FreshBooks vs. Sage 500 ERP

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
FreshBooks
Score 6.3 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.
$15
per month
Sage 500
Score 6.7 out of 10
N/A
Sage 500 ERP includes accounting and finance, distribution and supply chain, and manufacturing operations support modules. The latest Sage 500 release includes accounts payable enhancements, credit card processing, and general updates, as well as updates to the solution's modules.N/A
Pricing
FreshBooksSage 500 ERP
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
FreshBooksSage 500
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
Features
FreshBooksSage 500 ERP
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
1.2
32 Ratings
142% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
4.5
2 Ratings
47% below category average
API for custom integration1.327 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Plug-ins1.223 Ratings2.02 Ratings
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
6.4
38 Ratings
20% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
5.0
2 Ratings
48% below category average
Single sign-on capability10.01 Ratings2.02 Ratings
Role-based user permissions2.938 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
4.5
52 Ratings
51% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
8.3
2 Ratings
18% above category average
Dashboards4.652 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Standard reports4.150 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Custom reports4.82 Ratings10.02 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
Sage 500 ERP
6.6
2 Ratings
14% below category average
Accounts payable1.236 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Accounts receivable2.650 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Cash management7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
Bank reconciliation7.02 Ratings00 Ratings
Expense management3.146 Ratings00 Ratings
Time tracking3.739 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-currency support7.01 Ratings00 Ratings
Regulations compliance1.218 Ratings00 Ratings
Self-service portal9.13 Ratings00 Ratings
Global Financial Support00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Journals and Reconciliations00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Configurable Accounting00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Standardized Processes00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Order Management
Comparison of Order Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
3.9
44 Ratings
62% below category average
Sage 500 ERP
8.2
1 Ratings
5% above category average
Pricing2.434 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Order entry1.334 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Credit card processing2.136 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Cost of goods sold10.01 Ratings8.21 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
7.4
1 Ratings
3% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Inventory Management
Comparison of Inventory Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
6.5
2 Ratings
19% below category average
Inventory tracking00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
Automatic reordering00 Ratings3.02 Ratings
Location management00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Subledger and Financial Process
Comparison of Subledger and Financial Process features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
5.4
1 Ratings
31% below category average
Billing Management00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Cash and Asset Management00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Travel & Expense Management00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Budgetary Control & Encumbrance Accounting00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Period Close00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Project Financial Management
Comparison of Project Financial Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
6.9
1 Ratings
10% below category average
Budgeting and Forecasting00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Project Costing00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Cost Capture00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Capital Project Management00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Customer Contract Compliance00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Project Revenue Recognition00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Project Execution Management
Comparison of Project Execution Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
4.5
1 Ratings
41% below category average
Task Insight for Project Managers00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Project Mobile Functionality00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Grants Management
Comparison of Grants Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
7.5
1 Ratings
1% below category average
Award Lifecycle Management00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Procurement
Comparison of Procurement features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
6.0
1 Ratings
15% below category average
Contract Authoring00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Contract Repository00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
Requisitions-to-Purchase Orders Integrated00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Supplier Management00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Risk Management
Comparison of Risk Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
4.3
1 Ratings
41% below category average
Risk Repository00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Control Management00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Control Efficiency Assessments00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Remediation and Certification00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Supply Chain
Comparison of Supply Chain features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
1.3
1 Ratings
139% below category average
Forecasting00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Inventory Planning00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Performance Monitoring00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Product Lifecycle Management
Comparison of Product Lifecycle Management features of Product A and Product B
FreshBooks
-
Ratings
Sage 500 ERP
5.3
1 Ratings
31% below category average
Proposal Management00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Product Master Data Management00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
FreshBooksSage 500 ERP
Small Businesses
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Dext Prepare (with Receipt Bank)
Score 9.1 out of 10
Acumatica
Acumatica
Score 8.7 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Accounting Seed
Accounting Seed
Score 8.3 out of 10
Infor VISUAL
Infor VISUAL
Score 7.4 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP
Score 8.2 out of 10
SAP Business ByDesign
SAP Business ByDesign
Score 7.5 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
FreshBooksSage 500 ERP
Likelihood to Recommend
1.4
(70 ratings)
2.0
(4 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
7.6
(18 ratings)
6.3
(2 ratings)
Usability
4.8
(15 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
4.6
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
6.0
(1 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
FreshBooksSage 500 ERP
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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Sage
Sage 500 ERP is great for companies with core accounting needs, distributors, and discrete manufacturers. Some areas, such as process manufacturing, would require a companion product from an ISV for the software to be truly functional. Some areas, such as construction or retail apparel, may simply not be well-served.
Read full review
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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Sage
  • Sage is the one-stop-shop for all of our needs. We're able to control contracts, subcontracts, and field reports from the program.
  • Another strength is the ability to database all the information and export it to excel. This makes data-based investigations a breeze.
  • The ability for Timberscan to be imported to Sage is a huge help with invoice management. Prior to this it all had to be done manually and slowed the process to an essential halt as there are thousands of invoices per month.
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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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Sage
  • The biggest concern/complaint of Sage 500 users is speed. Some of the screen take a while to load.
  • The user interface needs some refreshing. Screens need to be updated to take advantage of shortcuts and to be more intuitive.
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.
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Sage
It's too pricey for our size of company.
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.
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Sage
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
FreshBooks
FreshBooks is easy to use and always works!
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Sage
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.
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Sage
No answers on this topic
Online Training
FreshBooks
No answers on this topic
Sage
The online training courses are not up to date. We experienced technical issues with two of the classes.
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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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Sage
Keep your database and application in different servers.
Install Microsoft Office on your application server so you can use some of the data analysis tools in Sage.
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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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Sage
500 seems much smoother at handling some of the basic accounting tasks, for example both issuing and later reconciling checks in Dynamics AX seems a little tedious.
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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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Sage
  • Positive: The program allows for a lot of data entry and splitting of information. It has the capability of replacing multiple programs and therefore saving cost.
  • Negative: The modules are cumbersome and not user friendly at all. As a result not many user are comfortable using it. This means that the program is not being used to its capacity.
  • Negative: Although the program has the capacity to be great, the user interface destroys that potential. Sage needs to seriously work on their program to simplify it. It's as if it still uses Command-line entries from 1995. Needs to be updated ASAP.
Read full review
ScreenShots

FreshBooks Screenshots

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