    FreshBooksHalogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Small Businesses
    QuickBooks Self-Employed (discontinued)
    Score4.2 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    MYOB
    Score8.3 out of 10
    SumTotal (legacy)
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Microsoft Dynamics GP
    Score5.4 out of 10
    Cornerstone Galaxy
    Score8.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FreshBooksHalogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.6
    (75 ratings)
    4.4
    (58 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.6
    (18 ratings)
    8.0
    (11 ratings)
    Usability
    9.6
    (20 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.0
    (11 ratings)
    4.4
    (12 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.1
    (3 ratings)
    CPA Rating
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FreshBooksHalogen TalentSpace (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Discontinued Products
    I think it's a good platform for tracking and monitoring goals, feedback, and development. We don't use the 1:1 meeting feature, however, I can see how that would be valuable for many organizations. I do like that it is very customizable, however, that also presents problems in that sometimes forms and/or processes can be a bit challenging to create easily and quickly.
    Read full review
    Pros
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • 1:1 agendas are easy to create, add comments to and prompt excellent conversation flow on the topics that truly matter to the manager and the employee.
    • The system can be easily customized to reflect your company's language and culture. We did this in several areas of the platform (goals, development, learning), and it made a world of difference in the understanding and adaptation of our users. One example is that in each learning module, we added 3 questions in the course description so that managers would be automatically prompted to ask to follow up / learning transfer questions when their employees enroll and take a learning course.
    • Halogen support is outstanding. Any question I have had has been answered upon the first contact or within 24 hours.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • My organization does not use all of the functions/modules that Halogen offers, but I find that those modules still appear on the Halogen main page. I think a great area for improvement is to hide these functions so as not to confuse employees.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Implementing a new system and process company wide is never an easy task. We moved so quickly in such a short period of time that we were able to learn quickly but also have the opportunity to improve the Halogen experience. We will more than likely will renew our use of Halogen as we already are seeing a small impact which hopefully in the long run will lead to a greater impact
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    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
    Discontinued Products
    Halogen is very intuitive and provides very clean work-space ... lots of white space and modern layouts. There is more than one way to accomplish your action, too!
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    FreshBooks
    FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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
    Discontinued Products
    We only purchased the appraisal module and without the other modules offered, you are really limited in what you can do and the process becomes much more involved with needing to maintain information across multiple platforms. We found that they charge for everything and call it "consulting." We poured so much money and time into a system that was just overkill for what we really needed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    FreshBooks
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    It is very easy to use and I can do my own programming instead of paying a technician and waiting sometimes days for them to program the changes.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    FreshBooks
    I haven't changed my mind since my first evaluation. Freshbooks is still meeting my needs, easy to use, etc.
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Get to know your CAM - Customer Account Manager! They are a lifesaver! (Thanks Jorie Basque!)
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Discontinued Products
    I have used other systems in the past and I like that Halogen provides everything in one space. I would like to see a more developed way to report training, not in the LMS, but I think that for the most part that Halogen is a robust system that is superior to its competition.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • We are able to get our reviews done in a quicker amount of time. Instead of 4-8 weeks we were able to get it done under a month.
    • Halogen has gotten better at given us a heads up when the system will be down. Most patches are done overnight so we can at least verify it was done, but their success rate of a patch not breaking something is not at 99%. So we do lose productivity when the system is down.
    • The tool is easier to do so there are fewer questions from users outside the core team.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    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

    Halogen TalentSpace (discontinued) Screenshots

    Screenshot of ReportsScreenshot of TalentviewScreenshot of 1-1 CoachingScreenshot of Create performance appraisalsScreenshot of Giving FeedbackScreenshot of Score report