FreshBooks vs. QuickBooks Desktop Premier

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FreshBooks
Score 6.2 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.
$15
per month
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
Score 8.3 out of 10
N/A
QuickBooks Desktop Premier is an installed version of QuickBooks for general business, contractors, manufacturing and warehouse accounting, as well as nonprofits, professional services, and retail.N/A
Pricing
FreshBooksQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Editions & Modules
Lite
$15
per month
Plus
$30
per month
Premium
$55
per month
Select
Custom Pricing
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
FreshBooksQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
FreshBooksQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Considered Both Products
FreshBooks
Chose FreshBooks
Freshbooks was willing to work with us on all needs and compliance issues specific to our processes.
Chose FreshBooks
You have to know why you want to establish an online solution. Understanding what you want to accomplish will probably lead you to FreshBooks as it has the cleanest, simplest design going and it accomplished its tasks without being a burden.
QuickBooks Desktop Premier

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
FreshBooksQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
1.2
32 Ratings
142% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
1.3
20 Ratings
138% below category average
API for custom integration1.327 Ratings1.315 Ratings
Plug-ins1.223 Ratings1.320 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
6.4
38 Ratings
20% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.4
49 Ratings
6% below category average
Single sign-on capability10.01 Ratings4.843 Ratings
Role-based user permissions2.938 Ratings10.040 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
4.5
52 Ratings
51% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
6.8
57 Ratings
11% below category average
Dashboards4.652 Ratings4.848 Ratings
Standard reports4.150 Ratings7.856 Ratings
Custom reports4.82 Ratings7.854 Ratings
General Ledger and Configurable Accounting
Comparison of General Ledger and Configurable Accounting features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
4.7
51 Ratings
45% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.1
60 Ratings
4% below category average
Accounts payable1.236 Ratings7.058 Ratings
Accounts receivable2.650 Ratings7.059 Ratings
Cash management7.03 Ratings8.054 Ratings
Bank reconciliation7.02 Ratings8.057 Ratings
Expense management3.146 Ratings6.156 Ratings
Time tracking3.739 Ratings5.028 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.01 Ratings9.018 Ratings
Regulations compliance1.218 Ratings1.819 Ratings
Self-service portal9.13 Ratings8.017 Ratings
Fixed asset management00 Ratings5.139 Ratings
Multi-division support00 Ratings7.033 Ratings
Electronic tax filing00 Ratings10.028 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings9.03 Ratings
Primary and Secondary Ledgers00 Ratings7.06 Ratings
Intercompany Accounting00 Ratings9.08 Ratings
Localizations00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings7.014 Ratings
Enterprise Accounting00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings7.16 Ratings
Centralized Rules Framework00 Ratings9.93 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings4.37 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
3.9
44 Ratings
62% below category average
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
7.0
38 Ratings
6% below category average
Pricing2.334 Ratings10.030 Ratings
Order entry1.334 Ratings10.031 Ratings
Credit card processing2.136 Ratings7.027 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.01 Ratings6.334 Ratings
Order Orchestration00 Ratings10.03 Ratings
End-to-end order visibility00 Ratings1.04 Ratings
Order exception Resolution00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
8.9
47 Ratings
17% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings7.046 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings10.020 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings8.036 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings9.927 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings9.529 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
QuickBooks Desktop Premier
2.9
36 Ratings
83% below category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings1.735 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings1.015 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings8.019 Ratings
Manufacturing module00 Ratings1.017 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FreshBooksQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Small Businesses
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.2 out of 10
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreshBooksQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Likelihood to Recommend
1.4
(70 ratings)
3.0
(63 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.6
(18 ratings)
1.3
(12 ratings)
Usability
4.8
(15 ratings)
7.0
(14 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(2 ratings)
8.9
(5 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
5.7
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
4.6
(11 ratings)
1.1
(12 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
1.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
7.2
(7 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
6.2
(4 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
7.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
FreshBooksQuickBooks Desktop Premier
Likelihood to Recommend
FreshBooks
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.
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Intuit
QuickBooks Premier is not well suited to manufacturing industries, as it cannot handle the complicated inventory requirements of raw materials, work in process, and finished goods. Retailers and Wholesalers can use QuickBooks Premier as long as they have an add-on inventory tracking program or Point of Sale system that integrates with QuickBooks. Likewise, restaurants would need specialized restaurant software that integrates with QuickBooks Premier. Non-profits can use QuickBooks Premier non-profit edition, but if they use fund accounting, it will require some complicated work-arounds. QuickBooks Premier is well-suited to most construction trades, personal and professional services providers, small retailers, and rental property owners.
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Pros
FreshBooks
  • 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.
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Intuit
  • The program is easy to learn and use. We can train our clients' personnel how to use the program with out difficulty.
  • It is easy for clients to generate bills and manage accounts receivable.
  • It is easy to manage accounts payable and allows clients to pay their bills electronically.
  • Transactions can be imported electronically for credit card and banking transactions.
  • It is easy to reconcile bank and credit card accounts.
  • We can import data generated by QuickBooks into our tax and accounting software.
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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.
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Intuit
  • I would like to be able to choose how i want to view accounts receivable aging. I would like some flexibility to sort and choose how to present the data.
  • For a seasoned accountant, I would like to see some of the restrictive controls that are in place for novices to be able to be relaxed so that I can easily make some entries and adjust some balances that ordinarily a regular user would not be able to do.
  • I would like to see an easy way to clear old outstanding checks that need to be reversed without affecting prior balances/history.
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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.
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Intuit
Because we have been extremely happy with the product and our organization tends to be creatures of habit. We rarely leave a product that works this well for the latest and greatest. Typically we follow the "if it's not broken, don't fix it rule". While QB does make changes we typically just roll with it. If we do find something we don't like we work through it until we fully understand its functionality.
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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.
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Intuit
QuickBooks is an amazing tool that provides all of the necessary features needed to run the finances of a company. I would like for QuickBooks to provide better resources for training. There are many features that go unused because of lack of knowledge. Procore offers chatting and calls on their platform and they make it easy and accessible to get answers and solutions.
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Reliability and Availability
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
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Intuit
This is very reliable software, the desktop version is fast. If there is a problem, it is most likely on your own hardware!
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Performance
FreshBooks
No answers on this topic
Intuit
It takes forever to load.
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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.
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Intuit
This is an awesome product and the support team is very knowledgeable. The product is mature, so there are not a lot of bugs and the support team really solves problems quickly. Usually it is a user error issue, but the support desk helps me out. I love the fact that it is US based support.
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Implementation Rating
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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Intuit
It is important to do your research. There are tutorial videos online that could help new user of this accounting system. These tutorials are straightforward and easily understandable.
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Alternatives Considered
FreshBooks
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.
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Intuit
QuickBooks Premier handles most of my business functions efficiently in one package. It is not my "everything." I use Replicon for time rather than QuickBooks. I don't want my WIP data interfering with my accounting. I use PaySimple for it's web interface and back office processing. I don't have security issues since I don't have any credit card data in my possession. With today's identity theft environment, I have to protect myself as much as I can. Not having credit card data in my accounting software lets me sleep much better at night. Quicken will do basic accounting but does not have all the double entry accounting systems contained in QuickBooks. QuickBooks Online does much of the basic business functions but I don't like the pricing structure. As a professional accountant, that is very important to me. Bill.com provided a good service but the ability of QuickBooks to add bills and receipts to transactions makes it redundant.
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Scalability
FreshBooks
No answers on this topic
Intuit
They're getting better. Still room for improvement.
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Return on Investment
FreshBooks
  • 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.
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Intuit
  • Since our financials are kept very up to date, it helps us compare our financial results to prior years and it is used for our internal goal setting.
  • Due to the accountant copy function, we are able to provide better service since our clients are not waiting on us to fix historical data. They can continue their operations uninterrupted.
  • The import feature certainly speeds up the process of accounting for our payroll. As previously mentioned, it takes about a minute to do our entries for payroll and check them.
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ScreenShots

FreshBooks Screenshots

Screenshot of DashboardScreenshot of Invoice OverviewScreenshot of Beautiful, Customizable InvoicesScreenshot of Invoice seamlessly across devicesScreenshot of ExpensesScreenshot of Time Tracking